“And did you find him?”
“Yup.”
“How much trouble are you in?”
“Pretty much all of it.”
Janice leaned back in her seat and rubbed her eyes. “I don’t like that man. Kajdas. I don’t know what he’s up to, but he’s just... I don’t like him.”
“Me neither. He’s always hatching plots.”
Janice nodded as though he’d said more than he realized. “I thought he was a friend of yours. He certainly came to see you a lot. He never visits any of his other ones as far as I can tell. What happened?”
Ed didn’t know what came over him at that point. Perhaps it was just because he was tired, or because he had no one left to talk to. Something in her manner made him feel like he could tell her anything. She was used to dealing with crazy people; his story couldn’t possibly seem as crazy as most of the things she saw and heard in a typical day. So he told her everything. He told her about Eleanor and the gnome, the Guru and Arthur, Sarah (although he didn’t mention that he’d slept with her). He told her about the evidence he’d sabotaged to make money on the side, and what he’d spent the money on. And he told her what he’d done to Nathaniel and Kajdas a few minutes ago. Janice listened to all this with no expression whatsoever on her face, until he got to the part where he had locked Tom in the trunk. This got a guffaw out of her that turned every face in the diner toward them.
“You’re off your rocker,” she said when he was finished. “I can’t believe Engel ever discharged you.”
Ed shrugged self-consciously.
“I’ve heard about that guy in the basement. The way people talk about him, you’d think they were keeping a man-eating goblin down there. So he’s dead now, huh?”
“Yeah. But I just saw the gnome again, so maybe not.”
Janice nodded as if this made perfect sense. “They always make us leave whenever Kajdas or his creeps come around.” She took a few sips of her coffee as she gazed out the window. “So. Should I turn you in or let you go?”
“I was sort of hoping you’d let me go.”
She nodded toward the window. Another squad car zipped past the diner. “More cops coming. Even if I let you go―”
“You could give me a ride back to LA,” he suggested hopefully.
“I’m late for work already, pal. There’s no such thing as calling in sick when you’ve got my job.”
“Then let me take your car.”
She laughed at first, but soon realized he wasn’t making a joke. “I can’t give you my car.”
Ed thought about this a moment. Then he felt around his pockets and pulled out a stack of hundred dollar bills, holding the money close to his lap so no one but Janice would see it. “What’s the car worth?”
Her eyes widened infinitesimally when she saw the cash. “It’s not about money.”
“Thousand dollars? Two thousand?”
“You saw it. It’s a piece of junk.”
“But you’ll need enough to buy a better one. That thing barely runs.” He counted off some bills. “How about five thousand?”
“Are you kidding? I could by a couple cars with that.”
He held out the money under the table. “It’s not as if I need it. Get a nice one.”
“No!” she said, pushing it away. “It’s Kajdas’ money, isn’t it? I don’t want it.”
“Come on. Let me do some good with it.”
She resisted a bit longer, arguing with weakening resolve that she didn’t want ill-gotten money, but finally gave in and took the cash with a furtive look around the diner, stuffing it into her purse. No one was looking their way. “Thanks.”
Ed folded the rest of the bills to slip them back into his pocket, leaving a hundred dollar bill on the table for the waitress. She seemed like she could use some cheering up. “You just saved my life,” he said.
“You seem like you’ve had enough trouble to last a while. Besides, I’ve seen a little of what Engel and the others do over there. I don’t think you’re completely crazy.” The adverb left some room in her statement for interpretation.
Ed got teary-eyed and had to blink rapidly to keep things under control. “Go on,” he said, “before they find us here.”
Janice took one last sip of coffee, dabbed her mouth with a napkin, and said, “I’ll drive you out of town. They’ll have the roadblock up by now.” She led him out to her car and flipped the lever to swing the seat forward, revealing a back seat that was absolutely covered with junk—wrinkled magazines and papers, an old olive-green blanket, a pair of sneakers. Janice made Ed stretch out in the narrow patch of floor behind the front seats. He tucked himself into the tight space and, possibly for the first time in his life, thanked his lucky stars he wasn’t bigger. Janice tossed the green blanket over him, arranged the rest of her junk on top, pushed his head down, and said, “Good enough. Stop fidgeting.”
