Part 1 (2/2)
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, May 1981.
HE WAS the perfect Gentleman. Gentleman. Always a Always a Gentleman. Gentleman. Always un.o.btrusive and polite. Always un.o.btrusive and polite.
He thought about that as he listened to the two lovers talking in sibilant whispers as they strolled near University Lake. It was all so dreamily romantic. It was so right for him.
”Is this a good idea, or is this too dumb for words?” he heard Tom Hutchinson ask Roe Tierney.
They were maneuvering into a teal blue rowboat that was gently rocking alongside a long dock on the lake. Tom and Roe were going to ”borrow” the boat for a few hours. Sneaky college mischief.
”My great-granddaddy says drifting downstream in a rowboat doesn't count against your life span,” Roe said. ”It's a great idea, Tommy. Let's go for it.”
Tom Hutchinson started to laugh. ”What if you do other things in said boat?” he asked.
”Well, if that includes aerobics of any sort, it might actually extend your life span.” Roe's skirt rustled against her smooth thighs as she crossed her legs.
”Then stealing off in these nice people's boat for a moonlight ride is a good idea,” said Tom.
”Great idea.” Roe held her ground. ”The best. Let's do it.” idea.” Roe held her ground. ”The best. Let's do it.”
As their rowboat left the dock, the Gentleman slipped into the water. He made no sound. He listened to every word, every movement, and every nuance of the lovers' fascinating courting ritual.
There was almost a full moon, and it looked serene and beautiful to Tom and Roe as they slowly paddled out into the glistening lake. Earlier in the evening they had gone out for a romantic dinner in Chapel Hill, and they were both dressed to the hilt. Roe had on a pleated black skirt, a cream-colored silk blouse, silver sh.e.l.l earrings, and her roommate's dress pearls. Perfect boating attire.
The Gentleman's best guess was that Tom Hutchinson didn't even own the gray suit that he had on. Tom came from Pennsylvania. He was an auto mechanic's son who had made it to captain of the Duke football team, and had also managed to keep a grade index bordering on 4.0.
Roe and Tom were the ”golden couple.” It was just about the only thing that students from Duke and the nearby University of North Carolina could agree on. The ”scandal” of Duke's football captain dating Carolina's Azalea Queen made the romance even spicier.
They fumbled with uncooperative b.u.t.tons and zippers as they slowly drifted on the lake. Roe wound up wearing only her earrings and the borrowed dress pearls. Tom had on his white s.h.i.+rt, but it was open all the way, making a kind of tent as he went inside Roe. Under the moon's watchful eye, they began to make love.
Their bodies moved smoothly as the boat rocked gently and playfully. Roe made tiny moaning sounds, which intermingled with a chorus of cicadas playing shrilly in the distance.
The Gentleman felt a column of rage welling up inside him. His dark side was bursting through: the brutal, repressed animal, the modern-day werewolf.
Suddenly, Tom Hutchinson flopped out of a Roe Tierney with a tiny thup. thup. Something powerful was pulling him out of the boat. Before he hit the water, Roe heard him yell. It was a strange noise that sounded like Something powerful was pulling him out of the boat. Before he hit the water, Roe heard him yell. It was a strange noise that sounded like yaaagghh. yaaagghh.
Tom swallowed lake water and gagged violently. There was a terrible pain and stinging in his throat, localized pain, but very intense and frightening.
Then, whatever powerful force had pulled him backwards into the lake suddenly released him. The choking pressure left him. Just like that. He was being set free.
His large strong hands, quarterback hands, went up to his throat and touched something warm. Blood was gus.h.i.+ng out of his throat and spreading through the lake water. A terrible fear, a feeling close to panic, gripped him.
Horrified, he felt his throat again and found the knife embedded there. Oh, Jesus G.o.d, Oh, Jesus G.o.d, he thought, he thought, I've been stabbed. I'm going to die at the bottom of this lake, and I don't even know why. I've been stabbed. I'm going to die at the bottom of this lake, and I don't even know why.
In the rocking, drifting rowboat, meanwhile, Roe Tierney was too confused and shocked even to scream.
