“You’re lucky to be rid of the slimebag,” Henry told her.

“Yeah.” They waited for a car to pass, then stepped off the curb and started across the road. “He wasn’t allbad, though. Sometimes, he could be...” A lump suddenly closed her throat. Tears filled her eyes. “...He could be nice,” she finished, her voice trembling.

Betty rubbed her back. “Hey, it’s all right. You’re better off without him.”

“I know. I know.”

“If you get desperate,” Henry said, “there’s always me.”

“You ready to die, Hen-house?” Betty asked.

“Just a suggestion.”

Lane squeezed both of them closer against her sides.

“Quit it before I kick your butts.”

Thirty-two

“Do you want to talk about it?” Larry asked after dropping off Henry and Betty.

Lane slumped in the passenger seat with her arms folded, turned her face toward him and said, “I kicked Jim in the butt. So he advised us to walk home.”

“You kickedhim?”

“You wouldn’t believe what he did to me.”

“Oh, I might.”

“Guys are such pigs.”

“Thanks.”

“Not youuuu. But I mean it. Honestly. All they want to do is grab grab grab. They’ve got sex on the brain.”

“And you don’t, huh?”

“I don’t go around grabbing... their private areas.”

“Happy to hear it.”

“You weren’t like that, were you? When you were a teenager?”

He was glad there wasn’t enough light coming into the car for Lane to see his face go red. He’d been in his office with the door shut when she phoned from the pizza parlor. Gazing at his pictures of Bonnie. Remembering all the details of his dream. Longing for her. A girl nearly the same age as Lane. Who even lookedquite similar to her.

“I guess every teenager has sex on the brain,” he said.

“But you didn’t go around always trying to cop a feel, did you?”

“When I was your age? No. I dated sometimes, but I wasn’t especially interested in the girls I went out with. So I didn’t try much funny stuff with them.”

“You weren’t interestedin the girls you dated?”

“We’re talking about my high school days, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Well then, no. Not much. I basically just went out with dogs.”

“Dad!” She sounded shocked but amused.

“It’s true. And I didn’t want to get fleas, so...”

“Really, that’s not nice.”

“Okay okay. Seriously? I wasn’t exactly dashing, and I knew it. So I never even tried to go out with any of the girls I really thought were neat. They scared the hell out of me. If a girl looked like you, for instance, I’d just admire her from afar and maybe daydream about her. I sure wouldn’t date her.”

“Jeez, Dad.”

“Weird, huh? Now I’ve got a kid who’s one of them.”

He looked at Lane and smiled. She shook her head. Then she reached out and patted his shoulder. “Iwould’ve gone out with you.”

“A pity date.”

“No way. I’ll bet youwould’ve been a perfect gentleman.”

“A lust-crazed maniac!” He shot his hand under Lane’s outstretched arm and thrust it into her armpit.

“Don’t!” she cried out. Giggling, she clamped her arm down and squirmed.

He pulled his hand free, got it under her elbow and tickled her side.

“Dad! Stop!”

He returned his hand to the steering wheel. As he eased the car to the curb in front of their house, Lane grabbed hisside and dug her fingers in.

“Don’t!” he cried out, mimicking her and laughing. “Please. Stop!”

“You can give it but you can’t take it,” she said.

Writhing as she tickled him, he shut off the engine. Then he grabbed her forearm and pushed up the sleeve of her sweater. “Indian burn,” he announced.

“No!” she gasped, breathless with giggling. “Don’t! I mean it! I’ll tell Mom!”

“Tattletale.” He gave her the Indian burn. Gently. Then let go.

“Is that the best you can do?”

“Oh? You want me to give you a good one?”

“I think I’ll pass, thanks,” she said. She patted his arm. “Maybe some other time. Maybe...” She suddenly clutched his forearm with both hands and twisted, wringing its flesh.

“Yeeeoow!”

“That’ll teach you, tough guy.” Laughing, she hurled herself at the passenger door and scurried from the car. She ran to the house. But instead of using her key to let herself in, she waited on the porch for him.

Larry rubbed his arm as he walked toward her. It stung.

“I didn’t really hurt you, did I?” she asked.

“I’ll live. With luck.”

Lane held out her arm. “Want to give me one?”

“No.”

“Come on, I’ll feel better if you get me back.”

“You’d just scream and wake up your mother,” he said, and unlocked the door. They entered the house quietly.

Lane looked toward the sofa. “Where is she?”

“In bed.”

“Ah-ha. Gosh, I hope I didn’t interrupt anything when I phoned.”

Jean, complaining of a miserable headache, had gone to bed nearly an hour before the call, giving Larry his opportunity to be with the pictures of Bonnie. He said, “You’ll never know.”

“Ho ho ho.”

“Well, it’s time for me to hit the hay.”

“Time for me to hit the shower,” Lane said.

“Didn’t you just have a bath before supper?”

Her smile fell away. “I’m feeling kind of grubby.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah. Everything that...” She pressed her lips together. Her chin began to tremble and tears glimmered in her eyes.

Larry’s throat suddenly tightened. “I’m sorry, honey.”

She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him. “Why do things... have to get so fouled up?”

“I don’t know. It’s life, I guess.”

“Life’s a bitch, then you die.”

“Don’t say that, honey,” he whispered. “Everything will turn out fine.”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Jim isn’t the only guy in the world. Just wait and see. You’ll run into some fellow, one of these days, and fall head over heels for him.”

“Good way to break your back,” she muttered against the side of his neck. Relaxing her hold, she kissed his cheek. “Anyway, thanks.” She stepped back and wiped her eyes on a sleeve of her sweater.

“You’ll feel better in the morning,” he told her.

“At least until I wake up.”

Larry stretched out between the sheets of his bed. They were cool and felt good.

“Lane back?” Jean asked in a husky voice.

“Yep.”

She sighed, and seemed to fall asleep again. Larry listened to her deep, slow breathing. Soon, he heard the distant windy sound of the shower.

He wondered if Lane would go right to bed when she was done.

You don’t need to look at those pictures again, he told himself. Go to sleep and forget it.

What if Lane caught you looking at them? A girl her own age. A dead girl, to boot. She’d think you’re no better than Jim. Worse. Guys are such pigs. Including Dad.

Just explain you’re writing a book about her. She was murdered, and tomorrow...

Tomorrow.

Larry had struggled, ever since lunch, to push that out of his mind. Whenever he thought about returning to Sagebrush Flat, a sick hot feeling swept through him. It came now. He kicked free of the top sheet and blanket.

Call it off?

What do you tell Pete? Sorry, I changed my mind. Right.

We’ve got to go through with it.

What if we find Uriah?

We won’t. We were there twice before, and he didn’t put in an appearance.

Maybe he just happened to be away the other times. Taking a stroll in the desert. Killing coyotes.

Or right there, hidden, watching us.

Terrific.

Now I’ll never get to sleep, he thought.

Think about something pleasant. Think about Bonnie.

No! I’ve got to stop thinking about Bonnie. It’s crazy. It’s wrong.

He heard the shower go silent.

Lane was done. Give her fifteen minutes, he thought, to make sure she’s asleep. Then it’ll be safe to take out the pictures.

Might as well, if I can’t sleep anyway.