For the next ten minutes Ed crouched in the confined space, unable to see. He heard the starter cluck like an angry chicken as Janice turned the key. Then the engine came to life, producing a thick cloud of smoke that burned Ed’s nostrils as the engine coughed and sputtered. The car shook violently, and then they were moving.
Almost as soon as they rolled out, he felt the car slow down and come to a stop. “Blocked off,” Janice said from up front. “You’d better hope they aren’t searching all the cars.”
“Are they federal or local?”
“The cars all say Bakersfield Police. There’s one from the Kern County Sheriff.”
They crept forward a few inches at a time—waiting for other cars to get past the roadblock, Ed surmised—and then he heard Janice roll down her window. “I’m a nurse,” Janice said. Ed heard a male voice speaking to her in the stuffy and official tone of a police officer, but he couldn’t hear what he was saying. “How long ago?” she asked the officer. “What’s he look like?” A long pause. “I haven’t seen anyone like that.” Another pause. “Thanks. I will.”
Then she hit the gas again. The car shook nearly to pieces as she accelerated down the highway. Two minutes later, he heard the grinding of gravel under the tires as the car came to a stop.
“This is your stop,” said Janice.
He struggled to get up, finally accepting a hand from Janice. Crawling out of the cramped back seat, he pulled himself stiffly to his feet and took a look around. Janice had pulled some distance off onto a dirt road, and the dust the car had kicked up still hung in the air. “Keys,” Janice said, slipping her car keys into his hand.
“How will you get back?”
“How do you think? It’s only a twenty minute walk from here.” She gave him a quick hug. “I hope you make it. What they did to you...” She shook her head angrily. “Just don’t let them find you, okay? I can’t keep this a secret for long. Sooner or later they’ll start looking for the car.” Then she brushed some of the dust off of her white uniform and began walking back toward the highway.
A minute later, Ed turned the key in the ignition and pumped the gas. The car shivered to life and he took off in a cloud of dust and acrid smoke.
* * *
John entered the room, flanked by two burly, bald-headed foot-soldiers, to find Arthur gazing out the window at the sunrise. The golden light that filled the room seemed to come not from the sun, but from his radiant face. “Leave us alone,” Arthur said. The soldiers, glancing with suspicion at John’s full head of hair, withdrew to the hallway and shut the door.
“Lord Orc,” John said, bowing his head and greeting his leader in their formal way. It was a name Arthur would only allow them to use in the presence of other members of the Army. Instead of answering, Arthur rushed over and took him in a bear hug that lifted him right off the floor. This was not something most people were able to do to Big John, and he was impressed. Arthur released him, held him by the shoulders at arm’s length to get a good look at his face, and smiled.
“It’s good to have you back. I’m so proud of you, John.”
&
nbsp; “Thank you, Lord Orc. It’s good to be home.” He paused. “Do the others―”
“I told them about your true mission the moment I heard you had done it. They want you back in the fold now that they understand.”
“Can I shave my head again?”
“Sure you can. You got the wrong house, you know.”
John’s stomach tried to turn itself inside-out. He stared wide-eyed at Arthur, who was smiling slightly. “What?”
“Wrong house. You had them kill the wrong people. Rodney’s group lives next door to the one you hit.”
He swallowed hard. “I’m sorry, Lord Orc. I thought―”
“Doesn’t matter. The Guru’s groupies probably got the hell out of town when they heard people being killed next door. I sent a squad over to check on it.”
John closed his eyes and heaved a voluminous sigh. “What about the other one? That was the right place, wasn’t it?”
