Linwood Barclay - No Safe House

“If somebody did get shot, are you saying it was Stuart?” I asked between her sobs. “Did you get the sense that there was somebody else there? Someone else who could have fired a gun? And is it possible Stuart had a second gun? That he gave one to you and held on to another one for himself?”

“He — I’m pretty sure — he had just the one. He went back to the car to get it. I... I called for Stuart and he didn’t say anything. I think... I think I actually screamed for him. But then I thought I could still hear something moving around, and I put my hands over my eyes for a second, screamed again, I was totally freaking out, and I felt someone run by me, or I heard someone running... I don’t know. It was dark in the house. He told me not to turn on any lights, so no one would know we were there. I think I got bumped. If Stuart was okay, wouldn’t he have answered me? Maybe — maybe what I heard was a dog or something running through the house. He said the people there had pets, so they didn’t have those, you know, those things in the house that can tell if you’re there.”

“Motion sensors.”

“Yeah.”

“Did you hear a dog? Was there any barking?”

“No, I didn’t hear anything like that.”

“Okay. Grace, where did this happen?”

“A house.”

“Where’s this house?”

“I don’t know.” She took several deep breaths. “I mean, I sort of know, but I don’t exactly know. Not far from the gas station. I wasn’t running that long.”

Ten minutes, she said. Could be a radius of half a mile to a mile or so around that location.

“So it wasn’t Stuart’s house?”

She shook her head. “No. It was some house that he said was on the list.”

“What list?”

“He didn’t say. Just a list where they kept track of things. It might have been a list his dad had.”

“What’s his dad do?”

Grace sniffed and shook her head. “I don’t know, just stuff. But Stuart knew the people who lived in the house were away and figured if he could get into the house, he could get the keys and take the car for a drive.”

“Jesus,” I said. I seemed to be saying that a lot.

“I’m so sorry,” she said. “I’m sorry. I’m really, really sorry. It was really stupid. I’m so sorry. I know this is it for me. My life’s finished. What’s Mom going to say when she finds out? She’ll probably kill herself. After she kills me.”

“Grace, listen to me. Is it possible you didn’t actually shoot him? Did you see him get shot? What did you see?”

“I don’t know. I heard the shot, but I didn’t really see anything.”

“Were you pointing the gun? Were you holding it up, or was it down at your side?”

“I think — I don’t think I was pointing it. Stuart told me not to put my finger on the trigger, but then when I started to follow him, I kind of moved it in my hand because it was heavy and I might have got my finger on it. Maybe it went off when it was pointed down, and the bullet bounced or something.”

“Tell me again, where did this gun come from?”

“It was in the glove compartment.”

“He keeps a gun in his car?”

“It’s not his car. It belongs to his dad. It’s really old.”

“Is it possible his father’s a cop or something?”

Grace shook her head. “He’s definitely not a cop.” I had the sense she knew more than she was saying about Stuart’s father. “And it was just a dumpy old car, not a police car or anything. It was huge.”

“Okay, so Stuart got the gun from the glove compartment. Why did he want to have a gun?”

“In case we ran into anyone. He said he wasn’t going to use it to shoot anybody, just to scare them off if they gave him a hard time.”

In my head, I was screaming.

“How did it end up in your hand?” I asked.

“He dropped it while he was looking for the keys, so he asked me to hang on to it. I told him I didn’t want to, I swear. I didn’t want to touch it even. But he got really mad at me.”

“When the shot happened, did your arm kick back hard?” I didn’t know much about guns but was aware of the principle of recoil.

“I don’t know. It’s all kind of hard to remember.”

“Grace,” I said, trying to get her to look me in the eye. “Grace, look at me.”

Slowly, she raised her head.

“If this boy has been shot, then we need to get him some help.”

“What?”

“If he’s in that house, if he’s been wounded, then we have to help him. If you did shoot him, and we don’t know if you did or not, but if you did, he might be alive. And if he is, we have to get him to a hospital. We have to call an ambulance.”

Another sniff. “Yeah, I guess.”

“Think. Do you know the address?”

“I told you. I don’t even know where I was. Stuart drove, and then when I left, I didn’t even pay attention to where I was exactly. He said the name of the people who lived there, but...” She struggled to remember. “I don’t... I can’t think what it was.”

“Then we’re going to have to find that house,” I told her.

“Huh?”

“We’re going to have to go back. You’re going to have to help me find it. If we drive around that area, maybe you’ll recognize it.”

She started to shake.

“I can’t do that. I can’t go back.”

“Look,” I said. “Call him. Try calling Stuart on your cell. Maybe he’s fine. Maybe’s he’s okay.”

“I tried,” she said. “After I ran away. I made — I made some calls before I called you, most of them to Stuart. He didn’t answer.”

“Try one more time. If you get him and find out he’s okay, then we’ll sort out what we have to do. But if you can’t get him, we’re going to have to find that house. Right now, if I called an ambulance, I’d have no idea where to send them.”

Grace swallowed again. “Okay.” She pointed to her purse, which she’d dropped by the bathroom door. “Can you reach that for me?”

I crawled over, got the bag, and set it by her knee. She dug into it, pulled out the phone. She went into her recent calls, tapped the screen, put the phone to her ear.

Waited.

Looked at me.

Waited a little longer.

A large tear formed at the corner of her right eye and left a damp trail down her cheek.

“It went to message,” she whispered.

I stood. “I guess we better go.”

“Hello?”

“I almost gave up there. That was ten rings, Unk. I wake you?”

“I guess I’d nodded off. What time is... It’s almost eleven. I was watching TV and fell asleep. I think I was dreaming about your father. About when the two of us were growing up together. He liked to light firecrackers under turtles. Mom always said he wasn’t wired right in the head. Something happen?”

“Just thought I’d bring you up to speed.”

“Yes?”

“First of all, they took the bait. Again.”

“That’s good, right, Reggie?”

“Yes and no. What we’re finding is, there’s not just one hiding place. She could be anywhere. It’s a risk-reduction strategy. Multiple spots. I get the wisdom of it. And like I said before, there’s a chance for a real payoff here. Something I wasn’t expecting at the outset.”

“I want you to come out okay. You deserve it.”

“It just means I may have to come up with another strategy. I can’t hit a dozen locations at once. I’ve got help — I’ve had to bring in a couple of extra guys — but it’s not like I’ve got an army. Instead of us finding a way to get it, maybe we’re going to have to find a way to get them to bring it — and her — to us.”

“You think she’s okay?”

“I’ve got no reason to think otherwise. But we need to move quickly because we’re not the only one looking for her.”