Chapter 116
"Because I won't be thinkin' about sleepin'."
I reached my arms around his neck and pulled his mouth to mine. "Then let's do something to make you sleepy."
And that was how I finally took care of number fifteen.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE.
We woke up around eight and Joe was antsy. I had no idea what he had planned for Crocker's big meeting and he refused to tell me.
I made French toast for breakfast, just to prove myself capable of cooking, but Joe was too preoccupied to eat. He excused himself several times to make phone calls in his room. He told me to make myself at home, but to stay inside and away from the windows. He worried I'd go out anyway. m.u.f.fy still hadn't come home.
Around ten-thirty, he sat beside me on the sofa, pretending to watch a doc.u.mentary about prairie dogs on the Discovery Channel.
"I've been thinking about your visions," he said, holding my hand. "Can you make your visions happen?"
"No, they just come. I always fought them, but the one I had with Ashley, I didn't fight and it had more details."
"Have you ever tried to have one? To make it happen?"
"No, Momma said they were a sign of my demon possession."
Joe snorted. "It's a good thing I didn't know your Momma. You are not demon-possessed."
After the last night in bed with Joe, I wasn't so sure about that.
"Why don't you try it," he coaxed, "on me?"
I was torn. Nothing good had ever come from a vision. Why would I will one to happen?
"Come on, give it a try. What do you have to do? Touch me?"
"No, they don't work like that. They just happen. I don't see visions for me, though. I see visions for other people, through their eyes. The one with Daniel Crocker was the first time I'd ever seen myself in a vision, and the first time I'd ever seen something really bad. Usually it's things like where someone misplaced their keys."
"Sounds useful."
"It's a nuisance because whatever I see just blurts out of my mouth."
"Like when you told me about Hilary's dog."
I nodded. I didn't want to think about Hilary but I had to know. "Is Hilary your girlfriend?"
"No, we have a working relations.h.i.+p."
I wondered what that meant, but said nothing.
"So what do you say?" Joe said. "Let's try it."
"What?" I asked confused. "A vision? I don't know... I wouldn't even know how to begin."
"Since you see visions for other people, maybe you could concentrate on me."
"All right," I agreed with great reluctance. I turned to face Joe on the sofa, sitting cross-legged and held his hands in mine. I closed my eyes and thought about Joe working for Crocker and the big meeting. I concentrated really hard and tried to picture Joe's face in my mind. A little flicker appeared in my head. And then I felt a vision coming. I squeezed his hands and kept concentrating.
I saw a warehouse. It looked like a mechanic's garage. A couple of men carried small bundles and loaded them into a delivery truck. Crocker and some other men came into view and I felt myself being slammed against the wall, Crocker's face in front of mine.
"This is your last chance, McAllister. Tell me where she is or I'm gonna kill you." Crocker held a gun up to my forehead.
"I don't know," I heard Joe's voice say.
There was a gunshot and then nothing.
"He's gonna kill you," I whispered. "Because of me."
My eyes flew open to look into Joe's surprised ones. Then his expression changed, becoming grim before he said, "I figured he might try."
"You knew?" I asked in disbelief.
"I suspected."
"Then why are you doing it? Don't go!"
"Because I think I can stay alive long enough for somethin' important to happen. If I don't go all of these past months work and Sloan's death will have been for nothin'."
"But he's gonna kill you because of me. Crocker wants me and thinks you know where I am. Maybe I should turn myself into him."
"Absolutely not."
"I'll tell him I ran away, that you had nothin' to do with it."
"Absolutely not."
"If I do it before you show up, maybe I can stay alive long enough for what you need to happen."
"This is not up for discussion, Rose. He will probably hurt you the moment he sees you, if not shoot you dead first. You've embarra.s.sed him twice."
"But he's gonna kill you. Because of me."
"No, he won't."
"I saw it!"
"You're livin' proof that what you see doesn't always happen. Rose, I can't not go because you saw somethin' happen in your head."
"You're the one who made me try it," I said, hurt by his reaction.
Joe pulled me into his arms and gave me a kiss. "I don't want to leave with us fightin'."
"Then don't go."
Joe sighed and got up. "Do not look out the windows. Do not go outside until I come back. If something happens to me, Hilary knows you're here and will come and get you herself. Do not open the door for anyone."
"You make it sound like I'm in jail."
"As far as I'm concerned, you are. Come here." He grabbed my hands and pulled me off the sofa. "How about a kiss for good luck?"
I gave him a good one, trying to make him forget about going. But it didn't work. He walked to the front door.
"Please
He turned to look at me. His face looked like it belonged on Mount Rushmore, his profile hard with determination. "You still have to play in the rain," he said, breaking out into a mischievous smile. "I want to do that one with you. Don't do it without me, okay?"
I nodded, afraid I'd burst out into tears if I said anything.
And then he was gone.
I must have paced a furrow in his living room floor. I glanced at the clock. Only ten minutes had pa.s.sed. I had no idea how long Joe would be gone. It could be an hour. Or ten. I threw myself on his sofa in frustration, sure I was gonna go crazy before he came back.
Then I heard barking.
I scrambled up. The sound came from the backyard. I ran into Joe's bedroom and looked out the window. Over by my shed, at the edge of all the contents that still littered the yard, stood m.u.f.fy. Barking.
m.u.f.fy never barked. Why was she by the shed? She moved next to the rose bushes and howled, a chilling, haunting whine.
My stomach tumbled with nervousness and indecision. That dog meant everything to me. What if she ran away again? I couldn't just leave her out there.
I ran to the front and peeked through the cracks of the curtains. No cars on the street, nothing suspicious-looking. Should I risk it? If I got caught, Crocker would know Joe helped me.
