“I didn’t mean to wake you,” Jake said.
“You didn’t. I’ve been awake for a while.”
“Playing possum, huh?”
“A little bit. Mostly too ruined to move.”
“Hard floor,” Jake said.
“Least of my problems. I feel like I’ve been hit by a Mack truck.”
“You look like you’ve been hit by a Mack truck.”
The right side of her lip curled up, baring some teeth. “That bad, is it?”
“Not that bad. You look pretty fine, all things considered. Did you sleep well down here?”
“Not bad, all things considered. You snore, you know.”
“Sorry.”
“It was nice. Kept me reminded you were there.”
“If you…I would’ve stayed on my own side of the bed, you know. Kept my hands to myself. Especially if I didn’t wake up.”
She smiled slightly with the working half of her face. Then the smile faded and she studied his eyes. “We’ll never know,” she said.
“We’ll never know. Could you use some breakfast?”
“Sure.”
“You can wear my robe. It’s on a chair by the door.”
“Thanks.”
Jake stood up and went to the dresser. He took out his pajama shirt. With his back to Alison, he put it on and fastened the buttons. Then he turned around.
She was sitting cross-legged, the sheet spread over her lap and knees. She hugged the pillow to her breasts. “If you’ve got something more elaborate in mind than Trix or Fruit Loops, I’d be glad to make it. I might as well do something useful.”
“I’ll have you know I’m a pretty fair cook. I haven’t burnt anything…”
Since last night, he thought.
“I trust you,” Alison said. “But I’ll help. What’s a woman for?” she asked, a gleam of something that might have been mischief in her eyes.
“I’ll pick you up a toothbrush. Do you need anything else?”
“I could use some clothes,” Alison said, and took a drink of coffee. “I feel like a convalescent, wandering around in my nightgown and your robe.”
“I could go over to your place and pick up some things,” Jake said.
“How long are you planning to keep me here?”
“As long as possible.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“Tonight, anyway,” Jake told her.
“It was Roland who was after me,” she said. “Not that I have anything against sticking around—you’ve got a nice floor. But he’s dead, and he’s the one who wanted to get me. So even if that snake-thing is still alive, there’s no reason to think it would try to find me.”
“I hope you’re right. But it was in the driver of the van when he tried to run down Celia, then it was in Roland when she disappeared. Maybe that’s just a coincidence. On the other hand, maybe it’s the creature that chooses the targets no matter who it’s in.”
Alison curled up her lip. She could’ve done without that theory. “So I just have to lay low until you find the thing.”
“Until it’s accounted for, one way or another.”
“Okay.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Did you know that you spend a lot of time apologizing for stuff that’s not your fault?”
“Sorry.” He grinned.
Alison liked his grin. She hadn’t seen much of it. “When you get back, am I supposed to keep you covered again and look at your back?”
“Yep.”
“At least it’s a good excuse to get your shirt off.”
Jake took a last drink of coffee, set down his cup, and rubbed his mouth with a napkin. “I’d better get going.”
They left the table. Alison walked ahead of him to the front door. “Don’t you wear a uniform?”
“Usually.”
“I’d like to see you in it, sometime. Bet you look dashing. The fuzz.”
“I crashed a patrol car yesterday,” he said.
“That was careless.”
“Yeah. Wouldn’t look right, I think, driving around in uniform in my own car.”
“What time will you be back?”
He shook his head. “I have no idea. It’ll depend on how things go.”
“Well, should I make supper for you?”
“I don’t want you starving. Say if I’m not back by seven, why don’t you go ahead and eat without me.”
“Okay.”
He stepped past Alison and opened the door.
“Watch yourself,” she said.
“You, too. If there’s any kind of trouble—you see someone suspicious hanging around, anything like that—call the station and ask for Barney. He’ll be there, and he knows the whole story.”
“All right.”
“You know where everything is?”
“I’ll be fine, Jake. Don’t worry.”
Nodding, he hesitated in the doorway as if reluctant to leave. Then he started to turn away. Alison touched his arm. He looked into her eyes. She stepped against him, embracing him, tilting back her head. Jake put his arms around her. Holding her gently, he kissed her mouth. When his lips went away, he cupped the back of her head with one hand. She pressed her face to the side of his neck.
“I’d better get going,” he whispered as he stroked her hair.
“I know.” Alison squeezed him hard, then stepped back. “See you later,” she said.
He stared at her. He kissed her once more, then turned away.
Alison stood in the doorway, watching him until the car moved off down the road. Then she shut the door and locked it. She slid the guard chain into place.
She leaned against the door, closed her eyes, and let herself go back to linger a while with the feel of his body against her, the feel of his lips on her mouth.
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
After filling Barney in on all that had happened the previous night, Jake returned to his car. He tore up the photograph of Roland. He felt guilty about damaging evidence, but Roland was dead, there would be no trial, and he didn’t want to show the picture around with the naked body parts surrounding the guy’s head. Once the parts were removed, he drove out to the place where he had burned the Volkswagen.
