The Oxenburg Woman, page 34
Her gaze fell on another young male face under a hat. The face was smiling at her, displaying very white teeth. She stared. She knew this handsome cowboy, too; she’d even danced with him in the past. She smiled back automatically, grateful for the distraction. He came toward them, sidestepping around tables and chairs and being greeted enthusiastically as he came. The hubbub picked up in his wake.
He continued to smile at Suzanna while he strolled up beside the bartender. His gaze slid over Lewis and came to rest on Lily. “Well, hello beautiful,” he drawled. “Whitey, introduce me to these folks. I’ve got a feeling I’m missing out on something here.”
“Ed,” Henry said in low-voiced warning.
The smiling man glanced his way then rocked back and hooked his thumbs in his belt. The smile never wavered but Suzanna saw that he had joined the barman in staring at Lewis.
“They’re leaving,” Whitey said.
“Look,” Lewis shifted slightly. “I have some business, it won’t take long. I don’t plan to start anything. I’m after information.”
“Well sir, you’ve come to the right place,” the smiling man announced. “We sorta specialize in tourist information around here. Just exactly what would you like to know?”
“Ed,” Henry said again, “you’re out of this.”
“Well no, partner, I reckon I’d better take a hand. You’re no hell of a talker, and Whitey here’s too damned sober to do any good.”
“What do you want?” Lewis’s question was addressed to Ed with a hard edge that made Suzanna’s stomach turn over. Although he was motionless beside her, she again sensed him gathering himself.
Ed pushed back his hat and turned his smile on Lewis. “I want to know why you’re hogging all the good-looking women, friend. And I was wondering if one of them would like to dance.”
“Yes,” Suzanna heard herself say. “This one would.” She stepped forward.
In an instant, his arm was around her waist and he was guiding her toward the dance floor. Suzanna was only faintly aware of the pressure of his arm. She heard his voice but none of his words. All the way across the room, she prayed that when she got a chance to turn and look, the bartender would be back behind the bar, and Lewis would still be there.
* * * *
Lewis was reaching for Suzanna when Lily twisted her wrist out of his fingers. For a moment he thought they were betraying him in unison. He relaxed when he felt Lily’s hand under his jacket. He slowly counted to three while he forced himself to watch Suzanna disappear in the direction of the dance floor.
Then he turned back to the tough, knowing face opposite him and took a step forward. Lily came with him. He slowly unbuttoned his jacket and held it open momentarily, long enough to show the empty holster. “Like I said, I’m not looking for trouble. I left it in the car.”
“So why didn’t you just say so when I jumped you for it?”
“I didn’t like your attitude.”
“You ain’t done nothing to change it. There’s a dozen places you could be carrying besides in that fancy rig.”
“I could be, but I’m not. Look, you’ve got a bar to run. Henry and Lily are old friends. They haven’t seen each other for a while. If I go, she goes with me. It’s up to you. Do you want to prevent the man from talking to her?”
“I got no problem with her.”
“Good.” Lewis hooked a chair away from the closest table and rested his hand on its slatted back. “I’d like a Mexican beer. And a glass for the lady.”
“The lady’s gone,” Whitey observed.
Lewis glanced toward the dance floor, where Suzanna was being whirled in some kind of organized frenzy. Her hair was flying in an arc under its silver clasp. “She’ll be back,” he said.
Whitey grunted. “I wouldn’t bet on that.”
Lewis studied him coldly. “Don’t worry about it,” he said.
Whitey looked unimpressed. His attention had already returned to the business at the bar. He picked up a handful of empties from the table and elbowed his way through the throng.
Henry had an arm around Lily’s waist. She fit nicely against his shoulder.
“I reckon we’ll be going,” he said.
Lewis glanced at him, then at Lily. “Thirty minutes,” he said. “I’ll look for you outside.”
“I guess that band’s too loud,” Henry said. “Maybe we should all go outside now so you can hear me.”