“Oh, sure. Well, I heard Melcher moved out a long time ago. The people you killed in that house probably didn’t even know him. We could’ve skipped that one and it wouldn’t have made any difference. But you couldn’t have known that. Anyway, I’m sure Melcher will get the message. Did you take part?”
“You mean, did I do the actual killing?”
Arthur nodded.
“No. I helped him decide where to send them, who to kill, but he had the others go in and do the dirty work. I was out at his ranch watching TV while it was going on. When they all came back, I left.”
“Good. Now that you’re out of there, I’ll call in a tip on them. Is there anyone you think shouldn’t go to jail? Anyone worth saving? We could pull one or two of them out before it happens.”
John thought about this a minute. “I’d be happy to see them all rot in prison,” he said finally. “Evil, every one of ’em. ’Specially the women.”
“Then jail it is. One less rival for me to worry about. The important thing is, Terwilliger’s got nowhere to go now.”
“Ed. Do you know where he is? Is he okay?”
Arthur looked out the window. “Seems to be fine. He’s been tricky. I lost him for a long time, found him for a bit, then lost him again when two of my soldiers violated orders and confronted him. They thought they’d earn some points by bringing him to me.” He pointed to the flower garden outside, where a large patch of soil had been disturbed not long ago. “Those soldiers are on garden duty now. Ed ran off again. I thought he might be staying in Rodney’s house, but I couldn’t be sure. Rodney’s men guarded their house too closely for me to find out if he was there. I couldn’t make a move until I knew. Then he came out. As soon as he did that, I sent you the signal.”
“Do you know where he is now?”
Arthur bent to examine a vase of flowers on the windowsill. “Wilting,” he murmured. “I’ll need one of the girls to pick up some more.” Then he fixed his disquieting gaze on John and said, “John, I have more work for you to do. This will be easier than your last gig.”
“Anything,” John replied.
“Ed is too important to have anything go wrong. I don’t feel right having my regulars following him. I want you to relieve them and keep tabs on him yourself.”
“You want me to bring him to you?”
Arthur shook his head. “It’s more complicated than that.”
43
The Girl Who Seldom Blinks
Ed sat up in bed and spent a rather long time trying to recall where he was. The throbbing pain in his head and the palms of his hands competed with bruises and scrapes all over his body for his attention. Stretching his sore legs, he got up and staggered to the bathroom.
Gradually he put together a recollection of stopping at a motel and paying cash for a room. The motel was a filthy roadside place, the first one he had come across on the road out of Bakersfield. His room was sweltering and smelled like a mixture of mildew and sweat, tempered by a hint of stale vomit.
It was dark outside. He had no idea what time it was.
After drinking a glass of tap water with a brownish cast to it, he took a lukewarm shower that made his cuts sting. He got dressed with care, then tucked what remained of his money—still more than ten thousand—into his wallet, various pockets, and even his shoes. When he went outside, he was surprised and overjoyed to find Nurse Gilmore’s car—now his car—still where he had parked it. He could only assume Janice had not reported him to the police. Hiding his gun under the passenger seat, he headed out.
The dark miles passed slowly with only the radio to keep him company. Stations faded into a flurry of static as he drove farther from civilization, and he was left with nothing but white noise across the entire range of frequencies. He left the static on; it drowned out the road noise and helped him think. When he crested a hill and an L.A. station abruptly came into range, the shock nearly made him swerve off the road until he quickly switched it off.
It was getting on toward morning, but still dark, when he finally saw the lights of Los Angeles twinkling in the valley before him. The maze of side streets in Los Feliz once again proved too complicated for him to navigate. He got lost for half an hour before finally parking around the corner from the Guru’s house and picking his way through the pitch-black yards to the back door. Finding it unlocked, he crept inside.
“Rayfield?” he called. “Geoffrey?” There were voices coming from the living room. He found the television on in there, but no one was watching.
“Lou?” He checked the kitchen. There was a turkey sandwich on the counter with one large bite taken out of it. It wasn’t on a plate; they had just left it on the counter. A glass of milk sat next to the sandwich. Ed touched it and found that it was no longer cold.
