Rich sat on a hard bench at the table by the front window, fiddling with a glass shaker of Parmesan cheese, glancing idly around. He had not realized that the pizza parlor would be so crowded on a weeknight, or that so many parents let their children out unattended. Fully half of the kids clustered around the video game were on their own recognizance, with no parent or older sibling in sight.
His gaze shifted from the video game crowd to the parking lot outside the window. Before leaving the office, he had called Robert and asked him to meet them here, but his brother hadn't been sure he would be able to make it. So far there'd been no sign of Robert's car.
Rich stared blankly out at the vehicles in the parking lot, wondering why Corrie was having to spend so much overtime at the church. Surely Wheeler couldn't have that much work piled up--at least not work that required immediate attention. So why did Corrie feel compelled to late instead of the next
The thought briefly crossed his mind that she was hay stay finishing things up day? ing an affair, but he dismissed that ludicrous idea immediately. He'd been watching too many movies.
Besides, Corrie seemed to find the idea of any sex all these days fairly repulsive.
He found himself listening to the talk of the people around him, tuning in one discussion, then another, ears conversation hopping. Reporter's instinct. At the ble behind him, an old man he couldn't see and had noticed upon arriving was talking about his heart problems: "... I woke up naked as ajaybird with a tube shos up my nose. There was a doctor there, and I asked him what was happening, but he just told me to take a deep breath, and then I was out again. I woke up and I had big 1' scar down the side of my leg, and my chest hurt like a son of a
"bitch..."
A cowboy-hatted man at the table to the left of wearing a turquoise bob tie, was talking about a dog in Phoenix: "... He said he got the skinny on from them fLxed races an' said he'd cut me in on it. I shot known right there that he was a crooked..."
A braless woman wearing a black tank top, stare with her equally braless friend at the counter: "Rob he's going to make some stakes and crosses..." Stakes and crosses.
He tried to zero in on that conversation, but they moved away from the cash register toward the back. He thought of following them, trying to eavesdrop, just then Robert walked through the door, looking at the crowded restaurant, and Rich waved his brother Robert sat down.
"Where's Anna?"
Rich nodded his head toward the video game. "Oh." He picked up Anna's water glass. "That's her glass."
"I'll get her another one. I'm dying of thirst. downed the water in a single swallow, leaving only the cubes. "God, that tastes good. The drinking fountain crapped out on us this morning at the station, and been having to make do all day. I'm telling you, you realize how much you rely on something like that until it dies. Especially in this weather." When do you think this heat wave's going to end?"
"Who the hell knows?" , Rich took a sip of his own water. "So what's happening?"
Robert chuckled. "You know, I'm never sure if you're asking that as a brother or a reporter." c!
Rich smiled. "Both."
"You heard about the animal hospital, didn't you?"
"That's my front page story."
"Well, that's not the half of it. Norbit over at the Shell station said it looked like a sandstorm hit his bathroom last week. Said the floor, the sink, everything was covered with a foot-high layer of sand.
He thinks teenagers are responsible, only he claims that it happened while he was working, and he didn't see or hear anything. He came bitching to me about it this morning, asking me what I'm going to do about it. He waits a week to tell me, cleans it up before letting me look at it, doesn't even take any pictures, and expects me to tell him the culprits are about to be caught? I straightened him out, let me tell you. You know Am Hewett?" Rich shook his head. Works over at Basha's? Liquor deparefit?" :... "Tall guy? Balding?"
"Yeah. That's him. Anyway, he's gone. The whole family's up and disappeared. I don't know if they just pulled up stakes and left, or if something happened to them. I got a call from Bailey, his boss, who said he'd already called neighbors and Hewett's sister, but no one knows anything. I ran a check on Hewett, and he's done some time, but it was years ago and for small stuff. I cabled the sister and told her she could file a missing person's, but she sounded real squirrely, so I don't know what the hell she plans to do." He shook his head. "There's a lot of weird shit going down, a lot of weird shit, and I don't like it. "Whatever happened with Sophocles Johnson?"