Her heart was pounding so rapidly and fiercely, she could hardly breathe. She stood up in the boat frantically searching for some sign of Tom.
This must be a sick joke, she thought. she thought. I will never go out with Tom Hutchinson again. Never marry him. Never in a million years. This is not funny. I will never go out with Tom Hutchinson again. Never marry him. Never in a million years. This is not funny. She was freezing, and she began to grope for her clothes in the bottom of the boat. She was freezing, and she began to grope for her clothes in the bottom of the boat.
Swiftly, close to the boat, someone or something burst out of the black-looking water. It felt like an explosion under the lake.
Roe saw a head bobbing above the surface. Definitely a man's head... but it wasn't Tom Hutchinson.
”I didn't mean to scare you.” The Gentleman spoke softly, almost conversationally. ”Don't be alarmed,” he whispered as he reached for the gunwale of the rocking boat. ”We're old friends. To be perfectly honest, I've watched you for over two years.”
Suddenly Roe started to scream as if there were no tomorrow.
For Roe Tierney, there wasn't.
Part One
Scootchie Cross
Chapter 1.
Was.h.i.+ngton, D.C., April 1994.
I WAS on the sun porch of our house on Fifth Street when it all began. It was ”pouring down rain” as my little girl Janelle likes to say, and the porch was a fine place to be. My grandmother had once taught me a prayer that I never forgot: WAS on the sun porch of our house on Fifth Street when it all began. It was ”pouring down rain” as my little girl Janelle likes to say, and the porch was a fine place to be. My grandmother had once taught me a prayer that I never forgot: ”Thank you for everything just the way it is.” ”Thank you for everything just the way it is.” It seemed right that day-almost. It seemed right that day-almost.
Stuck up on the porch wall was a Gary Larson Far Side Far Side cartoon. It showed the ”Butlers of the World” annual banquet. One of the butlers had been murdered. A knife was in his chest right up to the hilt. A detective on the scene said, ”G.o.d, Collings, I hate to start a Monday with a case like this.” The cartoon was there to remind me there was more to life than my job as a homicide detective in D. C. A two-year-old drawing of Damon's tacked up next to the cartoon was inscribed: cartoon. It showed the ”Butlers of the World” annual banquet. One of the butlers had been murdered. A knife was in his chest right up to the hilt. A detective on the scene said, ”G.o.d, Collings, I hate to start a Monday with a case like this.” The cartoon was there to remind me there was more to life than my job as a homicide detective in D. C. A two-year-old drawing of Damon's tacked up next to the cartoon was inscribed: ”For the best Daddy ever.” ”For the best Daddy ever.” That was another reminder. That was another reminder.
I played Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, and Bessie Smith tunes on our aging piano. The blues was having its sneaky-sad way with me lately. I'd been thinking about Jezzie Flanagan. I could see her beautiful, haunting face sometimes, when I stared off into the distance. I tried not to stare off into the distance too much.
My two kids, Damon and Janelle, were sitting on the trusty, if slightly rickety, piano bench beside me. Janelle had her small arm wrapped across my back as far as it would stretch, which was about one-third of the way.
She had a bag of Gummi Bears in her free hand. As always, she shared with her friends. I was slow-sucking a red Gummi.
She and Damon were whistling along with my piano playing, though for Jannie, whistling is more like spitting to a certain preestablished rhythm. A battered copy of Green Eggs and Ham Green Eggs and Ham sat on top of the piano, vibrating to the beat. sat on top of the piano, vibrating to the beat.
Both Jannie and Damon knew I was having some trouble in my life lately, for the past few months, anyway. They were trying to cheer me up. We were playing and whistling the blues, soul, and a little fusion, but we were also laughing and carrying on, as children like us will.
I loved these times with my kids more than I loved all the rest of my life put together, and I had been spending more and more time with them. The Kodak pictures of children always remind me that my babies will be seven and five years old only one time. I didn't plan to miss any of it.
We were interrupted by the sound of heavy footsteps running up the wooden stairs of our back porch. Then the doorbell rang: one, two, three tinny rings. Whoever was out there was in a big hurry.
<script>