“Because the time you don’t look is the time you’ll get flattened by a truck,” she said, and he could feel her shudder.

“Fiji, I can’t even think how I feel about what we just saw,” he said.

“You don’t need to know right now how you felt about it or how you’re going to change as a result of having seen it,” she said. She shuddered again. “It’s a good thing that everything’s settled.”

“What about the sheriff? Do you think he knows about Connor’s past?”

“He shouldn’t, because Connor was a juvenile when he killed that Mrs. Ames, so he shouldn’t be able to find out. Right?”

“If he does suspect Connor, what’s he going to do when he finds out Connor is dead?”

“He’s not going to know that.” Fiji sounded a bit astonished at the notion.

“Why not?”

“His dad’s not going to tell anyone what happened, for Creek’s sake,” she explained. “Did you see Creek’s face? She was glad Connor was dead. Of course, she’ll have a hard time, but she could see the truth of what Olivia said, and she was so angry with him for so many things.”

“But the sheriff will want to know where Connor is.”

“Yeah, he will. But kids Connor’s age run away all the time. And he may read a confession into Connor’s absence. Which, after all, is accurate.”

“We didn’t help the Lovells . . . do anything.” With the body, he meant.

“Joe and Chuy stayed. Do you really think they’d want our help?”

They’d reached Fiji’s front door. Mr. Snuggly was there. He looked up at Fiji reproachfully. “Kept me waiting,” he said.

“You could have gone around the house and gone in the cat flap at the back,” Fiji pointed out. “Tonight, Connor died.”

“Good,” said Mr. Snuggly. “I was tired of hiding from him.”

“He tried to catch you?”

“Yes. He liked to kill things, you know.” By then Fiji had opened the door, and the cat padded in.

“Well,” she was saying as she closed the door behind her, “you could have told me.”

37

Manfred (looking both ways) went back to his own place. He turned on the heat, a step he’d been putting off. It came on instantly, with that burned-air smell. But the gush of warmth was a relief. Manfred went into his bedroom and wrapped up in an old quilt of his grandmother’s before he went into the kitchen. He would not have thought he could be hungry, but apparently his stomach thought otherwise.

Though it seemed ludicrous, almost disgusting, he turned on his television. He couldn’t bear to think of what might be happening at Gas N Go. Creek and her father had to be going through another hell, as if they hadn’t suffered enough. And what would happen to Connor’s body?