“We were.”
“And how could she even get in?”
“Apparently through the front door.”
“That’s not what I meant.” Sarah’s voice was hard.
“I know. I’m sorry. We don’t know, Mrs. Whitaker. Somehow she was able to slip past us.”
Sarah shook her head in frustration. “She’s not human.” Then she stopped and grabbed Yarrow’s sleeve. “What if she comes here?”
“We’ve considered that,” he said. “Officer Maestas will stand guard outside your husband’s door all night. And from now on they’ll be someone with him until the Helstrum woman is in custody.”
Pearl was standing just inside the door of the waiting room when they approached. Brian was still asleep on the couch.
“Thank you for staying with him.”
“It’s no problem,” Pearl said to Sarah.
Yarrow said, “I’ve arranged to have Officer Pearl be with you and your son tonight,” Yarrow said. “She can give you a ride home now if you like.”
“Home?” Sarah shook her head. “No, I …”
“We’ve searched it thoroughly and locked it up tight,” Yarrow said reassuringly. “Officer Pearl will stay inside with you and—”
Sarah was shaking her head no.
“I don’t want to go back there. Not tonight.” She looked at Pearl. “It’s not that I wouldn’t feel safe with you there, but I just—”
“I don’t blame you,” Pearl said. “I wouldn’t want to go there, either. Not tonight.”
Sarah and Brian slept that night in a Best Western motel near the hospital. Officer Pearl stayed in the adjoining room, with the door between them open.
When Sarah opened her eyes Monday morning, she was disoriented for a moment until she realized where she was. Then the events of last night came rushing back to her, making her feel sick inside—sick and worried and angry. She was worried about Alex’s condition and about all of their safety. And she was filled with hate for Christine Helstrum, who had not just physically injured Alex but who had totally disrupted their lives, perhaps altering their lives forever.
She slid out of bed, careful not to wake Brian. She washed her face in the sink, then rinsed out her mouth with water. It was unsettling not to have at least her toothbrush. When she came out of the bathroom, she noticed that the door between the two rooms was closed. Last night it had been open. She felt a brief moment of panic. Wasn’t Officer Pearl supposed to be standing guard?
Sarah parted the heavy drapes on the window and peeked outside.
There was a Colorado Springs police car parked directly in front of their motel door. A black man sat behind the wheel—Officer Eastly. Sarah quickly dressed, putting on the same clothes she’d worn last night. Then she got Brian up and washed and dressed, and they went out into the cold, bright morning.
Eastly got out of the car and held open the rear door.
“How are you folks this morning?”
“Okay, I guess.”
Sarah and Brian climbed in the car. It smelled a bit stale inside, but it was warm—Eastly had the engine running and the heater on.
“Where’s Officer Pearl?”
“She went off duty at midnight. She’ll be back with you around noon.”
“Were you out here all night?”
Eastly smiled easily, showing straight yellow-white teeth. Sarah noticed for the first time that he was a handsome man, with even features and smooth skin.
“Me and others, off and on,” he said. “Are you hungry?”
“Yeah,” Brian said.
“Could you just take us to the hospital?”
“Sure,” Eastly said, looking at his watch, “but it’s only a little past seven. I don’t think they’ll let you in your husband’s room this early. In the meantime, we can get some breakfast. I’ll buy. What do you say?”
“I don’t know, I—”
“Can I have pancakes?” Brian put in.
Eastly laughed. “You can have anything you want, my friend.”
After they’d eaten at a Village Inn, with Eastly insisting on picking up the tab, they drove to Penrose Hospital.
Eastly led them down the busy corridor. When they neared Alex’s room, Sarah saw a policeman standing across the hallway talking to a nurse—flirting with her, Sarah thought, from the coy look on her face. When the policeman saw Eastly, he said something to the nurse, and she walked away.
“This is Mrs. Whitaker,” Eastly said.
“Ma’am.”
“Anything?” Eastly said.
The cop shook his head no.