Robert looked into his glass, shook the ice cubes. "Did he ever let you talk to him?"
"Yeah, I talked to him. He's crazy as a damn bedbt He put on a normal act with me, told me that he he had some problems to work out and was seeking he] but I could tell it was a load of horse pucky."
"Sounds like you have your hands full these days." "That's why I came over here tonight. I need a bred
"What about the FBI? Aren't they supposed to be givi you help?"
Robert snorted. "Rossiter has the attention span fucking gnat. He and his boys came in here all hot to acting real official, threw their weight around, told they were going to put their resources behind this, m haven't heard word one from them since." He pop an ice cube in his mouth. "Not that I'm complaining." FBI and the state police investigating crimes in Rio Vi is kind of like the old bull in the china shop routir don't think they understand the place or the people enough to tread as carefully as they need to in order find this.." whatever it is." "Well, isn't that your job? To acquaint them wit town, act as their liaison?": "whose side are you on?"
::
"No one's side. This just seems a little out of league. I mean, murders and grave robbings are no
"No graves were robbed, and for your informadol is not out of my league. I'm not the tube you see think I am." "I didn't say that, and I don't think it. Don't worked up over nothing. Jesus." "Well..."
:
"I just thought that the FBI probably had the resourc to deal with all of this."
"Yeah, but it's too close to tabloid territory. I dot think they want that sort of publicity. Not in these budg crisis times. They'd rather have us solve it and not had' to explain why they were spending time and resourc looking for a... vampire." ...... "That's what a lot of people are talking about, know."
Robert looked at his brother, thought for a moment then shrugged.
"Maybe it is a vampire."
""Knock off the crap."
"Maybe it's crap, and maybe it isn't. We both know that the supernatural exists--"
Rich shook his head. "Wait a minute here. How did the conversation get around to this?"
""Why?"
"Because we thought we saw a ghost in grade school "Because of The Laughing Man."
Rich was silent.
"There are things We don't understand."
"All I'm saying is I'm keeping my eyes open."
"Weren't you going to get Anna another glass water?"
Robert sighed. ""I didn't come here to right
"Me either."
"Fine. Let's drop it."" He glanced toward the re gist "Did you already order?"
Rich nodded. "A small cheese pizza for Anna. A larI pepperoni for us."
"Five minutes or so." Robert tore a strip from his napkin, rolled it into a ball on the tabletop "Donna Sandoval said she saw Caldwell
Burke with Manuel Torres before he was killed." "I thought we were going to drop it? i "Fine."
They sat for a moment in silence, Rich looking down at the table tracing water rings with his finger, Robert chewing on his ice.
Robert glanced out the window, then back at his brother. "So Wheeler's claiming he saw Jesus, huh?" Rich looked up sharply. "What?"
"You didn't hear? I thought Corrie was working for him."
"She is. But she never said anything about that." "Apparently he's telling his flock that Jesus spoke to him in a dream, and then in person, and told him to rebuild his dhurchm"
<
br /> "Where did you hear this?" : "One of my men goes to his church."
Rich glanced toward Anna, who was watching another girl work the joystick of the video game. "How come Cortie didn't say anything about this?"
"She probably knew you'd react this way."
"Well, how would you react?"
"The same." Robert tore another strip from his napkin. "I thought maybe you hadn't heard. That's why I told you." He sighed. "I don't like Wheeler. If I thought he was just an opportunist, I'd hate him and be disgusted by him, but I think he's a true believer, and that scares me. He probably really does think he's seen Jesus. We have enough problems around here right now without someone like that working people into a witch-hunting frenzy." "Is that what he's doing?"
"It's only a matter of time. Murder victims drained of blood? Grave desecration? You think he's not going to bring God and Satan into this? My job's hard enough wit out having to deal with that shit."
