Linwood Barclay - Parting Shot

Maureen held her position in the hall.

“I don’t like being dragged into something that involves my father. Promise Falls’ most famous cop. God, I thought your eyes were going to pop out of your head when you saw the picture of that dude’s back.”

Maureen didn’t detect any admiration in his tone.

“Fine,” Trevor said. “Do whatever you want... Yes, yes, I’m still coming. I’ll meet you there.”

Then, a very clipped “Bye.”

Maureen continued down the hall to prepare for dinner out with her husband. But she wasn’t thinking about what she would order.

What did Trevor think wasn’t a good idea?

“Pack?” Jeremy said, sitting up on the bed.

“Yeah,” I said. “I think the only way to keep you safe is to get you out of here.”

He swung his feet down to the floor. “What should I pack?”

I shrugged. “Your stuff.”

“My mom usually puts everything in my case when we go anywhere.”

“Whatever you brought when you came from home, bring that.”

“How long will we be gone?”

I hadn’t really thought about that. “I don’t know. Two, three days to start. Just pack whatever you’ve got. If you run out of stuff, we’ll get more.”

“Will you get me a phone?”

“No. Give me two minutes. I think your mom’s okay with this, but I just want to be sure.” I hesitated. “Unless you don’t want to go.”

He appeared dumbstruck. “Uh, I guess it’s okay.”

I could hear an ongoing discussion in the kitchen as I was descending the stairs. Gloria had clearly made her way back there from the living room.

“I swear, it’s like you think I’m alcoholic,” she said.

“I didn’t use that word, you just did,” Ms. Plimpton replied.

“You don’t have to use it. I know it’s what you mean. Let me ask you this, Madeline. Has it occurred to you that maybe I drink just a titch more than I used to? And have you asked yourself why that might be?”

“We’ve all been through a lot,” her aunt said.

“Oh yes, what you’ve been through, it’s just been terrible. How many times did you show up during the trial? Was it three? Four?”

“It was more than that and you know it, Gloria,” Ms. Plimpton said defensively.

“And when you did come, you know what was interesting? That we had a hard time finding you at the end of the day.”

“Gloria, stop.”

“But one of those days, I did find you. Didn’t I? But not at the end of the day.”

“For God’s sake, this has nothing to do with anything.”

Bob looked at Gloria pleadingly. “Gloria.”

“There you were, coming out of the hotel elevator at eight in the morning with Grant Finch.”

Ms. Plimpton turned away.

“I guess the good news is women your age still like to get their motor running,” Gloria said. She smiled wickedly at Bob. “That’s certainly encouraging for our twilight years, isn’t it, hon?”

Bob gave Ms. Plimpton a strained look of apology. “It’s the wine.”

“No, it’s not,” she said. “She’s never appreciated a damn thing I’ve done for her.”

Gloria waved her arms dramatically. “Oh yes, you came to my rescue after my daddy died. And I should be forever grateful.”

“Can the two of you just stop this?” Bob said. “I swear to God. Or maybe you should just fight to the death. I don’t know that I even fucking care any more.” He turned to leave. “I need to make a call to Galen. There’s something I forgot to ask him about.”

“Galen, Galen, Galen,” Gloria said. “Maybe you should marry him .”

“Damn it, would you knock it off? Galen’s been a great help to us.”

“Oh, I forgot,” Gloria said. “He’s been swell.”

“He’s putting a fortune into our pockets is what he’s doing, letting me in on this deal,” Bob said. “If you don’t want us to be millionaires, just say the word.”

That shut Gloria up, at least long enough for me to make my entrance.

“I have a proposal,” I said. All eyes turned to me. I think they were a little stunned, and embarrassed, that I’d been a witness to their squabbling.

“What might that be?” Bob asked.

“I’ll take Jeremy for a couple of days.”

Gloria said, “Take him where?”

“First, away. I’ve got him packing his bag now. Your number-one concern is Jeremy’s security. Instead of trying to make this place safe so he can stay here, it’s easier to take him someplace else.”

Bob was nodding. “That’s not a bad idea.”

“The whole country knows he’s in Promise Falls. Why not let them keep thinking that? You’re all big enough to look after yourselves.”

Gloria looked unconvinced. “I don’t know. I don’t like letting him out of my sight. I didn’t know this was what you were thinking.”

“I’d take good care of him.”

Gloria set down her wine glass. “Okay,” she said. “I guess it would be okay. I better go help him get ready.”

I held up a hand. “Like I said, he’s on it.”

She looked hurt. “He might forget something.”

“He’s doing great. If we’re missing something, we’ll pick it up on the way.”

“Where will you go?” Bob asked.

“I’m thinking about that. Maybe we’ll do a road trip, keep moving.” I looked at Madeline Plimpton. “You have my number if anyone needs to get in touch.”

She nodded, then said to her niece, “I guess you two can go back to Albany.”

“We can hang in for a few more days,” Gloria said. “It’s always lovely spending time with you, Madeline.”

Whatever stuff Jeremy had, it all fit into his backpack. He dumped it into the trunk of my Honda, which was still parked on the street. He was about to get into the front seat when his mother came out of the house. We’d already said our goodbyes inside, but evidently it wasn’t enough.

She threw her arms around him and pulled him close to her.

“You be good,” she told him. Over his shoulder she said to me, “You take good care of my boy.”

“You bet,” I said.

Gloria put her mouth to his ear and whispered some sweet nothing. I decided to give them a moment of privacy and got into the car. Jeremy joined me in the passenger seat fifteen seconds later. His face was flushed red with what I guessed was embarrassment.

“Have to go by my place first to get a few things,” I said, keying the ignition.

“Like a gun?” he asked.

“Like socks and underwear.”

“Oh. Don’t you carry a gun?”

“Sometimes.”

“My mom got one.”

“Terrific.”

“She got it during the trial. Actually, Bob bought it for her. Because we were getting so many death threats.”

“Did your mom take any lessons in how to use it?”

Jeremy shrugged. “Bob told her all you have to do is point it and shoot it.”

“Where’s that gun now?”

“When we got here, Mom was keeping it in her purse, but that freaked out my grandmother. She made her put it away. It’s in the kitchen drawer right next to the knives and forks. I took it out the other night and was looking at it when they were all in the living room.”

“Is it loaded?”

Jeremy nodded. “It wouldn’t be much good if someone broke in and it didn’t have any bullets in it.”

If the car hadn’t been moving, I’d have closed my eyes while I sighed. It was just as well I was getting the kid out of that house for a while.

“Where do you live?” he asked.

“Downtown.”

“This town’s kind of the pits, isn’t it?”

“It’s seen better days. Some people say it’s on the comeback. We’ve got a new mayor. Actually, he was the mayor a long time ago, and now he’s back in office. Maybe he’ll make a difference.”