Here and Gone(8)

Now Whiteside let his gaze travel around the car, crawling over Sean and Louise, and Sean could almost feel the eyes on him, picking over his skin. The sheriff raised himself a little so he could get a better look at Louise, studied the length of her from her head all the way down her body, her legs, to her feet. He nodded, and his tongue appeared between his lips, wet them, and retreated.

‘Everything’s going to be all right,’ he said again. ‘Now here’s what’s going to happen. Like I said, I need to take your mom into town and have a talk with her, but I can’t leave you out here all alone. So my colleague, Deputy Collins, is going to come out here and take you somewhere safe to look after you.’

Louise gave a high whine. ‘Are we going to jail?’

Whiteside smiled, but the look that frightened Sean lingered in his eyes. ‘No, sweetheart. You’re not going to jail. Deputy Collins is going to take you to a safe place.’

‘Where?’ Sean asked.

‘A safe place. You don’t need to worry about it. Everything’s going to be all right.’

‘Can I take Gogo?’ Louise asked.

‘Sure you can, sweetheart. Deputy Collins will be here in just a minute, and everything will be all right.’

‘You keep saying that.’

Whiteside looked at Sean, his smile fading. ‘What?’

Then Sean realized what bothered him about the sheriff’s eyes.

‘You keep saying everything’s going to be all right. But you look scared.’

Whiteside blinked, and his smile hardened. ‘I’m not scared, son. I just want both of you to know you’re safe. Deputy Collins is going to take good care of you. Your mom and me, we’ll have this figured out in no time, and you can all go home. Hey, you didn’t tell me your names.’

Sean closed his mouth.

Whiteside looked to Louise, whose wailing had subsided to hitches and sniffles. ‘What’s your name, sweetheart?’

‘Louise.’

‘And what’s your brother’s name?’

‘Sean.’

‘Good names,’ Whiteside said, smiling big enough to show his teeth. ‘Where you from?’

‘New York,’ Louise said.

‘New York,’ he echoed. ‘That right? Well, you’re a long way from home.’

‘We’re moving to California,’ Louise said.

‘Shut up,’ Sean said. ‘We don’t have to tell him anything.’

Whiteside gave a single laugh. ‘The young lady can talk to me if she wants to.’

Sean turned to him, gave him a hard stare. ‘I saw it on TV. We don’t have to tell you anything at all.’

The sheriff turned back to Louise. ‘Your big brother’s a smart boy. I think he’s going to be a lawyer some day, what do you think?’

Louise hugged Gogo tight. ‘Don’t know.’

‘Well, we’re just talking, passing the time, right? Like people do. And I just wanted to make sure you kids were all right. You both got water there?’

Louise lifted her bottle, showed him. Sean stared straight ahead.

‘Well, drink up. It’s hot out here. Don’t want you getting dehydrated.’

Louise took a long swallow. Sean did not.

A rumble from somewhere outside, and the sheriff looked along the road.

‘Here she comes,’ he said, standing upright.

Sean peered around the front seat’s headrest, through the windshield. Another cruiser approached, slowed, and turned. It reversed along the shoulder until its rear fender was a few feet from the station wagon’s front. A younger woman in a uniform like Whiteside’s climbed out. She had blonde hair pinned back, a firm jaw like a boy’s, narrow at the hips.

Deputy Collins passed across the front of the car, joined Whiteside by the door.

‘This is Sean and Louise,’ he said. ‘They’re a little upset, but I told them you’d take good care of them. Isn’t that right?’

‘That’s right,’ she said as she crouched down. ‘Hi, Sean. Hi, Louise. I’m Deputy Collins, and I’m going to look after you. Just for a little while until we get all this settled. Don’t worry. Everything’s going to be all right.’

Sean felt a cold finger on his heart when he saw her blue eyes; despite her smile and her soft voice, she looked even more scared than the sheriff.

‘Now you guys come on with me.’

‘Where are you taking us?’ Sean asked.

‘Somewhere safe,’ Collins said.

‘But where?’

‘Somewhere safe. Maybe you could help Louise with her seat belt.’

Sean went to answer, to tell her no, they weren’t going anywhere, but Louise said, ‘I can do it myself. The man said I could take Gogo.’

‘Sure you can,’ Collins said.

Before Sean could stop her, Louise was out of her booster seat, clambering across him, taking Collins’ hand. As the deputy helped her down, Sean stayed put.

Collins reached her free hand out to him. ‘Come on.’

Sean crossed his arms. ‘I don’t think I should.’

‘Sean, you don’t have a choice,’ she said. ‘You have to come with me.’

‘No.’

Whiteside bent down, spoke in a low voice. ‘Son, like the deputy told you, you don’t have a choice in this. If I have to, I’ll put you under arrest, put handcuffs on you, and carry you to the deputy’s car. Or you can just get on out and walk to it. What’s it going to be?’