Part 10 (1/2)
Although she was doing seventy-five, a car sped around her, pa.s.sing on the left. She slowed to sixty so they wouldn't miss the house.
They could see Apple Valley ahead in the distance, with Smithsonian b.u.t.te rising behind it. Houses were spa.r.s.e along this stretch of road. She saw her odometer cross the ten mile mark.
”That's it,” Winn said, pointing to a house still too far in the distance for Deem to make out.
”You can see that?” Deem said.
”Yup,” Winn said. ”Yellow garage. Something under a blue tarp right next to it. That's it.”
”Do I stop?” Deem asked.
”Nothing in the driveway,” Winn said. ”Sagan mentioned a red Suburban. Maybe no one's home.”
”I don't want to alert this guy in any way,” Deem said. ”What do we need to figure out who it is?”
”A house number would be nice,” Winn said. ”Slow up as we pa.s.s.”
Deem checked her rear view mirror no one was there. She slowed the car to a crawl.
”13595 are the numbers on the house,” Winn said. ”That should do it.”
”Looks completely ordinary,” Deem said. ”Who would suspect anything evil would be inside?”
”That's always the story, isn't it?” Winn said. ”White picket fence outside, gruesome murders inside.”
Deem let her truck roll slowly past the house. ”Do you think he's got children's corpses in there?”
”He's got to be getting the corpse poison from somewhere,” Winn said. ”So, yeah, probably.”
The windows to the house that faced the highway were covered on the inside with a drape, the backing of which was a bright white, reflecting the sun. As Deem was wondering what might be behind the drapes, she saw the left edge pull back slightly. Someone was looking out at them.
She pressed the accelerator and the truck sped up. ”s.h.i.+t,” Deem said, turning her head back to face the road. ”Someone is in the house. I think they saw me.”
”You sure?” Winn asked, looking back over his shoulder. ”I don't see anything.”
”I saw the drape pull back,” Deem said, ”and I saw a face.”
”d.a.m.n,” Winn said. ”So much for subtlety.”
”We might as well just walk up to the door, now,” Deem said. ”Why not?”
”Could you tell who it was?” Winn asked. ”Was it him?”
Deem pulled her truck off to the side of the road and then made a turn back onto the highway, going back toward the house.
”No, I couldn't tell,” Deem said. ”If it's him, we'll confront him. If not, we'll see who it is.”
”And if it's him?” Winn asked. ”What are you going to do?”
”Awan said the skinrunner can only transform at night,” Deem said. ”Now might be the perfect time to talk to him and explain he needs to stop.”
”I'll be very surprised if that works,” Winn said, becoming uncomfortable with Deem's plan.
”So what if it doesn't?” Deem said. ”He's already targeting me. I can at least let him know I'm on to him. Might cause him to back off. He seemed wary when he saw me enter the River.”
”And if it's not him?” Winn asked.
Deem pulled her truck into the driveway by the house and shut off the engine. ”Then we'll play it by ear,” she said, opening the truck door and sliding to the ground. Winn sighed and followed her.
She walked to the front door of the house. Winn was watching the draped windows, looking to see if there was any movement. He saw none.
She pressed the doorbell next to the front door, then she knocked.
”Mrs. Jones?” Deem said. ”Your ride to the airport is here.”
The door slowly opened to three inches. A small woman with long brown hair peered out at them.
”You have the wrong place,” the woman said meekly. ”This is the Braithwaites.”
”Oh, I'm sorry,” Deem said, checking her phone. ”You didn't call for a lift to the airport?”
”No,” the woman said meekly. She began to close the door.
”Says 13959 Highway 59 here,” Deem said, scrolling on her phone.
”We're 13595,” the woman said, opening the door a little more. ”That'd be further down the road.”
”Oh, my apologies,” Deem said. ”Could I ask you a big favor?”
”What is it?” the woman asked.
”I can't get any bars on my phone,” Deem said, ”and I need to call into the office to check on this. Could I use your phone?”
The woman's eyes darted left and right, trying to decide if she should let them in or not. Finally she stepped back and pulled the door open more. ”Alright,” she said.
”Thank you,” Deem said, stepping inside. Winn followed.
”It's just in there,” the woman said, pointing toward a kitchen.
Deem walked in the direction the woman was pointing and located a phone hanging from a wall. She picked up the receiver and dialed a fake number, and began a fake conversation.
While she was giving her performance, she looked around. Everything inside the house looked normal nothing seemed odd at all. The woman had her arms crossed, with one arm raised to the side of her head. She seemed to be listening to Deem.
Winn looked at the walls in the entryway. They were lined with photographs. One showed the woman with a man and two small children.
”Oh, these must be your kids,” Winn said.
”Yes,” the woman said, ”that's Jody and Jennifer. They're both off to college now.”
Winn looked at the man in the picture. He was wearing a three piece suit from the previous decade. He had a slight comb-over and large gla.s.ses. He looked anything but frightening.