Part 3 (2/2)
”No, early Sat.u.r.day morning.” She flexed her tired shoulders. ”I still can'tbelieve I'm starting off my one and only vacation by spending two nights in atent with ten other females.”
The annual Big Sister-Little Sister campout was to be held in a state parknear theIllinoisborder. As the deputy director for the greater Lafayette area,she'd felt obligated to partic.i.p.ate-even though the ten-year-old girl who was her Little Sister had just come down with chicken pox and wouldn't beattending.
”I read this story once, about this fer-de-lance that crawled into a man'ssleeping bag in the middle of the night and curled up on his belly. One twitchand the guy wasdead. He had to lie there frozen for hours until the sun cameup and the snake got too hot and finally crawled away.” She shuddered. ”I knowI won't get a wink of sleep.”
Callie chuckled. ”I hope you likes'mores and rock music, girl, 'cause yousure are gonna get your fill of both.”
”I thought about coming down with a sudden case of twenty-four-hour flu, butBetty LouSanberra would just knock down the door to my town house with thoselinebacker shoulders of hers and haul me out of bed.”
Callie's grin was merciless. ”Knowing you, you'll be right in the thick ofthings,roastin ' weenies andsittin ' around the campfire, telling those tiredold urban legends about guys with hooks stalking lovers in parked cars andfolks waking up in a bathtub full of ice and finding out they mislaid akidney.”
Riahad to laugh. She suspected Callie was right. ”It's supposed to rain thisweekend. The man at the sporting goods store swore that the tent he sold mewas waterproof, but he couldn't quite look me in the eyes when he made thatclaim.”
Callie laughed. ”If it rains, maybe they'd call it all off.”
”Not a chance. Betty Lou would simply consider mud camping a challenge.”
At the door they exchanged hugs before Callie pulled open the door. A gust ofwind scented with rain swirled around them, and they exchanged looks.
”Pray for clear skies,”Ria muttered, shooting a fatalistic look at the sky.”Start tonight.”
Callie's sultry mouth twitched. ”Soon as I get home,” she promised, beforeheading into the rising wind.
Riafrowned at the thick charcoal clouds faintly visible in the fadingtwilight before closing the door.Tova's seminar had apparently just ended, andnoise swelled from below as the attendees spilled into the corridor. In theclinic waiting room a baby cried and a child laughed.
Turning to head upstairs, she spied a waif-thin teenager helping an elderlywoman who was using a walker to inch her way across the foyer. On the sunsetside of eighty, EsterCocetti lived in a tiny frame bungalow across the streetfrom the Center.Inher salad days she'd been an exotic dancer in the wild andwoolly days of Al Capone'sChicago.
Now crippled with osteoporosis and arthritis and struggling to exist on atiny pension from her husband's job as a railway conductor, she'd been Kate'sfirst patient. Since then, the garrulous widow had adopted them.
”Ria, dear,” she said, drawing to a stop. ”I was hoping to see you beforeyour vacation.”
”Hey, what's happening, boss lady?” Sixteen-year-old TinaCocetti was spendingthe summer with her great-grandmother. As a favor to Mrs.Cocetti -and in spite of the added strain to their budget-Riahad hired the girl to do odd jobs. Toher great surprise and delight, Tina had turned into a regular dynamo.
”Good evening, ladies,” she said before leaning down to kiss the papery cheekMrs.Cocetti presented. ”Is this a routine visit, I hope?”
”Oh, yes, dear. Katie does mean well, but she fusses so.”
”Gram's been having chest pains,” Tina contradicted, earning her a look ofrebuke, which she blithely ignored. ”Dr. Kate said it was the chili peppersGram insists on putting in everything.”
Rialeveled a severe look at the woman she'd come to adore. ”Now, Mrs. C.-”
”Don't you starting fussing, too. I'm perfectly fine.” Mrs. C. pattedRia'sarm. ”I'm glad we ran into you, though. I wanted to ask you about thatrabbitylooking girl who went running out of here a few minutes ago. Poor thing lookslike she could use a good iron supplement.”
”Oh, Gram,” Tina muttered, her gaze on a youth about her age seated just inside the waiting room, reading a magazine. ”She was just a little pale.”
Rianarrowed her gaze. ”What was this woman wearing?”
”A dress in the most unattractive shade of mauve, poor thing. Two sizes too large, at least. In my day we called them house dresses.”
”Brenda,”Ria murmured, more to herself than theCocettis .
Mrs. C. c.o.c.ked her head. ”Whatever her name is; she's the same woman I saw tussling with a man in your parking lot last week.”
Riafelt a sudden chill. ”Tussling?”
”Well, it wasn't really a tussle. G.o.d knows that poor thing couldn't hold her own against a flea, let alone a bruiser like the one who grabbed her.”
”I'm sorry, Mrs. C, but I'm afraid I'm not following.”
”Not at all dear.” Mrs. C. glanced around to make sure they weren't being overheard.
The old woman puckered her brow below the fringe of white fuzz. ”It was a fewminutes before seven. She was just getting out of this old Ford stationwagon-you know, the kind with the fake wood on the side.” Her lips compressed.
”Now in my day, they used real wood. Oak, I think and-”
”I hate to interrupt, Mrs. C., but I'm a little pressed for time.”
”Youalways are, dear.”
Tina took pity on her. ”Like Gram said, this lady was getting out of her car, and all of a sudden this big old truck comes barreling into the lot.”
Ria'sstomach tightened. ”Truck?”
”Yeah, just the cab part, you know?Kinda blue-green, with a red stripe?”
Rianodded, feeling sicker and sicker.
”Anyway, this big guy jumps out and grabs the lady by the arm and throws herup against her car. Shemusta hit her elbow, 'cause she grabbed it and sort ofbent over. And then he was, like, yelling at her.”
Mrs. C. looked surprisingly sprightly all of a sudden as she bobbed her headin vigorous agreement. ”I told Tina to call the police, but by the time shefound that blasted cordless doohickey, the man had pushed the woman back inher car and she drove off, with him following practically right on top ofher.”
Riacompressed her lips. Maybe Callie was right. Maybe Brenda was beingknocked around. ”Could you identify this man?” she asked, her gaze includingthem both.
”Probably,” Tina said with a shrug.
”Of course,” Mrs. C. said at the same time. ”My eyesight is still young, evenif the rest of me is moldering away as we speak.”
Riachoked a laugh. ”You're doing no such thing.”
”Ha. You haven't seen me naked.”
”Not so loud,” Tina exclaimed, looking mortified.
Riaand Mrs. C. exchanged smiles. ”I appreciate the information,”Ria told theold woman before giving her a gentle hug. ”And please, let me know immediatelyif you see that man again.”
”I certainly will. We can't have those kinds of goings-on in ourneighborhood.” Mrs. C. moved her walker a few inches, then stopped. ”If Big Alwere still around, that bully would have been buzzard bait by now.” Her faceturned dreamy and her eyes distant. ”Now there was a man,Ria . There was aman.”
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