Thomas Perry - Runner

But what Jane hoped for most was that Sharon was absent for a different purpose. She hoped that Christine had seen something that worried her in Minnesota and had simply come back to San Diego to seek refuge with her. Sharon would have the sense to take her somewhere and hide her.

Jane took the 5 freeway toward Encinitas, pulled off early, and drove to the neighborhood where Sharon lived. She remembered the way to the house, even though she had not been here in ten years. She took all of the usual precautions to be sure that nobody was watching the house from any of the nearby buildings or parked vehicles.

Jane parked two houses away and walked to Sharon's front door. She rang the doorbell and almost immediately heard the sound of footsteps inside, then heard the footsteps stop. She stood still on the porch for a few seconds while she was being recognized through the peephole. Then she waited a few more seconds while the streets and buildings nearby were being studied. She had taught Sharon these things. A person's closest friend could come to the door on an innocent visit and be followed by killers.

The door opened and Sharon stood there, smiling. She reached out and pulled Jane inside, shut the door and locked it, then hugged her tightly. "I can't believe it's you," she said.

"Hi, Sharon," said Jane. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, thanks to you. And how have you been?"

"Not so good right now. I'm afraid I've lost track of our mutual friend."

"Lost track?" Sharon seemed to turn a ghastly pale color. "Of Christine?"

"I set her up in an apartment in Minneapolis and said I'd be back just before the baby was due. I was there, she wasn't. Sharon, have you heard from her?"

"Oh, God. Yes. I did. It was about two months ago. She called me on the phone one night."

"What did she say?"

"I don't remember, exactly. It wasn't that she was in trouble or thinking she'd been found or anything. I'm afraid now that I might have done the wrong thing."

"What was the wrong thing?"

"I told her that if she wanted to survive she was going to have to give up things like calling her old friends on the phone. I said that running meant giving up her old self and her old relationships and trying to be somebody new. I warned her that Richard knew about me, so he could have had his hired criminals tap my phone and wait for her to call."

Jane said, "What you told her was true. It may even be what happened."

"But I should have done something different. Maybe I could have gone to visit her, taken her to another city for a few days just to be sure. She's barely twenty, and maybe when it finally came down to it, she couldn't cut herself off."

"You did."

"I wasn't pregnant."

"Sharon, this isn't your fault. It wouldn't have helped for you to rush off and join her in Minnesota. That's exactly what the people chasing her would want—to have you lead them to her."

"I know. It's what I told her. But if something has happened to her, I'll feel terrible."

"Has she tried to call you or e-mail you or anything after the one time?"

"I don't know," Sharon said. "After it happened the first time, I checked just about every hour so I could erase any message before someone else played it. Then I realized that wasn't good enough, so I unplugged my answering machine."

"Good. It also explains why I haven't been able to record a message when I called."

Sharon seemed to awaken from a kind of daze. "Oh, I haven't even offered you anything to drink. Please sit down somewhere, and I'll bring you something."

"No, let's talk," Jane said. "You were too polite to say it, but I'm sure you're wondering why I took the risk of coming here like this. I came because I thought you might have had contact with her. But I was also afraid that something might have happened to you. I think it's time now to make sure nothing does."

"What do you mean?"

"I want you to go away. I want you to go far from here—someplace pleasant and safe. I want you to stay away until school starts. I'll pay for your trip. Your house will have to be closed. There can't be some friend who comes to pick up your mail or water your plants."

"Well, I guess I can do that," said Sharon. "Yes, of course I can. I will."

"Good. I'll help you pack and turn things off and lock up. Then I'll drive you to the airport and make sure you get on a plane."

"Where am I going?"

"How about the northwest? You can stay in Seattle or Portland and use it as a base to explore the area."

"Sounds all right," Sharon said. She went to a closet and pulled out a suitcase, then stopped. "It's bad, isn't it?"

Jane shrugged. "I don't know. She could be somewhere else, perfectly safe."

"But you don't want me to be here while you find out."

"No. I don't."

They stopped speaking and began the work of getting the house ready for an extended period with Sharon away. Jane went into the kitchen and began taking perishable food out of the refrigerator and putting it into a plastic garbage bag. It took Sharon only a few minutes to pack the things she needed and place her suitcase by the front door. By then Jane had taken the garbage out to her SUV and was going from room to room making sure all of the windows were locked.

Jane said, "I see some of the lights are on timers. Is there anything else we need to do here? No pets?"

"No. I just have to cancel the newspaper and fill out a card to put a hold on the mail before we leave."

"All right. I'll see if I can get you a plane reservation."

The mood had turned somber. Jane used her cell phone to get the flight to Seattle while Sharon called the San Diego Union-Tribune to cancel the paper. While Sharon filled out the card for the postal service, Jane asked questions.

"Is there anyone you know of who might be putting Christine up?"

"No. She had friends here, but Richard would have known about all of them, and she knew—at least after I told her—that even calling them might put them in danger. If there is anybody like that it would have to be somebody outside San Diego, and it would have to be somebody that none of us knew about."

"Like me."

"Like you," said Sharon. She paused, then said, "I'd better take one last look around." Sharon went into her room and Jane could hear her for a few minutes, opening and closing drawers, moving hangers in the closet. After a time she came out to find Jane looking in the telephone book. "What are you looking for?"

"The Beale Company," Jane said. "I found it. I didn't find Richard Beale's address, though, and I didn't bring it with me."

"I have it." She went to her kitchen counter and opened a small address book. After she copied an address, she handed it to Jane.

"Thank you." She looked at it for a moment, then said, "This was where Christine lived with him, right?"

"Yes. But I never went over there. When we talked during that time it was usually on the phone, or we'd meet at a restaurant. I thought it was sort of my responsibility as her old teacher not to act as though her situation was okay with me, or to get chummy with him."

"But he knew where you lived, right?"

"I'm sure he probably did." She smiled. "But I'm leaving, so it doesn't matter."

"Before you go, I'd like to borrow a spare key."

"Sure, but why?"

"If someone comes here to find you, I don't want their trip to be wasted."

27

Jane stood outside the wall of windows in front of the San Diego airport with the people smoking a last cigarette before their flights. She wore a wide sun hat and big sunglasses and held a lighted cigarette in her hand. Now and then she took some smoke into her mouth and blew it out. She watched Sharon until she was beyond the security barrier and walking down the concourse to board her plane. Then Jane turned her attention to the ticketing area long enough to be sure that none of the four people she had seen chasing Christine showed up at the last minute to board Sharon's flight. A minute after flight time, Jane threw away her cigarette and went inside to look at the television monitor to verify that Sharon's plane had taken off. Then she went to the parking lot and drove back to Sharon's house.