“Go ahead on in,” Eastly said to Sarah.
Sarah squatted down to face Brian.
“Your dad doesn’t feel very well, honey. He might be kind of sleepy, so let’s be real quiet in there, okay?”
“Okay, Mom.”
Sarah squeezed his hand and opened the door. Alex’s bed was raised, and he was sitting up. There was a tray in front of him supporting an empty glass with a trace of orange juice in the bottom. The oxygen tubes were gone, but the intravenous tube was still attached to his arm. He looked over at them and smiled.
“Good morning,” he said. His voice was weak.
Brian ran to the bed and hugged him.
“Dad, me and Mom stayed in a motel last night, and it was pretty neat! And then we ate breakfast with a policeman! How come there’s a bandage on your neck? Are you going to come home with us now?”
“Brian.
“It’s okay,” Alex said.
Sarah went to Alex’s side, leaned down, and kissed him.
“How do you feel?”
“Not great,” he said. “The doctor wants me here for at least another day, maybe two.”
“What … happened last night? When I heard the gunshot, I thought, hoped even, that maybe you’d …”
He gave her a wry smile and shook his head.
“I didn’t shoot her, but I think I shot a hole in the wall. The gun went off accidentally when Christine jumped me from behind, The noise, though, might have scared her away. Otherwise … Anyway, at least she didn’t get the gun. The police have it.”
Sarah held his hand, then sat on the edge of the bed.
“I was so frightened, Alex. Even afterward, I was too frightened even to go back in the house. That’s why Brian and I stayed in a motel.”
Alex glanced at Brian, who was now exploring the room.
“I don’t want you to go back to the house,” he said. “Not until I can be with you.”
“I don’t know …”
“Well, I do.” Alex started to sit up farther. He gritted his teeth and lay back against the raised bed. “Detective Yarrow was in here this morning and said they’ve found no sign of Christine. She’s still out there somewhere. He seems to think we’re safe because we’ve got cops for babysitters, but I’m not so sure.”
“We’ve got to at least stop by the house and—”
“No, you don’t.” He winced from the strain on his vocal cords. “You don’t have to go there, Sarah.”
“We have to feed Patches,” Brian said. He was standing across the room, his back to the window.
“You see?” Sarah smiled at Alex. “We have to feed Patches. And we have to change clothes and maybe brush our teeth.”
Now Alex managed a smile.
“Besides,” Sarah said, “our baby-sitter will be right there with us.”
“Okay, okay. But promise me you won’t spend the night in the house until I can be with you.”
“I promise,” Sarah said.
34
SARAH AND BRIAN SPENT the morning at the hospital.
Sarah phoned Brian’s teacher from a pay phone on the first floor, telling her that Brian was staying home, sick with a cold. Then she bought a game of checkers at the gift shop and brought it upstairs so Alex and Brian could play. Alex was no longer attached to the IV. He got out of bed so that Brian could show him something from the window, but he soon felt dizzy and had
to lie back down.
At noon Officer Eastly helped arrange to have a nurse’s aide deliver three meals instead of one, and the Whitakers ate lunch in Alex’s room.
Officer Pearl relieved Eastly at twelve-thirty. She asked if Sarah wanted to go home.
Sarah nodded. “Just for a little while.”
“Sarah …” Alex held her hand.
“Just to feed Patches, and pick up a few things. And get our car. I’m sure Officer Pearl doesn’t want to be driving us around all over town, and I’ve got shopping to do.”
Alex smiled. “Okay, but please be careful.” He looked at Pearl.
“I’ll be with her all day,” she said.
Alex kissed Sarah and Brian good-bye, and they left with Pearl, promising to return later in the afternoon.
Pearl drove them home. The streets were dry, the lawns were white, and the neighborhood looked serene. Sarah kept expecting neighbors to come out on their porches and stare as they glided by in the patrol car. There was a new beige, featureless Ford parked in front of their house. Sarah saw a uniformed policeman sitting behind the wheel. It was Maestas.