Rich took a deep breath. "The thing that concerns n is that she takes Anna with her to his church."
"Corrie? That doesn't sound like her."
"She's been behaving differently lately."
Robert looked over at Anna. "I'd put my foot down that if I were you."
Anna?"
"I wouldn't want her hearing that stuff."
"She's not going to that church anymore." Rich stared at his daughter.
"But what exactly is Wheeler telling them?
That Jesus told him to remodel his church and that it? Or that this is supposed to be the Second Coming?
"I could find out."
"That's okay. I'll look into it. I'll talk to Corrie."
"What about Anna? What are you going to say to her'. I don't know."
The waitress arrived with the pizzas and plates. Robe went to the fountain to get drinks, and Rich walked ov to the video game to get Anna. He tried to pretend like nothing was wrong, but he watched her carefully as that. ate, listened to her, and worried.
By the time they arrived home, Corrie was back. S! was angry, sitting in the living room with the TV off a only the table lamp on, but she did a good job of hidi, her anger as she took Anna to bed, helped her daught change into her PJs, and tucked her in.
Her demeanor changed completely when she returm to the living room.
"where the hell were you?"
"You know where we were. I left a message on the machine and I heard Anna tell you just a minute ago."
"why did you go out for pizza when we had plenty
,: . food in the refrigerator? It's a school night." didn't feel like cooking. Now the question is, weren't you here?" ,
"I told you. I had to work late." "Yeah, I guess the Second Coming does involve a lot of preparations."
She'd been moving toward him, but she stopped, the words she'd been about to speak dying in her throat.
"Yes, I know about it." He stood, approached her. "You thought I wouldn't find out?"
"I didn't think you needed to know."
"Oh. Your boss is telling ever) one that Jesus has been resurrected and has dropped by Rio Verde for a visit, and I didn't need to know?"
"I knew how you'd react."
"Really? And how's that?"
"The way you're acting right now."
"You don't think I might be a little concerned because you're working for a man who claims he's engineering the Second Coming? You don't think I might be worried because you're taking our daughter to church and exposing her to this?"
"Did Anna tell you?" ;. Why? Did you tell her not to? Did you bribe her?" He glared at Corrie. "Or did you threaten her?"
She stared at him, then pushed past him and stormed out of the living room into the kitchen. He followed her, watched her take a can of Diet Dr. Pepper out of the refrigerator and slam the door. She whirled on him. Her eyes were red and wide, her mouth a small thin trembling line. "How dare you say something like that!"
He held up his hands. "Okay. I'm sorry. I was angrym"
Corrie glared at him. "When I went for that mammogram two years ago, I had to drive myselfl"
He frowned. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"It has to do with our relationship and the way you treat me["
"What?" :: : :: ": ::
"I didn't tell you about Jesus because I knew youo wouldn't understand.
You never understands, anything "How can you say that? You know Ira" ii "Yeah, like the mammogram?"
"I don't know why we're even arguing about this. You know I offered to drive you're"
"Offered, not insisted." :,=" :
"The paper was coming out the next day. You told me to finish it up, you'd go to the doctor by yourself, you'd be fine."
"I didn't think you'd actually listen to me! I expected you to argue, to insist that you drive me. I wanted some support. But you were only too happy to worm out of your responsibility and hide at the paper and leave me to face it all alone. I thought I had cancerl I thought I was going to die, and you weren't even there!"
Rich said nothing .... "Sometimes what people say they want you to do and what they really want you to do are two different things.
Sometimes you have to feel what's happening and not just listen to the words. Sometimes you have to dig beneath the surface to find the meaning. You've never understood that. I keep waiting for you to take the initiative, to understand how I feel without me having to spell everything out for you, but you never do." She slammed the Dr. Pepper can down on the counter. "That's why I didn't tell you about Jesus!"
She shoved him against the door frame and strode through the living room into the hall. He heard the door to their bedroom slam shut.
