“I’m concerned, that’s all,” I said.
“You don’t understand what I’m like, Kay. When I get into something, I’m consumed by it. Can’t get my mind off it.”
She paused. “You were right when you said this book was my chance to redeem myself. It is.”
“I’m glad to hear it, Abby. Knowing you, it will be a bestseller.”
“Maybe. I’m not the only one interested in writing a book about these cases. My agent’s already hearing rumors about other deals out there. I’ve got a head start, will be all right if I work fast.”
“It’s not your book I care about, it’s you.”
“I care about you, too, Kay,” she said. “I appreciate what you’ve done for me by letting me stay here. And that won’t go on much longer, I promise.”
“You can stay as long as you like.”
She collected her notepads and drink. “I’ve got to start writing soon, and I can’t do that until I have my own space, my computer.”
“Then you’re simply doing research these days.”
“Yes. I’m finding a lot of things I didn’t know I was looking for,” she said enigmatically as she headed for her bedroom.
When the Quantico exit came into view the following morning, traffic suddenly stopped. Apparently there had been an accident somewhere north of us on I-95, and cars weren’t moving. Marino flipped on his grille lights and veered off onto the shoulder, where we bumped along, rocks pelting the undercarriage of the car, for a good hundred yards.
For the past two hours he had been giving me a complete account of his latest domestic accomplishments, while I wondered what Wesley had to tell us and worried about Abby.
“Never had any idea venetian blinds was such a bitch,” Marino complained as we sped past Marine Corps barracks and a firing range. “I’m spraying them with 409, right?”
He glanced over at me. “And it’s taking me a minute per slat, paper towels shredding the hell all over the place. Finally I get an idea, just take the damn things out of the windows and dump them in the tub. Fill it with hot water and laundry soap. Worked like a charm.”
“That’s great,” I muttered.
“I’m also in the process of tearing down the wallpaper in the kitchen. It came with the house. Doris never liked it.”
“The question is whether you like it. You’re the one who lives there now.”
He shrugged. “Never paid it much mind, you want to know the truth. But I figure if Doris says it’s ugly, it probably is. We used to talk about selling the camper and putting in an above-the-ground pool. So I’m finally getting around to that, too. Ought to have it in time for summer.”
“Marino, be careful,” I said gently. “Make sure what you’re doing is for you.”
He did not answer me.
“Don’t hang your future on a hope that may not be there.”
“It can’t hurt nothing,” he finally said. “Even if she never-comes back, it can’t hurt nothing for things to look nice.”
“Well, you’re going to’ have to show me your place sometime,” I said.
“Yeah. All the times I’ve been to your crib and you’ve never seen mine.”
He parked the car and we got out. The FBI Academy had continued to metastasize over the outer fringes of the U.S. Marine Corps base. The main building with its fountain and flags had been turned into administrative offices, and the center of activity had been moved into a new tan brick building next door. What looked like another dormitory had gone up since I had visited last. Gunfire in the distance sounded like firecrackers popping.
Marino checked his .38 at the desk. We signed in and clipped on visitor passes, then he took me on another series of shortcuts, avoiding the enclosed brick-and-glass breezeways, or gerbil tubes. I followed him through a door that led outside the building, and we walked over a loading dock, through a kitchen. We finally emerged from the back of the gift shop, which Marino strolled right through without a glance in the direction of the young female clerk holding a stack of sweatshirts. Her lips parted in unspoken protest as she viewed our unorthodox passage. Out of the store and around a comer, we entered the bar and grill called The Boardroom, where Wesley was waiting for us at a comer table.