Pearl turned into the driveway and stopped near the garage. Maestas walked over and leaned down, and Pearl rolled open the window.
“It’s quiet,” he said.
“Maybe we should have a look inside before Mrs. Whitaker goes in.”
Pearl borrowed Sarah’s keys; then she and Maestas walked around to the front of the house.
“Can we go in now, Mom?”
“Pretty soon, hon.”
Fifteen minutes later Maestas returned.
“All clear,” he said, and walked out to his car.
Sarah and Brian went inside as Pearl held open the door.
Patches was waiting for them, his bandaged stub of a tail erect. Brian hugged the big cat, then lifted him up and carried him to the kitchen. Sarah started to follow him, then stopped when she noticed a brown smear on the floor tiles in the middle of the foyer. She felt her stomach tighten when she realized that it was Alex’s blood. It looked as if it had been partly wiped up, perhaps inadvertently, when the paramedics had moved Alex onto the stretcher last night.
“I should’ve taken care of that,” Pearl said, standing beside her. “Can I help you?”
“No, I … I’ll do it. But I think Brian probably needs some help with the cat food.”
They went into the kitchen, and while Pearl assisted Brian, Sarah partially filled a plastic pail with soapy water. She carried the pail and a sponge out to the foyer, knelt down, and began cleaning the blood from the tiles. Her jaws were clamped tightly shut, both from anger and revulsion.
After she’d finished with the floor, she took Brian upstairs to change into fresh clothes. Brian wanted Pearl to come up, too, so he could show her some of his toys.
A short time later Sarah sat at the kitchen table and made out three lists: presents for Brian, presents for Alex, and damaged items for their insurance claim. The last list was the sum of the first two, plus one king-size mattress.
Sarah phoned the insurance company and requested that a claims form be mailed to them. Then she went up to Brian’s room. Brian and Pearl were kneeling on the floor beside a complicated arrangement of small plastic objects connected by a zig-zag chute. Brian released a ball into the high end of the chute, starting a chain reaction that ended with a cage dropping on a plastic mouse.
“Neat, huh?”
“Pretty neat.”
“Anybody want to go for a ride?” Sarah asked.
Sarah and Brian rode in the Wagoneer, and Pearl followed in the police car. Their first stop was the Mattress Factory on North Academy Boulevard. Pearl sat in the patrol car while Sarah went inside to haggle with a salesman and Brian explored the warehouse-like showroom. Sarah found the mattress she was looking for and bought it with her VISA card. She arranged to have it delivered to the house the next day.
Sarah spent the next few hours in several stores shopping for Alex’s gifts. Brian and Pearl dutifully trailed behind. Sarah was very nearly retracing the steps she’d taken last Monday. However, she didn’t go to the bookstore, because Alex’s history book could not be replaced. And she didn’t go to Hobby Town; she’d wait until Alex could be home with Brian.
They drove to the hospital at four.
Alex seemed to be in more pain than in the morning, even though he told Sarah that he felt all right. He said that Dr. Oakman definitely wanted him to stay there two more nights. Sarah winced at the thought of spending the next two nights in a motel. But neither did she relish the idea of her and Brian sleeping alone in their house—even with Officer Pearl on guard downstairs. And, of course, Alex was adamant.
“You’re not staying in the house until I’m out of here,” he said. “Or until they find Christine.”
He went on to say that he’d spoken again with Detective Yarrow. Yarrow had told Alex that they were beginning to think that Christine had left the city, having been scared away by the continued presence of police. However, the police were going to maintain their vigil over the house and the Whitaker family. At least for a while longer.
When Sarah and Brian got home from the hospital, the sun had just slid behind the mountains. The western sky was still light blue, but in the east it was purple, nearly black, as night moved toward them.
Sarah was mildly disturbed to see that Officer Maestas wasn’t parked in front of the house. However, Pearl assured her that Maestas was nearby. Still, Sarah was hesitant about taking Brian inside. Pearl told them to wait in the Wagoneer while she went in the house and looked around.