“I don’t think that’s necessary. Lily’s the one you want to talk to. You know what I want. We don’t need to discuss it here. People’re already wondering what we’ve got to talk about. I’ll wait. You want to hear the deal from her, this is your chance.”
Henry studied him briefly then he and Lily turned together toward the door. Lewis watched them through it before he sat down. A waitress brought his beer a moment later. She refused his money and he raised the bottle in acknowledgement to the watchful face behind the bar. He read the message in the curt nod of response. His money was no good here, his business wasn’t welcome.
He took a drink of the cold beer and shifted momentarily to locate Suzanna’s fringed shirt on the dance floor. The smiling joker seemed to have a hundred moves and a dozen ways to hold her. She didn’t appear to be suffering.
He looked back to the parking lot, lit by the ghostly mercury lights. Henry and Lily had reached the red and white Ford. Henry opened the passenger door, caught Lily around the waist and swung her onto the seat. Lily’s arms came around his neck. Lewis didn’t know how long he watched before he took another drink. Between them and Suzanna and the dancing fool he felt like a damned voyeur.
When he looked up, they were still locked in an embrace inside the sheltering confines of the open door of the pickup. He was relieved when Suzanna slid into the empty chair beside him. She reached for the bottle and took a long drink. She was flushed, dark-eyed and animated.
“Easy,” he said.
She touched his leg under the table. “Everything okay?” she asked. “Where’s Lily?”
He pointed with his chin.
“Oh.” She smiled happily at him. “What now?”
“We wait. It’ll only be a few minutes, then I hope to talk to somebody. Maybe you can help me out. It’s a young girl, she may be uncomfortable with me. She’s had some bad experiences apparently.” He wished she wasn’t watching him so intently, like she was waiting to hear more. He looked away.
Henry was leaning on the pickup now, rolling a cigarette while he listened to Lily.
Lewis poured the rest of the beer into the glass and slid it over in front of Suzanna. “I seem to be walking into a lot of doors lately.” He looked at her. “The dance man there ought to thank you. I think you saved his life.”
She shook her head. “You would have handled it. I took a chance. You know, if you’d tell me exactly what’s going on, I won’t have to guess what to do.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Can’t or won’t?”
He wished she wasn’t so close or so obviously on his side. He was tempted to tell her. He looked away, back to Lily standing and talking to Henry. “One or the other,” he said, “Does it make a difference?”
She hadn’t intended to drink any more but Suzanna finished the beer. It was hot in the bar. There were a number of things she would have liked to talk to Lewis about but the noise made conversation an effort and worse, his attention was clearly on Lily. Finally he told her it was time to leave.
She liked the way Henry and Lily looked, standing close together and holding hands. Lily looked happy. In fact, she looked like she was in love and finally secure in herself.
“Do we have a deal?” Lewis asked.
“About the horses, yes.” Henry pushed his hat back. “I’m not so sure about Gin. She’s not good with strangers. It’d be better if you just told me what you want to know and let me talk to her. She has a hard time getting things straight. And she’s plenty spooked about that rifle already.”
“Sorry, I have to talk to her myself. It shouldn’t take long and I’m not going to mention the gun. I want to ask her about the man in the wheelchair.”
“What about him? He’s gone back to wherever you guys come from, isn’t he?”
“He’s gone and Tareeq is missing some art. I think the Johnson girl may be able to tell us which pieces were there.”
“Well, I guess it won’t do any harm for you to try. Come on over to the coffee shop and I’ll talk to my Mother about letting her take a break. I’m staying though, understand? And when she’s had enough, that’s it.”
Henry made no move toward the coffee shop. He stood easily, holding Lily’s hand and waiting. “Sure,” Lewis agreed. “That’s fine.”
