Here and Gone(72)

Audra opened the door, stepped through, and saw Mrs Gerber at the table, a mug of coffee in front of her, a half-smoked cigarette suspended over a clean ashtray. They stared at each other for a moment, each caught in an act they didn’t want the other to witness.

‘I only take one a day,’ Mrs Gerber said. ‘Maybe two if I’m worried.’

Audra nodded and moved toward the back door.

‘Are you running away?’ Mrs Gerber asked.

‘No,’ Audra said. ‘I’m going to find my children.’

Mrs Gerber gave her a hard, narrow-eyed look.

‘I didn’t hurt them,’ Audra said. ‘Whatever happens, please remember that.’

Mrs Gerber reached into the pocket of her dressing gown, removed a set of keys. She slid them across the table toward Audra.

‘You’ll need those for the door and the padlock on the gate.’ She nodded to the coat that hung on the peg by the door. ‘You took them from my pocket. I’ll find them in the alley in a short while.’

Audra reached for them, pushed the screen aside. She looked back over her shoulder and said, ‘Thank you.’

As she turned the key in the lock, Mrs Gerber spoke once more.

‘I killed my husband,’ she said.

Audra stopped, turned around.

‘Almost fifteen years ago,’ Mrs Gerber said. ‘He came home drunk one night and I waited for him at the top of the stairs. I didn’t even push. Not really. I just reached my hand out, put it where his center of gravity should be. I still remember the look on his face. The shock. And it’s funny, see, because I feel more guilt about smoking a cigarette than I do about watching him break his stupid neck.’ She took another long drag on the cigarette and said, ‘I hope you find them.’

Audra watched her for a moment, then nodded. Mrs Gerber did the same, and Audra let herself out.

A mild breeze swept across the yard, cooling her skin. She made her way down to the gate, undid the padlock, stepped through into the alley. She opened her hand, let the keys drop onto the baked earth.

Audra looked in both directions, saw no sign of Danny. She reached into her pocket, took out the cell phone he’d given her the day before. As she looked up the one number in the contacts list, the phone vibrated in her hand. She pressed answer and brought it to her ear.

‘Danny?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Where are you?’

‘A couple of streets away, behind the guesthouse. There’s a state patrol car doing a circuit of Main Street; it’s half assed, but still, we can’t risk being seen. Head south along the alley, toward the river end. There’s another alley branching off to your left about twenty yards along. Take that into the next street, cross over, and through the alley that’s facing you. I’m on the other side. But be careful. Don’t let anyone see you.’

Audra hung up, stowed the phone, and made her way along the alley. She found the left turn just as he’d said, and she cut through toward the street on the other side. A voice stopped her a few feet from the alley’s mouth.

‘Make,’ a man said. ‘Goddamn it, make.’

Audra flattened herself against the wall and listened.

‘All right, suit yourself, but if you shit on the floor again, I’m gonna put a cork in your ass.’

She watched as a small middle-aged man passed the alley, a squat mongrel dog on a leash trailing behind. The man slipped out of view, but the dog stopped, planted its feet on the sidewalk. It stared into the alley, its hindquarters quivering. It let out a high yip and the leash jerked, the man telling the dog to come on, goddamn it.

Audra counted to ten before moving to the street. She saw the man and the dog making their way along the sidewalk, the dog glancing back at her, the man tugging it along. Across the street, the next alley, and a dark shape that might have been a car. She jogged toward it, her head down, her step as quiet as she could manage.

When she reached the other side, she saw Danny in the shadows, leaning against a dust-covered Chevrolet. Her lungs strained for breath by the time she got close. She stopped a few feet away, saw the blood matted in his hair, the swelling of his lip.

‘Jesus, what happened?’ she asked.

Danny smiled, winced, brought his fingertips to his lip. ‘I had a talk with Sheriff Whiteside. Here, I got something for you.’

He reached behind his back, to his waistband, pulled out a pistol. She took a step back when he extended it to her, grip first.

‘God, no, I don’t want that,’ she said.

‘Take it,’ he said. ‘We have to be armed.’

‘But I don’t know how to use it.’

‘It’s a Glock,’ he said. ‘There’s no safety. You just point it and pull the trigger. Easy. Take it.’

Audra came closer. She reached for the gun, felt the cold grip fill her hand. Danny pressed the barrel with his fingertips, guided it away so it aimed at the ground.

‘Just keep your finger away from the trigger,’ he said. ‘Don’t aim it at anything unless you’re ready to shoot. You got it?’

‘I guess so,’ she said. ‘Are we really going to do this? Kidnap Collins?’

Danny looked at her sideways. ‘Oh, didn’t I say?’

He reached for the rear door handle, opened it wide, and stepped back.