The car had been towed away, leaving only black smears and ashes. Jake searched there first, spreading the ashes with his shoes. He wasn’t sure what he hoped to find. The thing’s charred body? The tiny remains of its skeleton, if it had one?
When he finished there, he wandered around the area looking at the pavement, the grass strip between the curb and sidewalk, the sidewalk. Thursday, the thing had left some blood on the pavement of Latham Road behind the burning van and in the weeds on the other side. Today, there was nothing to see.
Jake told himself that the creature had probably died inside the Volkswagen. Maybe he should go over to the yard, later on, and sift through the remains of the car’s interior. In the poor light last night, he might easily have missed something. Besides, he’d been tense and eager to get home. He needed to make the search again, thoroughly and in daylight.
Picture in hand, he headed for the apartment house on the corner to begin the door-to-door inquiries.
Alison hung up the telephone after explaining to Gabby that she wouldn’t be able to work for the next few days. He’d heard on the radio about the killings and her narrow escape, so he was sympathetic and said she should take off as much time as she needed.
She had another call to make. This one wouldn’t be so easy. It was necessary, though.
She misdialed and hung up before the ringing started.
Her stomach hurt. Her heart pounded. The pulsing of it made her face throb. Sweat slid down her sides. She stood up, took off Jake’s robe, sat again on the sofa, and dialed Evan’s number.
His phone rang once.
“Hello?” He sounded tense.
“Hi. It’s me.”
“Alison. My God. Are you all right?”
“You heard about last night?”
r /> “Of course I heard about last night. Christ. Are you all right?”
“I’m a little beat up, but I’m okay.”
“My God, I couldn’t believe it. You could’ve been killed. I’ve just been sick ever since I heard about it. I didn’t even go to my classes. You should’ve called.”
“I did call. Just now.”
“I’ve been through hell.”
“I’m sorry. It hasn’t been a picnic for me, either.”
“Who was it? Who did it?”
“A freshman named Roland.”
“Some guy you know?”
“I’d met him a couple of times.”
“Was he after you, or what?”
“I guess so.”
“What for? I mean…”
“I guess he wanted to rape and kill me.”
“Jesus Christ. Did he…touch you?”
“He didn’t rape me.”
“Thank God for that. You, what, fought him off?”
“Yeah.”
“Christ, it’s my fault. I should’ve been there. If you’d let me drive you home…you shouldn’t have left, you know. That business was just a mistake, like I said. You should’ve stayed at my place, last night. None of this would’ve happened.”
“Would’ve happened to Helen, regardless,” she said. “And even if I’d spent the night with you, I would’ve gone home sooner or later.”
“You should’ve stayed.”
“Well, I didn’t.”
“Where are you, now?”
“I’m safe.”
“Well, I know you’re safe—the guy’s dead, right? They said on the news he got killed in a fire.”
“Yeah.”
“So where are you?”
“I’m not supposed to tell anyone.”
“That’s a crock. Who told you that?”
“A policeman.”
“Well, shit. What’s the big idea?”
“He thinks I might still be in some danger.”
“I don’t get it. The bastard’s dead, right? So where’s the danger?”
“I’m going to do as I’m told.”
“Since when?”
“Don’t be a creep, Evan.”
“I need to see you.”
“You can’t.”
“Alison. We have to talk.”
“We are talking.”
“Face-to-face.”
“I’m not up to a confrontation.”
She heard him sigh. For a long time, he said nothing. Alison finally broke the silence. “I just wanted to let you know that I’m okay. I figured I owed you that.”
When Evan spoke again, he sounded weary. “I honestly didn’t know you were asleep last night when I…touched you. I love you, Alison. When I think what almost happened to you last night, it kills me. Please, I need to see you. Please. Tell me where you are. I’ll come over and we’ll talk. Just talk, I promise.”
“I’ll call you in a day or two.”
“No, please. Alison, I’m so wasted. I didn’t sleep at all last night. I can’t do anything except think about you. I promise, I won’t give you any trouble. I just need to see you, to be with you for a while. I’m begging you.”
Alison shut her eyes and leaned back against the sofa cushion. This was worse than she’d expected. Evan sounded miserable, desperate.
It’s my fault, she thought. I’ve done this to him.
“I guess we could meet somewhere,” she finally said. “How about Wally’s?”
Evan said nothing.
“That all right?”
Alison heard a faint sound of ringing. “Someone at your door?” she asked.
“Yeah,” Evan whispered. The ringing came again.
“You’d better see who it is.”
“I don’t care,” he whispered. “It can’t be you, so I don’t care.”
“I’ll hang on.”
“I can’t go to the door. I’m not wearing anything. I just got out of the shower.”
The bell rang again.
“Probably just a salesman, anyway.” After a few moments, he said, “Okay, he’s gone.”
“I was saying we could meet at Wally’s.”
“That’s awfully public.”
“That’s the idea. I don’t want any hassles.”
