He got up and fished in a pocket. “This should do it,” he said, handing her some crumpled bills. As she straightened her clothes he kissed her and cupped a breast. “Hurry back,” he said.

The doorbell rang again as Caddie went down the stairs. “Coming!” she called out.

She opened the door. Nick, gazing at her in surprise, stood there holding a pizza box.

“Hey,” he said after a moment.

Caddie leaned against the door frame. “Hey,” she said.

“I didn’t know you lived here,” said Nick. “I’ve only ever seen that aquarium guy here.”

“I don’t live here,” Caddie answered, letting him fill in the rest for himself. She wondered if he was smart enough to know what she was implying, and found herself hoping he was.

Nick nodded. “Oh,” he said, his voice telling Caddie that he knew exactly what she meant.

“How much is it?” she asked.

Nick looked down and moved his lips, as if trying to calculate the cost of the pizza. “Fourteen seventy-five,” he said.

Caddie looked at the bills in her hand. Brian had given her a five and a ten. She handed them to Nick, not even bothering to smooth them out. “Here,” she said, taking the box from his hands and going back in the house. She gave him one last look as she shut the door. “Keep the change.”

CHAPTER 21

CHAPTER 21

“Have you found it yet?”

Hudson opened his eyes. By the window, a shadowy figure stood looking out at the moon. As Hudson tried to get his sleep-heavy mind to begin working, the figure turned toward him. “Have you found it yet?” it asked again. It was a man’s voice, soft yet firm.

Hudson shook himself awake, the realization that he was not alone in the room turning quickly from confusion to fear. He rubbed his face with his hands, as if trying to wipe the grime away from a dirty window.

The man, still in shadow, took a seat in the armchair beside the window. He placed his hands on the arms, tapping his fingers restlessly as he crossed one leg over the other. There was something familiar in the gesture; a picture flashed across Hudson’s vision, disappeared almost as quickly. He smelled tobacco, rich and earthy. Then, as if the lid had been throw open on some inner trove of memories, he saw the glint of moonlight off the ring on the left hand, recognized without question the anxious shaking of the crossed foot.

“Paul,” he whispered.

“You haven’t answered my question,” the man replied. “Have you found it?”

Hudson peered into the dim, trying to see the face hidden within it, but darkness swarmed like bees, obscuring everything. Only the hands, endlessly tapping, were illuminated.

“No,” Hudson said, “I haven’t. But I think I’m close.”

“You think, or you are?” asked the voice.

“I am,” answered Hudson.