I returned to the bedroom window. m.u.f.fy had stopped howling and lay down on the mulch by the roses, waiting for me. She'd turned her body so I could see her back hip and the red splotch on her fur. She was bleeding. I knew I had to go to her. The question was how I could get her and not give myself away.
I'd climb out the back window.
I'd learned a lot about climbing out of windows the last few days, so I was much quicker than the first time I tried it. I even landed on my feet and plastered my body to the rear of the house. Dark rain clouds were rolling in and Joe's yard was more shaded than mine. I could run through his backyard and most likely stay hidden. Then I'd skirt through the trees, make my way to the back of my yard and get m.u.f.fy.
The first part worked perfectly. I sprinted to the rear of Joe's lawn and practically vaulted his three-foot fence. It helped that I hadn't put on my shoes. While I was wearing my clothes from the night before, I figured heels were impractical running through wildlife.
I made it through the trees, directly behind the rose garden. It was a good twenty feet from the tree line. "m.u.f.fy!" I called. She turned her head to look at me, but kept her head lowered and whined.
"m.u.f.fy!"
She continued to ignore me and started digging in the dirt where I buried the gun. Did m.u.f.fy want me to dig up the gun?
As crazy as it was, it seemed like a good idea.
I bolted to m.u.f.fy and checked her backside first. Dried blood covered the wiry hair on her back left hip, but it looked old. When I tried to look more closely, she dug with her back legs, kicking dirt in my face. I let her go and started scooping dirt with my hands, thankful m.u.f.fy had a head start on me. In less than thirty seconds, I had the bag uncovered.
"Now what, m.u.f.fy?" I asked, thinking I needed to go back the way I'd come. I guessed I could push m.u.f.fy up into Joe's bedroom window.
m.u.f.fy whined and ran into the trees. I tried to coax her toward Joe's house, but she sat down in the shadows and whined again.
I kneeled beside her, rubbing her head. "What is it, m.u.f.fy?"
That's when I heard the pounding on Joe's doors. I dropped to the dirt, hidden by the shade of the trees. Two men beat at the door on the side of Joe's house, one of them busting it in with a good kick. I clung to m.u.f.fy, shaking. I would have been in the house if she hadn't come back and barked. After several minutes, they came back out, along with two other men. One of them held the shoes I wore the night before. They got in two cars and drove way.
What did that mean for Joe?
I sat in the dirt, stroking m.u.f.fy's head. "You saved me, m.u.f.fy. Now I think we've gotta save Joe." The only problem I saw with this plan was I didn't know anything about saving anybody. I didn't even know where to go, let alone have a car to get there. But I did have a gun, even if I'd never shot one before.
I unwrapped it, careful to point it away from me. I couldn't find the round spinny thing for bullets, then I remembered those were the kind of guns they used in prehistoric times. That covered most of the television shows I'd watched pre-cable. I was looking for the thing at the bottom of the gun. After a lot of fumbling and, I hate to admit, a little bit of cussing, I got it open. It appeared loaded.
Now to get to Joe. I remembered the truck parked outside of my house, the one driven by the guy who broke into my house. Weston's Garage. It seemed like a good place to start.
Weston's Garage was an old battered warehouse out past The Trading Post, off Highway 82 and a half-mile down a country road. I'd been there once with Daddy, back when I was about thirteen. They worked on service vehicles and tractors. Uncle Earl had asked Daddy to see if they had a part for his old combine. Back then it had been a scary place, with old farm equipment scattered around the warehouse yard like mutant lawn ornaments. Given the circ.u.mstances, I supposed it would be even scarier now.
First I had to figure out how to get there. I had no keys, no car, no driver's license and no money. This could be a problem.
I stood up and walked toward my house. I needed shoes and I could think about my transportation issue while I got them. Lucky for me, Daniel Crocker's friends had already opened the door.
His boys could learn a thing or two about being polite houseguests. My house was torn to bits. The intruder on Thursday had been looking for something; this time they did it just to be mean. I was gonna have to pay a cleaning service again and that made me plenty mad.
I found a pair of tennis shoes and slipped them on and I ran outside, still unsure how to get to Joe. Mildred's old Cadillac sat parked in her driveway and an idea sprang to mind. I ran across the street, m.u.f.fy following behind, and beat on her door. I was just about to give up when Opal, the elderly neighbor next door to Mildred, poked her head out.
"Mildred's at church, honey. She'll be back after lunch."
"But her car's in the driveway."
"Her son picked her up." Opal came out onto the porch, leaning on her metal walker with florescent green tennis b.a.l.l.s on the feet.
I stared longingly at the 1974 white Cadillac. It was a tank. I knew Mildred kept the keys in the ignition. I had an evil idea.
"My car's in the shop and Mildred told me I could use hers. I plum forgot she had church this mornin' and just wanted to thank her again for lettin' me use it. So I'll just take off and thank her later." I was already moving to the driver's door.
"Are you sure?" Opal asked, sounding confused. "Mildred don't let n.o.body drive her car."
"I know! That's the amazin' part, huh?" I opened the door and m.u.f.fy hopped in. She'd gotten me this far; it didn't seem right to leave her out now.
Opal pointed to m.u.f.fy. "I know for a fact Mildred don't let no animals in her car."
I had turned the key, the engine roaring to life. "Thanks, Miss Opal. You have a good day, too!"
She shouted as I pulled away. I turned to m.u.f.fy. "I've shot right on past the Seven Deadly Sins and moved onto breakin' the Ten Commandments. We're surely goin' to h.e.l.l now."