Chapters (68)
- Dedication
- Title Page
- Contents
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Fifty-Seven
- Fifty-Eight
- Fifty-Nine
- Sixty
- Sixty-One
- Sixty-Two
- Sixty-Three
- Sixty-Four
- Sixty-Five
- Copyright
“Well, aside from the fact that she hates me, I guess she’s okay,” he said, trying to sink into his seat where maybe I wouldn’t notice him. “She’ll shit a brick when she finds out Charlene’s been coming to see me.”
“Something to look forward to,” I said.
I found a place to park a couple of blocks from the hospital. We took two seats side by side in the ER waiting room while Charlene was being looked at. Jeremy sat with his hands clasped together down between his legs, his head bowed.
“You wanna talk?” I asked him.
“Not really,” he said.
“Okay.”
“Are we still going to New York?” he asked.
“I’d have to say that’s kind of up in the air right now. I’m going to have to let your mom and Ms. Plimpton and Bob know what’s happened.”
His head seemed to droop further.
“What happened to the other two?” he asked.
“The ones who rammed Charlene’s car? I don’t know. The police were dealing with them. They’re not my concern.”
We’d been sitting there for the better part of an hour when a smartly dressed woman with auburn hair walked into the ER like she owned the place. She went straight to the admitting desk and said, “I’m Alicia Wilson. Where’s my daughter? Charlene Wilson.”
I got up and approached.
“Ms. Wilson,” I said. “Cal Weaver. We spoke on the phone.”
She eyed me the way one might examine a bug in a jar. Her eyes went to Jeremy, and the look she gave him was even more contemptuous.
“I will speak to you after I have seen Charlene.”
She turned and disappeared into the rabbit’s warren of examining rooms.
“She looked kinda mad,” Jeremy said when I sat back down next to him.
“You don’t miss much,” I said.
Alicia Wilson reappeared five minutes later. We both stood as she stormed across the waiting room.
“How’s your daughter?” I asked.
“They say she’s fine,” Alicia said. “I’m going to take her home with me. Do you know what happened to her car?”
“I don’t,” I said. “Couple of scratches on the bumper, but not much beyond that that I could see. I think it’s at the hotel.”
“Hotel?” She fixed her eyes on Jeremy. “The two of you were at a hotel?”
“No,” I said quickly. “Jeremy and I were there. Charlene drove down to see Jeremy this morning.”
She still had her eyes on the boy. “You are a despicable worm.”
Jeremy said nothing.
“It wasn’t enough that you got one girl killed. You want to go for a second?”