* * * *
“Hello Virginia, my name’s Lewis. And this is Suzanna.” Lewis smiled at the girl across the well-scrubbed surface of the booth. He sounded stiff even to himself. The girl looked terrified. She had the kind of oversized eyeballs Lewis had previously seem only on cartoon characters. Amazing color, though. He wondered if she could be wearing contacts. No, that was too absurd.
“Hi,” she said shyly. She refused to look at him again. “You go with that guy with the fairy car,” she said suddenly. Lewis looked at her sharply. She was talking to Suzanna.
“Fairy car?” Suzanna sounded as lost as he was. “Oh, you mean the Jaguar. Is that what you call it?”
Vigorous head shake. “Nooooo, not me. Eddie.”
Lewis tried again. “Gin, is that what they call you? What did Gerald call you? Gin or Virginia.”
“Virginia.” The shy little face turned toward him at last. “Where did Gerald go? Does he live at your house now? Henry said you’re his friend.”
Lewis cleared his throat. Well, obvious question for a kid. “No, not at my house. Gerald has his own place. It’s a long way from here.”
“Gerald already lived a lot of places. He showed me on his maps. He had a lot of stuff he brought back from all the places he went to. Some of it was real ugly. I never told him what was ugly, but I didn’t never dust the mean looking ones.”
“The Nigerian ones?”
“Uh-huh, that’s the place he said they came from. Have you seen them, too?”
“I was there when he bought them and I agree, they are ugly. Now Virginia, I’d like to know all about your work at Gerald’s house. Like, for example did you go there every day?”
“Oh no.”
“What days did you go?”
“Different days sometimes.”
“Why different days? Did Gerald tell you when to come?”
“No, not Gerald.”
“Who then?” Christ, this was going to take all night.
“Big Mac.”
“Big Mac? Do you mean MacIntyre? The man with the black Jeep?”
“Is the man who drives the fairy car here?” This to Suzanna.
“Well no. He’s away right now, on a business trip.” Suzanna shot Lewis a helpless look.
“Virginia,” Lewis snapped, “talk to me. The man with the fairy car isn’t important.”
Her face fell. She stared at the table and then looked up. Her lower lip was trembling. “I don’t like you,” she said plaintively. “You sound like my daddy.”
From the corner of his eye, Lewis saw Henry straighten against the counter by the kitchen doors. He took a deep breath. “I’m sorry you don’t like me but if you’ll just answer one or two questions I’ll go away and you’ll never have to see me again.”
“Good.” Fierce little pout. “If I answer your stupid questions, will you make her go away, too?”
Lewis followed her gaze to where Lily stood talking with Henry and a short, dark-haired woman by the kitchen. “Do you mean the girl with Henry?”
Emphatic nod.
“Well yeah, I can make her go away, Gin. Would you like that?” He heard a small muffled sound from Suzanna.
“Yes, more than anything. Make her go where the ugly heads come from.”
“Okay, Gin, you help me and then I’ll see what I can do to help with your problem. Now, what days did you go to Gerald’s house?”
“I went when Big Mac was waiting for me at the bus stop. I went sometimes on Monday and sometimes on Tuesday but always on Thursday.”
“What bus stop?”
“The school bus stop, of course.”
“Oh, right. Okay, so what time was that? After three? And how long did you stay at Gerald’s house?”
“You can’t ask me like that. Ask me one by one.”
He took a long swallow of his coffee and set the cup down carefully. “Did you arrive sometime between three-thirty and four?”
“I guess.”
“And when did you leave?”
“When Big Mac came to get me. Wait, I know when ‘cause I always got home before supper. That’s at seven.”
“So you were there with Gerald for about four hours, two days a week. Who else did you meet in the house, besides Gerald and Big Mac?”
She picked up her spoon and stirred her coffee vigorously. “I don’t know.”
“You don’t know their names? Can you describe them?”
She cocked her head at Suzanna. “Did the fairy car go on the business trip, too?”
“Virginia,” Lewis said sternly.
“I want to ask questions, too. It’s no fair for you to have all the fun.”
