Theresa Weir - Bad Karma

“I might not be able to find you.”

“I’ll yell.”

“Not if you’re unconscious. Come on. We’re almost there.”

They finally made it to level ground. The orange glow had long left the sky. Now, in the twilight, the lane lay before them, the tire ruts cutting through the weeds-twin paths to the truck.

Somehow, he managed to get inside. “Can you drive a stick?” he asked as she slid behind the wheel, slamming the door behind her.

“You’re always underestimating me.”

With his eyes closed, he said, “Like hell.”

She drove as fast as the truck could go, which wasn’t all that fast, slowing down at the edge of town where the yards were littered with blue-and-white campaign signs, and a smiling, handsome face. Re-elect Mayor Burton Campbell.

It took the police and fire department three days to get Campbell ’s body out of the well. And when they did, he was pretty much unrecognizable.

Damn him, Jo thought. Damn the prostitute-murdering bastard. Because of Campbell, Egypt, Missouri, would never again make the list of the top ten small towns in America.

Because of him, mothers would no longer let their children roam freely about town. Because of him, people would lock their doors at night, and lie in that darkness, wondering…

The weather had turned, bringing with it cooler temperatures. Jo rummaged through the jackets that hung on pegs near her kitchen door, finally finding a blue wool sweater she’d knitted a few years back. It had a collar, and deep pockets that she liked to sink her hands into.

She slipped it on, thinking it was just the right weight for her trip to the hospital to visit Daniel. She’d been to see him the previous day, and the day before that. Both times he’d told her he was no longer working for the Egypt Police Department. She figured one or two more trips and she’d change his mind.

She buttoned the sweater, then reached into the pockets, her fingers coming into contact with several balls of tissue. Always had to have tissues with you. In one pocket she felt the solid weight of something heavy. She pulled it out and stared at the object in her hand.

“Crap.”

The master key.

Daniel’s shoulder hurt like a son of a bitch, but he wasn’t taking any more painkillers.

“They finally got him out,” Jo told him, pulling her chair close to the bed.

“Yeah, I heard.”

“The body in the barn belonged to a prostitute, just like you figured. And we’re pretty certain the prostitute who was killed at The Palms was another one of his victims. But that’s not why I’m here. I’m here to try to talk you into staying in the department.”

“Did you really tell that asshole you hired me because you felt sorry for me?”

Her silence was answer enough.

“For chrissake, Jo. Am I that pathetic?”

“I felt sorry for you, yes, but I was also looking for a good police officer. You fit the bill.”

He shook his head, his thoughts returning to an earlier preoccupation. “Have you seen Cleo?”

“A few hours ago. I paid her the other five thousand dollars. I know she didn’t find the key, but she was instrumental in exposing Dr. Campbell.”

“You gave her money?” He swung his legs to the side of the bed, his bare feet hitting the floor.

“What’s wrong with that?”

“She’ll leave, that’s what’s wrong! ”

He ripped out several snaps and dropped the hospital gown to the floor, leaving him in a pair of pajama bottoms. His shoulder and arm were wrapped in gauze, his arm anchored to his side.

“Of course she’ll leave,” Jo said. “She’s done here.”

“What do you mean, done here? What about the key? She still has to find the damn key.”

Daniel opened a closet and pulled out the shirt Beau had brought. He realized he couldn’t put it on. He picked up a pair of jeans and realized he wouldn’t be able to get into them either. He tried to stuff his feet into a pair of stretchy blue terry-cloth slippers supplied by the hospital. “Screw it.”

“The key?” Jo repeated with hesitation.

“Drive me home.” He headed for the door.

“I’ve given up on the key,” Jo said, running to keep up. “I’ve decided to go ahead and get all new locks.”

“That will cost a fortune. Just get Cleo to stay and find it.” His heart was beating fast. How the hell had this happened? He’d planned on Cleo being around for at least a couple more weeks. That would give him time to make things right, to make things up to her. In the last few morphine-laden days he’d imagined them going out to eat, maybe taking in a movie or two. Going back to his place…

“We can’t let her go,” Daniel said. “Not until she finds the key.”

“Daniel…”

He kept walking. When he got to the exit, he paused to check on Jo. She wasn’t coming. He went back to get her.

“Daniel.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out a closed fist. He watched as she opened it. There in her hand was a key.

“So?”

“It’s the key,” she whispered. “The master key. I found it in my sweater this morning.”

He broke out in a sweat. Black spots floated in front of his eyes. He blinked them away, and grabbed Jo by one arm. “Okay. We can fix this.” He lowered his voice. “Don’t tell her. Don’t tell her about the key.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I don’t want her to go.”

“Oh. Won’t she know about the key, though?”

“She didn’t pick up on it before.”

“Maybe that’s because there was something bigger distracting her.”

“We have to try!”

“I don’t like the idea of lying to a psychic.”

He shoved her toward the door. “We’ve got to stop her.”

Cleo slipped two hundred dollars into the envelope and sealed it. She double-checked the address: Quick Fill, Shanghai City, Missouri, attention Chad and Jed. That should be enough. She deposited the envelope in the mailbox then walked over to the wooden bench to wait for the train.

It was the train station where Daniel and Beau had picked her up. It hadn’t been that long ago, but it felt like years. She’d arrived that day with a suitcase and her dog. Now she was leaving with nothing but the clothes on her back.

How could something so simple have turned into such a mess?

The night before, she and Beau had sat outside near the gazing ball, waiting for the stars. And when they came, they had been so brilliant, so breathtaking. It had seemed as good a time as any to tell Beau that she would be leaving in the morning.

“When you come back, maybe my mom will be here and you can meet her.”

Was that the best way to go through life? she wondered. Hanging onto your illusions? It seemed to work for Beau.

“Have you ever been anyplace other than Egypt?” she’d asked.

“Why would I want to do that?”

Why, indeed.

“They’re always there,” he said.

“What?”

“The stars. They’re always there. You just can’t see them.”

A shout drew her back to the present, to the train station and the cool breeze moving across her skin, a warm sun beating down.

She looked up to see a man striding toward her. He wore green hospital pajama bottoms and a white bandage across his shoulder.

She got slowly to her feet. What was he doing here? He should be in the hospital. She’d wanted to tell him goodbye but she’d felt awkward about it. Then she found that she really didn’t have time, and it had seemed easier to leave him a note.

Daniel stopped in front of her, slightly out of breath, his forehead creased with pain. A wind kicked up, lifting his hair, revealing the dark roots beneath the blond. “Your dog,” he said, breathlessly. “You forgot your dog.”