Nelson DeMille - Spencerville

Keith didn't reply.

She continued, "He's also tried to make them as vicious as he is. But I don't believe you can make people vicious unless they have it in them to begin with. Most of those guys are okay — they like me, but they have to play the part for the boss."

Keith wasn't entirely sure about that, but since he had no intention of traveling through Spencer County, he wasn't going to find out. Unless, of course, some other police force picked them up and turned them over to the Spencerville police department. Keith said to her, "Okay, after the phone calls, he finally calls the Spencerville P.D. and, I suppose, the county sheriff."

"Yes. That's his mother's cousin."

"So, at that point, the whole county is looking for your white Lincoln."

"Yes. Before I had a car phone, they'd pull me over and very politely ask me to call my husband at work, or go home because he needed to tell me something." She added, "A lot of them smirked — not at me, with me."

"Sounds like fun being married to the local police chief."

"Actually, sometimes it was. God forgive me, but I used to love seeing him make a jackass of himself." She added, "I'm sorry. That's not me."

"It's okay." He said to her, "I'll be honest with you — a lot depends on how long it takes him to decide to drive out to my place, then decide to come onto my property, then to open the barn door."

"I know."

He tried to put himself in Cliff Baxter's position. He thought about what Annie had told him about her husband's usual wife-searching routine, and he also considered the fact that Baxter didn't really believe there was any recent connection between his wife and Keith Landry. Yet, eventually, Cliff Baxter would be drawn to the Landry farm. Then what? If he came onto the property, he'd see the house was dark and the Blazer was gone. He would think that Keith Landry had taken Chief Baxter's threat seriously and run away, which was a logical conclusion for Baxter, considering the man's overblown ego. Or Baxter could think something else, based on his jealousy and paranoia, which in this case was well founded. If Baxter thought to go to the barn, all his questions would be answered. The "Fuck you" note wouldn't improve his mood much. Keith processed all this and figured they had about another hour or less before the police radios started crackling in the surrounding counties.

A half hour after they'd left Terry and Larry, they approached the intersection of Interstate 75. Southbound led directly to Dayton or to Route 15, which would take them to Columbus. Northbound led directly to Toledo. Keith considered the problem. If he went south, to Columbus, it would take about two hours, and to Dayton, close to three. The airports in both cities were bigger than Toledo Airport, and they'd have a better chance of getting a flight to Washington, or even Baltimore or Richmond. It didn't matter where at this point. But that was a very long time to be on the road in this situation.

Toledo Airport was only about a half-hour drive, but Keith didn't know if they could get a flight east, or a flight anywhere for that matter. Yet there had to be some flight out of Toledo that they could get on. The main consideration as he saw it was to get off the road as quickly as possible. He said to Annie, "I think we should go to Toledo because it's a shorter drive."

She nodded in understanding.

He added, "But I don't know what's flying out of there, where, or when."

"I don't care what, where, or when."

"Okay." He swung onto Interstate 75 northbound. It was a good, fast road with two lanes in either direction and not much traffic. He kept his speed at seventy miles per hour. They were heading back toward Spencer County, but Interstate 75 would not go through the county. He tried to determine how much territory a police search would include and asked her, "When was the last time you saw or spoke to anyone today before you came out to my place at six?"

She thought a moment, then replied, "I called both of my children at about five... just to hear their voices... Tom was out, but I spoke to Wendy."

"Would Mr. Baxter call his daughter?"

"Not usually, but this time he might. Yes, I think he would, because he might think I drove up to see her. I told him I wanted to do that, but he didn't like the idea."

"So Wendy would fix your time at home at about five-thirty."

"Yes. And I left a message on Tom's answering machine about that time."

Keith glanced at the dashboard clock. It was eight-thirty P.M. If Baxter had done his detective work well, he'd figure his wife was unaccounted for since five-thirty, or for the last three hours, which meant about a 180-mile radius from Spencerville by car. That included Toledo, of course, and also Fort Wayne, Indiana, which had an airport about the size of Toledo's. And with each passing half hour, the search radius would be automatically increased. That was assuming there was a search in progress, or about to begin.

Annie watched him awhile, then said, "Keith, you don't need this."

"No, I want this."

"But you don't have to run if I'm not with you. Let me off at the next rest stop, and I'll call Spencerville police headquarters and say..."

"Say what? You lost your car in my barn, and you need a ride home?"

"I don't care what I have to say, or what he does, or what happens. I won't put you in this..."

"Annie, I have my own grudge against Cliff Baxter going back a lot of years. I'm not doing this for you."

"Oh..."

"I just want to steal his wife and annoy him. I'll go to Washington, you go to Rome. Send me a postcard. Okay?"

"I guess you're joking."

"I'm being sarcastic and not funny. And you're being much too decent. But I appreciate your concern." He said, "Annie, you threw away your wedding ring. We agreed there is no turning back. Subject closed. Forever."

"Okay." She observed, "You handle this well. I guess you did things like this in your job."

"I used to abduct a wife a week."

"I mean dangerous things. Was it dangerous?"

"Not if you did it right." He added, "I spent the last five or six years mostly behind a desk. I'm rusty."

"I'm shaky."

"You have every right to be." He took her hand and squeezed it. "You're doing fine."

"I feel safe with you."

"Good. So your sister looked great. Good genes in the Prentis family."

"My mother hasn't aged much either. You're getting a good deal, Mr. Landry."

"I know." He added, "It sounded to me like you gave Larry the green light to go a few rounds with Mr. Baxter."

"Cliff won't come within fifty miles of him now, and Larry would never go looking for trouble." She said, "Larry and Terry have a great marriage. The Prentis women also make good wives." She added, as if reading his mind, "Right. One of them didn't know how to pick a husband."

Against his better judgment, Keith asked, "Did you ever love him?"

"No. Not ever."

"But he loves you."

"He does. But it's not the kind of love I want or need. It's the kind he wants and needs, and it kept me feeling obligated. It kept me around too long." She added, "With Wendy at school, I was going to do something, with or without you. Do you believe that?"

"I do. You hinted as much in your letters." He added, "Maybe that's what made me come back."

"No maybes about it, Keith. This was our last chance. You knew that."

"Yes, I did."

"We're going to make it this time, aren't we?"

"We are."

"If I wasn't so frightened, I'd be bouncing in my seat."

"You can bounce on the airplane seat." He put a tape in the deck and said, "Sixties stuff. Mixed album. Okay?"

"More than okay."

The Lovin' Spoonful sang, "Do You Believe in Magic," and Annie said, "Nineteen sixty-five. We're in our freshman year. Right?"

"Right."