Ten minutes later she came back out and helped Sarah carry the packages inside. They left everything in the living room by the tree. Then Sarah plugged in the lights, which greatly pleased Brian. In fact, it pleased them all. They stood back, admiring the glow of the Christmas tree.
Sarah wondered how long it would be before Alex, and not a policewoman, stood with them and enjoyed the warmth of this room. And how long, she wondered, before she’d feel at ease in her own home.
She took Brian upstairs and helped him load his backpack with a change of underwear, his toothbrush, and a few toys. Her plan was for them to go out to dinner, spend some time with Alex at the hospital, and then go to the motel without coming here again tonight. But now she remembered all the groceries she’d bought just a few days ago.
She went downstairs and asked Pearl if she’d like a home-cooked meal instead of restaurant food.
“Your place or mine?” Pearl said.
Sarah smiled. “Help me set the table.”
She turned toward the cupboards just as the furnace roared to life in the basement. She stood still for a moment, tense, listening. Then she glanced at Pearl and forced a smile.
“It’s just the furnace. I guess I’m still jumpy.”
“I would be, too,” Pearl said.
“You did look down there, didn’t you?”
“Tonight? No. The door’s bolted, though.”
Sarah hesitated, then turned toward the cupboard.
“I’ll check it now if you like,” Pearl said.
“No, it’s … okay.”
“Hey, it’s no problem.”
Pearl moved toward the laundry room.
“Wait,” Sarah said. “I’ll go with you.” She smiled nervously. “I just want to reassure myself that everything’s nailed tight down there.”
Sarah followed Pearl to the basement door. Pearl slid open the bolt, then stopped, frowning. She bent and looked closely at it. She rotated the bolt in its hasp, then slid it closed and rotated it again.
“Is something wrong?”
“Scratches on the bolt,” Pearl said.
“I noticed them, too. Is it important?”
Pearl shook her head. She ran the tips of her fingers along the doorframe.
“I don’t know,” she said. “They were probably caused by the bolt turning.”
“That’s what I thought.”
“It woul
dn’t hurt to put another lock on this door, though.”
Sarah gave herself a mental kick for not thinking about that when the locksmith had been here the day before.
“I’ll see to it tomorrow.”
“Good,” Pearl said, opening the door.
She flipped on the light and descended the stairs. Sarah followed. Pearl had not been down here before, so Sarah found herself announcing the rooms before Pearl opened each door. They checked the furnace room first. Pearl did not hesitate to open the grating of the huge, dead furnace and peer inside.
“It looks like there’s cardboard or something in the ducts.”
“The workmen blocked them off when they installed the new furnace.”
Pearl frowned briefly, then clicked off her flashlight. She and Sarah went out to the hall and began searching the rest of the rooms. When they reached the outside door, Sarah saw how Alex had wedged a length of lumber against it, then driven a large nail directly into the floor to hold it in place. He’d also nailed a board over the broken window in the living room. And he’d pounded nails into the frames of all the other windows. It was a crude job, but it looked secure to Sarah.
“Let’s go upstairs and eat,” she said.
She turned off the light, and they walked back along the hallway. As they passed the furnace room, Pearl stopped and held out her arm.
“I heard something in there,” she said softly.
She put her hand on the doorknob and clicked on her flashlight, which Sarah now noticed was as large and heavy as a club. Pearl swung open the door, then gave a start.
“I saw a mouse,” she said in disgust.
Pearl stood a moment more in the doorway. Then she reached in, turned on the overhead light, and walked over to the huge furnace. Sarah followed her into the room.
“What is it?”
“I don’t know, this bothers me.”
She pulled open the furnace door and shone her light inside. Then she put her head and shoulders through the small doorway. She backed out and straightened up.
“You say workmen closed off the ducts?”
“That’s what my husband said.”
“It looks like it’s just cardboard stuffed in there.”
Night of Reunion: A Novel Page 25
