‘Do you have them?’
‘No. I didn’t think they were important. The postmarks were Richmond, the notes kooky but not alarming. I frequently get peculiar mail.’
‘Sent to your house?’
‘Generally to the office. My home address isn’t listed.’
‘Shit, Doc!’ Marino got up and started pacing. ‘Didn’t it disturb you when you got notes delivered to your home address when it’s not listed?’
‘The location of my home certainly isn’t a secret. You know how often we’ve asked the media not to film or photograph it, and they do it anyway.’
‘Tell me what the other notes said.’
‘Like this one, they were short. One asked me how I was and if I was still working too hard. It seems to me the other was more along the lines of missing me.’
‘Missing you?’
I searched my memory. ‘Something like, “It’s been too long. We really must see each other.”‘
‘You’re certain it’s the same person.’ He glanced down at the pink note on the table.
‘I think so. Obviously, Gault has my address, as you predicted he would.’
‘He’s probably been by your crib.’ He stopped pacing and looked at me. ‘You realize that?’
I did not answer.
‘I’m telling you that Gault has seen where you live.’ Marino ran his fingers through his hair. ‘You understand what I’m saying?’ he demanded.
‘This needs to go to the lab first thing in the morning,’ I said.
I thought of the first two notes. If they, too, were from Gault, he had mailed them in Richmond. He had been here.
‘You can’t stay here, Doc.’
‘They can analyze the postage stamp. If he licked it, he left saliva on it. We can use PCR and get DNA.’
‘You can’t stay here,’ he said again.
‘Of course I can.’
‘I’m telling you, you can’t.’
‘I have to, Marino,’ I said stubbornly. ‘This is where I live.’
He was shaking his head. ‘No. It’s out of the question. Or else I’m moving in.’
I was devoted to Marino but could not bear the thought of him in my house. I could see him wiping his feet on my oriental rugs and leaving rings on yew wood and mahogany. He would watch wrestling in front of the fire and drink Budweiser out of the can.
‘I’m going to call Benton right now,’ he went on. ‘He’s going to tell you the same thing.’ He walked toward the phone.
‘Marino,’ I said. ‘Leave Benton out of this.’
He walked over to the fire and sat on the sandstone hearth instead. He put his head in his hands, and when he looked up at me his face was exhausted. ‘You know how I’ll feel if something happens to you?’
‘Not very good,’ I said, ill at ease.
‘It will kill me. It will, I swear.’
‘You’re getting maudlin.’
‘I don’t know what that word means. But I do know Gault’s going to have to waste my ass first, you hear me?’ He stared intensely at me.
I looked away. I felt the blood rise to my cheeks.
‘You know, you can get whacked like anybody else. Like Eddie, like Susan, like Jane, like Jimmy Davila. Gault’s fixed on you, goddam it. And he’s probably the worst killer in this friggin’ century.’ He paused, watching me. ‘Are you listening?’
I lifted my eyes to his. ‘Yes,’ I said. ‘I’m listening. I’m hearing every word.’
‘You got to leave for Lucy’s sake, too. She can’t come see you here ever. And if something happens to you, just what do you think is going to happen to her?’
I shut my eyes. I loved my home. I had worked so hard for it. I had labored intensely and tried to be a good businesswoman. What Wesley had predicted was happening. Protection was to be at the expense of who I was and all that I had.
‘So I’m supposed to move somewhere and spend my savings?’ I asked. ‘I’m supposed to just give all of this up?’ I swept my hand around the room. ‘I’m supposed to give that monster that much power?’
‘You can’t drive your ride, either,’ he went on, thinking aloud. ‘You got to drive something he won’t recognize. You can take my truck, if you want.’