Лиза Макманн - Fade

12:36 p.m.

Captain drops Janie off at home and gives her a swift hug. “You call me if you need to talk more about this stuff,” she says.

“Thanks, Captain.”

“And it’s your call, what you want to tell Cabel, if anything. Be assured it’s not my place to tell him unless it directly affects your work as partners, and even then, I’d ask you to do it. As for you not driving, I think Cabel will take that very well. He worries enough about it.

Blame me.”

Janie waves weakly as Captain pulls away. She looks sadly at Ethel, quiet and alone in the driveway. Turns and enters the house.

Not quite sure what to do now.

She goes into her room. The green notebook gleams menacingly from the place on the bed where she left it open.

Carefully Janie closes it and puts it in the box in the closet.

Drops to the bed and lies there, staring at the ceiling.

2:23 p.m.

The cool, damp wind blows briskly through Miss Stubin’s dusky

Center Street purgatory.

“Now you know as much as I know, Janie.”

Janie sits silently next to Miss Stubin. Tears trickle from the old woman’s blind eyes.

There are no more words to say. Only an understanding, a resolution, a small strength, passes and grows between them. And a release. Miss

Stubin’s work is done.

This is good-bye.

Slowly Miss Stubin squeezes Janie’s hand with her own gnarled fingers. “I must go see my soldier now.” And then she begins to fade away.

“Will I ever see you again?” Janie calls out anxiously.

“Not here, Janie.”

“Somewhere else, then?” Her voice is hopeful.

But the old woman is already gone.

Janie looks around. Bites her lip. In front of the dry goods store strolls a young man in uniform and a bright-eyed young woman who turns to look over her shoulder. She blows a kiss at Janie as they turn the corner into the alley and disappear from sight.

Janie remains seated on the cold, wet park bench.

Alone.

March 31, 2006, 2:25 p.m.

Cabel dreams of layering clothes and more clothes on his body. Janie pulls herself out of it. She can’t stand to watch him. She knows what the dream means. He’s trying desperately to protect himself. His heart.

When the bell rings, Cabel startles awake. Janie watches him. He glances at her, looking worried. She pleads with him with her eyes across the vast library.

He drops his.

Turns.

Goes.

April 6, 2006, 8:53 a.m.

It’s spring break. Janie awakes to a late spring snowfall, five fresh inches on the ground. Vows, one of these years, to go to Florida for spring break. Even if it means falling into dreams on the plane the entire way there. Even if it means spending the whole week alone, watching other people having fun.

She gets dressed and waits for the car Captain is sending. Brushes off

Ethel so that the “For Sale” sign shows from the window again.

Shovels the sidewalk and begins on the driveway. The snow is heavy and wet with the late-morning sun shining on it.

When Carrie bursts from her house next door and sprints through the yard, Janie grins.

“Hey,” she says.

“Janie Hannagan!” Carrie says. “How dare you sell Ethel! Poor girl.

Stu’s a wreck over it.”

Janie has been ready for this question. “I can’t afford the insurance and the gas anymore, Carrie. Tell Stu I’m really sorry.”

Carrie grins impishly. Whips out a wad of cash from her coat pocket.

“How much?” she asks. “I’m selling my piece of junk. Ethel told me she wants to stay in the ’hood.”

Janie’s eyes light up. “No way!”

“So way!” Carrie giggles. “How much?”

Janie hops up and down in the snow. “For you? Twelve hundred bucks. It’s a bargain!”

Carrie whips out twelve one-hundred-dollar bills and shoves them at

Janie. “Sold!”

“Oh my gosh. I can’t believe you’re really buying Ethel!”

“Stu lent me the moolah until my car sells. He’s probably happier than anyone. Now, take that sign out of the poor girl’s window before she gets a complex! I gotta go call Stu and tell him we’ve got a deal. We’ll figure out the paperwork later, cool?” Carrie lopes back to her house without waiting for an answer, while Janie, grinning, removes the sign from Ethel’s window and lovingly pats the snowy hood.

It’s Detective Jason Baker who picks her up, in his soccer-mom van.

“Hey, little dreamer,” he says with a grin. “I saw what you did to those bastards out on Durbin’s deck. Remind me not to get in your way.”

“I wish I remembered it,” Janie says. She likes both Baker and Cobb.

“Still no memory of any of it, huh? Yeah, that’s the way it is with those date-rape drugs. That’s also why so many rapes go unnoticed or unreported. The memory loss allows sickos, like Durbin and his ilk, to get away with that shit time after time. You really saved the day, Janie.”

Janie blushes and looks at her hands. She doesn’t feel like much of a hero.

Inside the police station, Janie knocks on Captain’s door.

“Come!” Captain yells, as usual.

Janie grins and enters.

Stops short.

Cabel is there too.

His smile is formal and strained as Janie gathers her composure and sits down next to him.

Captain gets down to business immediately.

“Stacey O’Grady will be returning to Fieldridge High, after all. Her parents are now satisfied that all the perps have been arrested, and

Stacey really wants to put everything behind her and come back to graduate with her classmates.”

Both Janie and Cabel nod. Janie’s glad to hear it.

“There are several lawsuits in the works from various angry parentsand I don’t blame them. But I’m afraid we’re likely going to need you to testify, Janie. The hearings are set for June. You’ll meet beforehand with the DA to go over your testimony. It could be difficult. So be prepared for some horrible questions to be asked of you by the defense attorneys. And you’ll have to do it while Durbin, Wang, and Crater are sitting there, staring you down. You understand?”

Janie presses her lips together to stop them from quivering. “Yes, sir.”

“Atta girl. We’ll do everything within the law to keep your dreamcatching ability a secret. However, it’ll likely come out that you were at that party on assignment and working undercover for me. We’ll need your story and your drug-tester sheets as evidence. If the perps are too stupid to plead guilty once they see the pile of evidence we have, we’ll go to trial and your cover for Fieldridge assignments will probably be blown. But you need to tell the truth if asked, and we’ll deal with it.”

Janie’s eyes widen. “So, um, if my cover is blown…will I…will you…”

Captain smiles. “You’ll still have a job. No worries. Martha had a few close calls too, but her secret was never revealed on the stand. Defense attorneys don’t know about dream catchers—They never think to ask the right questions. So, let’s not fret about that right now, okay? I want you to take a little time off to relax and rejuvenate until school’s out.”

Captain swivels in her chair and continues seamlessly, “And, Cabe, I’ve got some minor assignments for you starting Monday after school.

Alone. Is that clear?” She looks at both of them.

“Yes, sir,” Janie and Cabel say in unison.

“Will you two be able to work together again in the future, or do I have to reconfigure my plans?” Captain asks bluntly.

Janie looks at Cabel. Cabel looks at his shoes.

“Yes, sir,” Janie says finally. Daring Cabel to answer.

“Of course,” Cabel says. He doesn’t look at Janie.

Captain nods and shuffles the papers on her desk. “Good. Janie, see if