He stared after her, unmoving. He felt cold and empty inside. It was obvious to him that she bought Wheeler's story, that she really believed Jesus had talked to the preacher, but he wondered how that was possible. Corrie was neither stupid nor gullible; she had always been more of a leader than a follower, and she was not easily persuaded by smooth talkers. She was religious, but her faith had always been based on the Bible, not the words interpretations of others.
Until ' now.
Was he partially responsible for pushing her into religious zealousness, into Wheeler's church? The thou disturbed him. He didn't want to think about it, but could not push it from his mind and could not disco its possibility. The things she'd said hit close to the be and the anger he'd felt at her had fled, leaving him feel curiously drained.
He hoped Anna hadn't heard their argument.
But he knew that she had.
Walking slowly, feeling fired, he moved through the ing room and into the hallway, where he opened the closet. He took out a pillow and two sheets and walked back into the living room to make up the couch for bed.
Aaron looked over at his date, the perfect smoott skinned features of her beautiful face lit in soft focus the bluish moon and the green dashboard lights, and realized that this was at once his biggest triumph and h biggest mistake.
He looked in the rearview mirror, tried to see his ow face, but from this angle could only make out the hug slab that was his nose and the dark spot in the center his nose that was a pimple.
What had ever made him think that Cheri Stever would go out-with him?
She had gone out with him, though.
That was the weird part.
He had admired Cheri from afar for years. Since se' enth grade, to be exact, when he'd first started to girls. She'd been in his beginning band class, had played aye the clarinet, and even then had had that sophisticate sort of sexiness that, until that point, Aaron and h friends had seen only in girls on the screen. He'd watche her become a Song-And-Yell girl, a cheerleader, and the head cheerleader. She was smart, too, in the high achievement classes, and it was in those classes, which they share together, that he got an opportunity to view her close u! Of course she had not noticed him at all. From the ginning, her interest had been in older boys, ninth graders, and her appeal soon spread beyond that. As an eighth grad
er, she'd gone out with a senior in high school. The captain of the basketball team, no less. Aaron still could not believe that she had agreed to go out with him. She'd gone through a lot of guys over the years, from jocks to cool kids, all of them studs, and he had only asked her out because she was between boyfriends, and he had been dared to do so. Phil Harte, the friend who had dared him, who had promised to fork over fifty bucks if he asked her out and she said yes, had tried to convince him that most beautiful girls spent their Friday nights alone because guys were too intimidated by them to ask them out. Aaron knew that was not the case with Cheri--he'd heard the bragging of jocks in the locker room who had gone out with her--but he'd gathered up his courage anyway, licked his lips and ignored his pounding heart, and asked if she'd like to go to a movie with him .... She'd turned those eyes on him, that smile, and said yes.
Now they'd gone to the movie, and the time had come to decide what to do next. He was beginning to think he'd made a big mistake. Of course, the evening had been great so far. His friends, sitting together in a group in the movie theater, dateless, had seen him with Cheri, hand in hand, arms around each other. And a lot of people he didn't like, boys and girls, had seen them together as well.
But now the movie was over, the crowds were gone, and they were alone, cruising. He found himself wondering if he wasn't being set up, if Cheri was only going out with him in order to humiliate him, perhaps as part of a dare by her own friends. He'd seen it before, in movies.
Beautiful girl goes out with nerdy guy, gets him in a compromising position, takes pictures or videotape, friends jump out laughing. An extended practical joke. April Fool's in October. : .: , :
Was that what was going to happen here?
He didn't know, but somehow he didn't think so. He was scared, nervous, but he had to admit that the relationship between them had seemed pretty natural so far.
She hadn't treated him like God's gift to girls (the way she would if she was planning to set him up), and she hadn't acted like he was a charity case either. The two them might be social unequals, but mentally they were fairly compatible, and they had found plenty to talk about, the long and awkward silences he'd feared and dreaded never materializing.
The Summoning Page 20
