For supper, I made myself a hot hard-boiled egg sandwich with lots of mayonnaise and salt and perched at the counter eating while I scanned the rest of the paper. I must have been more absorbed than I thought because when the telephone shrilled, I flung my sandwich sideways in response. I snatched up the receiver, heart thumping as though a gun had just been fired in my ear. If this turned out to be a reporter, I was going to hang up. “Yes.”
“Hey.”
“Oh shit. Guy, is that you? You scared the hell out of me.” I leaned down and gathered up the remains of my sandwich, popping the crust in my mouth while I licked at my fingers. There was mayonnaise on the floor, but I could tend to that later.
“Yeah, it’s me. How are you?” he said. “I tried calling a while ago, but you were out, I guess.”
“Thank God you called. I was just over at the house. but I couldn’t get anyone to answer my ring. What’s happening?”
“We just finished dinner. Have you seen the news?”
“I have the paper in front of me.”
“Not so good, huh.”
“It’s not that bad,” I said, hoping to cheer him up. “It does look like somebody’s really got it in for you.”
“That’s my assumption,” he said lightly.
“Are you all right? Peter called earlier. He’s been trying to get in touch, but all he’s managed so far is the answering machine. Did you get his message?”
“No, but why would I? Everybody here is pissed at me. They think I notified the paper, trying to get attention. There’s a powwow on for later, after Donovan gets home. He’s got a meeting until nine. The delay’s making me sick. Reminds me of that old business, ‘You wait until your father gets home and he’ll give you the what for.’ ”
I found myself smiling. “You want me to come get you? I can be there in fifteen minutes.”
“Yes-no-I don’t know what I want. I’d like to get out of here, but I don’t dare take off with things as they are.”
“Why not? The damage is done. Whoever spilled the beans, made it look as bad as they could. If you’d leaked the news, you’d have put a different spin on it.”
“How would I manage that? You can’t put a different spin on the truth.”
“Of course you can. It’s called politics.”
“Yeah, but I did all those things. This is just payback time. I told you I was bad. At least, now you know the worst.”
“Oh stop that. I don’t care about that stuff. All I care about is getting you out of there.”
“You want to come for a visit? I could sneak out for a few minutes. Jack and Bennet are downstairs and Christie’s in the office, going through some of Dad’s old papers.”
“Sure. I can pop back over there. What do you want me to do? Shall I ring from the gate?”
“No, don’t do that. I’ll meet you out on Wolf Run Road,” he said. “If the side gate’s locked, I can scale the wall. I’m an expert at getting out. When I was a kid I used to do it all the time. That’s how I managed to get in so much trouble back then.”
“Why don’t you bring your backpack and let me spirit you away,” I said. “I’ll drive you to Marcella and you can hire an attorney to handle your interests from here on.”
“Don’t tempt me. Right now, all I need is civilized conversation. Park in that little grove of trees just across from the gate. I’ll be out there in fifteen minutes.”
I took a few minutes to tidy up the kitchen and then I changed into jeans, a dark shirt, and my Reeboks. The evening air felt uncharacteristically warm, but I wanted to be prepared for night maneuvers if need be. Once at the Maleks’, I took a quick swing by the front gate. There were now two more news crews and the gathering had taken on the feel of a vigil outside a prison. Portable lights had been turned on and a man with a microphone spoke directly to a camera, making gestures toward the house. I saw the dark-haired reporter, but she didn’t see me. She seemed to be bumming a light for her cigarette from a poor unsuspecting “source.”
I followed the wall, circling the property as I turned left on Wolf Run. I spotted the gate, a dark blot in an otherwise unbroken expanse of wall. I pulled off onto the berm across the road, gravel crackling under my wheels. I shut down the engine and sat there, listening to the tick of hot metal and the murmur of the wind. There weren’t any street lamps along this section of the road. The high night sky was clear, but the moon had been reduced to the merest sliver, a frail curve of silver in a sky pale with stars. The dust in the air was as fine as mist. In the ambient light, the pavement was a dull, luminous gray. The stucco wall enclosing the Malek property had been robbed of its pink luster and stretched now like a ghostly band of drab white. June and July were traditionally dry and I associated the Santa Ana winds with the end of summer-late August, early September, when the fire danger was extreme. For years, January had been the rainy season, two weeks of rain that we hoped would fill our annual quota. Yet here we were with the dry wind tossing in the treetops. The bend and sway of tree boughs set up a hushed night music, accompanied by the rustling percussion of dry palm fronds, the occasional snap of tree limbs. By morning, the streets would be littered with dead leaves and the small withered skeletons of broken branches.
The gate opened without a sound and Guy emerged, head down. He wore a dark-colored jacket, his fists shoved into his pockets as though he were cold. I leaned over and unlocked the door on the passenger side. He slid into the seat and then pulled the door shut without slamming it. He said, “Hey. Thanks for coming. I thought I’d go crazy without a friendly face. I’d have called you before, but they were watching me like a hawk.”
“No problem. I don’t know why you don’t break and run while you can.”
“I will. Tomorrow. Or maybe the day after that. I told you we’re supposed to have another meeting tonight just to talk about some things.”
“I thought you already talked.”
“Well, we did. We do. Every time I turn around, we have another chat.”
“That’s because you haven’t knuckled under yet,” I interjected.
“I guess that’s it.” He smiled in spite of himself. His tension was contagious and I could have sworn I smelled alcohol on his breath. I found myself with my arms crossed, one leg wound around the other as if to protect myself.
“I feel like we’re having an affair,” I said.
“Me, too. I used to meet girls out here in the old days when I was grounded. I’d slip over the wall and we’d screw in the backseat of a car. There was something about the danger set me on fire, and them, too. Made most of ’em seem more interesting than they were.”
“I know this is none of my business, but have you been drinking?” I asked.
He turned and looked out the passenger window, shrugging. “I had a couple of drinks last night before all this shit came down. I don’t know what got into me. Don’t get me wrong-they were being nice at that point, but you could tell they were nervous and so was I. I’m ashamed to say this, but the alcohol did help. It mellowed us out and smoothed the conversation. Tonight was pretty much the same except everybody’s mood was different. Cocktail hour comes along and those guys really hit it.”
“Bennet and his martinis.”
“You bet. I figure that’s the only way I’ll get through. Peter wouldn’t be too happy with me, but I can’t help it. I can feel myself sliding back to my old ways.”
“What’d you think of Christie?”
“She was nice. I liked her. I was surprised at Bennett the weight he’d put on, but Jack seemed the same, still nuts about golf. And Donovan hasn’t changed.”
“What’ve they said to you so far?”
“Well, we talked some about the money, what else? I mean, the subject does come up. It’s like Donovan says, we can’t just ignore the issue. It’s like this big dark cloud hanging over us. I think we were all uncomfortable at first.”
“Have you resolved anything?”
“Well, no. Nothing much. At first, I think they were wondering, you know, generally, about my attitude. Now, anything I say and everybody jumps right on in. Tell you the truth, I’d forgotten what they’re like.”