“Christ, Al. Okay. Wally’s. What time?”
“What time is it now?”
“About noon.”
“I’ll need some time to clean up and walk over there.”
“I can pick you up.”
“Thanks anyway. How about one-thirty?”
“Okay. I’ll buy you lunch.”
“Fine. See you then.” She hung up.
She didn’t want to see Evan.
Some things, she thought, you have to do.
It won’t be so bad.
It’ll be awful. I’ll have to tell him it’s over, tell him face-to-face and make him understand it’s final.
It’ll be awful, but it won’t last forever. Then it will be ended and I’ll come back here and Jake will show up, sooner or later.
Jake.
Just keep thinking about Jake, and the rest won’t be so bad. He’ll be here tonight.
This is getting nowhere, Jake thought. At more than half the doors he tried, nobody responded. The missing occupants, he supposed, were either in class or at work.
Of those people he spoke to, several had watched last night’s spectacle, but many claimed ignorance of the entire affair. None admitted to knowing the identity of the young man in the photograph, though three were pretty sure they had seen him on campus at one time or another. Nobody had seen anything, last night or today, that looked like a snake. Nobody had seen or heard anything strange except for the uproar over the car fire.
It seemed pointless, but Jake didn’t give up.
He had gone to every door of every apartment building on this side of the block except the one at the corner. Unlikely, he thought, that anyone so far from the scene noticed anything. But he might as well check, anyway, before crossing the road and trying the other side.
At the first two apartments on the ground floor, nobody came to the doors. At the third, he heard music inside. He rang the bell.
A woman in her late twenties opened the door. She was as tall as Jake, with a terry cloth headband around her black hair, thick eyebrows that almost met in the middle, prominent cheekbones, full lips, a jutting jaw, and broad shoulders. Her breasts strained the fabric of a top that looked like two red bandannas knotted together. Her belly was tanned and flat, striped with a few runnels of sweat. Her hips had the breadth of her shoulders. Instead of pants, she wore something that reminded Jake of a pirate’s eye patch—a black strap that slanted down from her hips, a black satin triangle not quite large enough to cover her hairless pubic area.
“I’m sorry to bother you,” Jake said. “It’s police business.” He held his wallet open.
She glanced at the badge, ignored the ID card, and licked some sweat from the corner of her mouth. “Come on in out of the cold,” she said.
He stepped into the apartment. In spite of the fan and open windows, the heat seemed worse than outside. The woman turned away, and Jake watched her walk to the stereo. A slim black strip clung to the center of her buttocks, leaving the flawless cheeks bare. They flexed as she walked.
She seemed as casual about her attire as if she were wearing a three-piece suit. Jake wished she would put on something to cover herself.
The woman turned the stereo down, and turned around. “Want some iced tea?”
“No thanks.”
“I’m Sam. Samantha Summers. Maybe you already know that.”
He shook his head. “Jake Corey,” he told her. “I’m making inquiries around the neighborhood about a situation last night.”
“So you’re not here to bust me, huh?”
“For what?”
Her heavy lips curled into a smile. “I’m sure I wouldn’t know. Corrupting the staid mentality of minors?”
> “You’ve been doing a lot of that?”
“Some might say so. I’m an associate professor of philosophy at the university.”
Jake thought, You’re joking. Then he thought, Why didn’t I ever have a prof like this?
“Maybe I’ll sign up,” he said.
“Do that. I’ll help open you mind to the imponderables.”
“I could do without imponderables.”
Sam sat on the carpet in front of him. She lay back, folded her hands behind her head, and began doing sit-ups. Her legs were spread. She touched an elbow to the opposite knee, lowered her back to the floor, curled upward and touched the other elbow to the other knee. “How can I help you?” she asked without pausing.
You could help by stopping that, Jake thought. “Did you see this student last night?” he asked, and held the photo of Roland above her knees while she sat up three times. He tried to keep his eyes on the back of the picture.
“Dracula,” she said.
“He thought he was, maybe. He’s dead.”
Sam stopped. She took the photo from Jake and crossed her legs. “Dead?”
“He killed at least two people that we know about. Maybe more. When I found him last night, he was dead.”
“Well, I saw him. It was sometime after one o’clock. Maybe as late as two.”
“Are you sure?”
“He’s not a person I’m likely to forget. He used to get on my nerves following me around campus. His name’s something like Rupert or—”
“Roland. Where did you see him?”
“I was out running. I run five miles every night.”
“At one o’clock?”
“I like the night.”
“Where was he?”
“Just up the block. A young man was helping him into his car.”
The words hit Jake like a blow to the stomach.
“He seemed pretty out of it. I assumed he was drunk. I see a lot of that around here. Students don’t appear very adept at holding their liquor.”
“And somebody was with him? Do you know who it was?”
Her thick eyebrows lowered. “I don’t know his name. I do know that he’s a graduate student in the English department with a teaching assistantship.”
“Do you know where he lives?”