He checked the bedrooms and poked his head into the bathroom. The house was empty. He went back to the kitchen and stared at the sandwich. When he looked up, a woman was standing just inside the back door. Ed squealed like a girl and knocked the glass of milk to the floor. The glass shattered, spattering little white droplets all over his shoes.
“Hi,” the woman said uncertainly. She was petite, with long, straight blond hair and pale blue eyes as big as saucers.
“Who?” Ed swallowed and started over. “How did you get in here?”
“The door was open. Is your name Ed?”
He took a cautious step backward and felt glass cracking under his foot. She didn’t seem to be a figment of his imagination, although he wasn’t such a good judge of that sort of thing anymore. “How about we start with your name?” he said.
“Joy. You’re Ed, right? I can’t believe you’re real!”
“How do I know you’re real?” Ed replied.
The girl smiled tentatively and didn’t answer his question. “It took me forever to find the right house. I’d seen it a million times, but it’s different when you’re really seeing it, you know?” She watched him expectantly until he nodded, although he didn’t really understand at all. “Is the Guru here too?” she said.
“He’s dead.”
“Oh.”
“How do you know the Guru?”
“I don’t.” She was silent for a long, uncomfortable moment. “Do you drive a yellow car?” she said at last.
“No.” As soon he said this, Ed realized he couldn’t recall what color Janice’s car was. “Wait, yeah. It might be yellow.”
Joy nodded as though this made all the pieces fit. “Okay, that’s why.”
Ed was finding Joy to be profoundly difficult to have a conversation with. “That’s why what?”
“Two of the bald men are going through it.”
Joy stepped backwards quickly to get out of his way as he bounded to the door. He peeked out into the darkness and saw nothing at all.
“You can’t see it from here,” Joy said helpfully. “You didn’t leave anything important out there, did you?”
“No,” he said, but his heart sank as he remembered that he’d left his gun in the car. “How many guys? Two?”
“Two.”
>
Ed turned around and was startled to find her staring at him from mere inches away. The constant look of amazement on her face was disconcerting. He hadn’t seen her blink since she’d arrived.
“I have to get out of here,” he declared, and Joy beamed with excitement as she started to follow him out the door. She nearly bumped into him when he stopped and spun to face her again. She was still staring at him wide-eyed. “You can’t come with me,” he said.
“Why not?”
He clenched his fists in exasperation. “These bald guys are dangerous. They’re after me, not you. You’ll be safe if you get away from me.”
“Oh.” She pondered this as she stood in the yellow light that shone through the Guru’s back door into the yard. “How are you going to get away? They’ve got your car.”
“I’ll think of something.” He started to walk across the yard. Joy followed him.
“Look,” he snapped, wheeling about, “you need to get away from here.”
“I am!”
“Not with me.” He waved toward the house. “Go that way.”
“Okay,” she said, crestfallen. She started to turn back toward the house, but a sudden noise of splintering wood came from that direction and stopped her where she stood. Two men appeared in the kitchen window, their shaven heads gleaming. They were examining the sandwich on the counter and the glass on the floor. Ed ducked down low and ran around the swimming pool toward the hedgerow that lined the property, with Joy so close behind him that she kept kicking his heels.
“Do you want a ride?” Joy asked hopefully. She bumped into him when he stopped at the edge of the trees.
“Don’t move,” Ed hissed, looking back at the house. Arthur’s men were looking out the window at the back yard. Ed prayed they couldn’t see anything in the darkness.
“I have a car,” said Joy.
Ed looked at her and tried to decide whether she was really as harmless as she appeared. She didn’t look dangerous, but then again, she had showed up at the same time as Arthur’s men. How could he be sure she wasn’t one of them? Arthur didn’t make his girls shave their heads.
Forest of the Mind (The Book of Terwilliger 1) Page 41
