Part 27 (1/2)

'Tea. And you can tell those other idiots to come in now, if you like. But if I catch them gloating, I'll ram their smiles down their throats.'

'I'll be sure to warn them. Where's Sam?'

'My mom took her out to buy some pastries when Jeff arrived, and it all started getting heated. I'll let her know that it's safe to return.'

Parker set some water to boil for her tea, put some grounds in the fancy coffee machine, then went out to tell Angel and Louis that the coast was clear.

'So it's over between them?' said Angel.

'Seems to be.'

'I was just starting to like him.'

'That's what I said.'

'Are we allowed to gloat?'

'You can try, but she did say something about ramming smiles down throats.'

'That's a ”No”, then?'

'I'd take it that way.'

A silver Volvo SUV turned at the gate and came up the drive. Parker could see Rachel's mother Joan behind the wheel, and Walter the golden retriever once owned by Rachel and him, but now very much a Vermont dog occupying the pa.s.senger seat beside her. Then, as the car drew closer, he caught sight of Sam sitting belted in the back. As always, his heart lifted at the sight of her, but not as high as before. He was not looking forward to talking to her about what had happened at Green Heron Bay.

51.

Rachel's mother was significantly more tolerant of Parker than her husband was, although it was all relative. She was civil bordering on polite but it was clear that Louis and Angel were an added strain on her natural good manners. They behaved impeccably, which was like saying that a bomb behaved well by not exploding.

Sam, though, adored both of them, and even Louis tended to thaw in her presence. She chatted with them about school and TV, and scolded them halfheartedly for feeding sc.r.a.ps to Walter under the table. From a distance, they all looked like regular people.

But Parker noticed that Sam didn't say much to him. She'd hugged him upon leaving the car, and asked if he was okay, but beyond that she had devoted most of her attention to Angel and Louis, even more so than usual. It was as though she hoped to hide herself from him by pretending that he wasn't there.

But eventually she finished her milk and doughnut, and Parker suggested that they take a walk with Walter. Walter was more enthusiastic than Sam, but she didn't refuse, and together they strolled around the Wolfes' big back-yard.

'How have you been?' he asked her.

'Good.' She didn't look at him.

'I mean, after what happened at the beach. After what you saw there.'

'Good.'

Maybe, he thought, I should try bamboo slivers under her fingernails, or threaten to sabotage the cable box on the TV. He stopped and squatted before her. She peered up at him from beneath her bangs.

'Sam, do you think I'm mad at you?'

'No,' she said, then offered: 'Maybe.'

'Why would I be?'

'Because I followed you when I wasn't supposed to.'

'I'm not mad at you for doing that.'

'Honest?'

'Well, I don't want you to do it again, but you're safe, and I'm safe. It could have ended badly. You could have been hurt, or worse. You know that, right?'

'Yes.'

'So maybe in future, if I tell you to do something, you might think about doing it?'

This time, she generated a small embarra.s.sed smile.

'Okay.'

'I do want to ask you something else about that night,' he said.

Now they were coming to it. He was treading carefully, but he could already sense her retreating, as though she knew what it was that troubled her father.

'What do you remember?' he said. 'I mean, from the time that you came to the dunes. What do you recall?'

She swallowed hard.

'I saw you kneeling down, and I knew you were hurt. I saw the man with the gun, and then the police officer stood up, and the man shot her.'

'And after that?'

'He was going to shoot you.'

'And were you frightened?'

A nod.

'Were you ... angry?'

A pause. Another nod.

He saw her face again, lit by moonlight, and heard a sound like an exhalation as the dune collapsed.

'Did you maybe imagine something happening to him, something that would stop him from hurting me?'

She looked him straight in the eye.