“It’s all right, Gin.” Suzanna squeezed his leg. “You’re right, we should be fair.” She emphasized the word with her hand. “The Jag is at my house. It didn’t go on the trip.”
Lewis could see more questions building. “All right, Virginia, now it’s my turn. Tell me about the other people you met.”
“I didn’t meet nobody. I just went straight up the stairs and then I talked to Gerald mostly.”
“You never met anybody else?”
Solemn head shake.
“Did you ever see any other people?”
Repeat of the head shake. “Where can you make her go? Some place on the other side of the ocean?”
“Sure,” he said, wracking his brain for an angle to get something useful out of her. She had to know something. “Any place you like,” he said, still thinking.
“Virginia.” Suzanna took Gin’s hand and held it gently. “Listen to me for a minute. I’d like to ask you how you think Henry would feel if Lewis sends his friend far away.”
Gin snatched her hand back. “I don’t care, it’s not fair. Henry’s my best friend. I hate her.”
“Henry’s been your friend for a long time, hasn’t he? What are you afraid of? Do you think he’ll stop being your friend? You know that’s not true, Virginia. He’ll like you just as much as he always has and I bet, if you give her a chance, Lily will like you too.”
“No, she won’t.”
“I bet she will. On the other hand, just think how bad Henry will feel if Lily goes far away and he never sees her again. You wouldn’t like it if Henry went away, would you?”
“Henry will never go away. He promised.”
“He might. What if you got Lewis to send Lily away and Henry went, too? You wouldn’t like that, would you? Listen to me, Virginia. If you want to have friends, you have to be a good friend too and want everyone to be happy.”
The amazing eyes filled with tears. “But it’s not fair,” she whimpered.
“I may feel that way now,” Suzanna agreed gently, “but someday you’ll meet somebody you like even more than Henry.”
“God forbid,” Lewis muttered. Suzanna pinched his leg savagely. He subsided.
“Here,” Suzanna handed her a napkin. “Now, think really hard. Shut your eyes and really try to think whether you ever saw anybody else when you went to visit Gerald.”
Her eyelids closed obediently and were squeezed into a grimace of concentration.
Suzanna looked at Lewis and made a little offering gesture with her hand. She’s all yours, it said. And the look on her face said, don’t blow it again.
Lewis waited. He drank some more of the lukewarm coffee, wishing it was beer. “You can open your eyes now, Gin. Did you think of anyone?”
She shook her head blithely.
He accepted defeat. He was bitterly disappointed but resigned. You couldn’t get blood out of a stone.
“Was everybody nice to you there?” Suzanna asked suddenly.
“Oh yes,” Gin nodded enthusiastically. “Especially Gerald and he made Mac be nice to me, too. I don’t think Mac is a specially nice man, not like Gerald. He’s more like you.” Her accusing blue eyes reflected Lewis. “And the electric man.”
“What electric man?” He wanted to grab her across the table and shake her. Suzanna’s hand tightened on his leg warningly, but she was too late.
The pale head was already shaking a negative. “Don’t know.”
Lewis turned to Suzanna.
“What is an electric man, Gin?” Suzanna asked.
“You know, everybody knows.”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t know what that is. I haven’t lived here as long as you have. At first, I didn’t even know the name of the feed store or the phone company.”
“Well that’s easy. It’s Foothills Feed and Fuel. It says it on the trucks.”
“That’s right, it does. What kind of a truck does the electric man have?”
“Well, it’s kind of white now. But it didn’t used to be.”
“What color was it before?”
“How should I know?” Virginia replied with a shrug.
“Do you know his name? Even his first name?”
Solemn head shake.
“What does the electric man look like?”
“I guess he just looks like a man, pretty much.”
“Does he look like Lewis?”
“Noooo.” Giggles. “Not so big.”
“Like Henry then?”
“No. Not nice like Henry. Just like himself. I don’t want to talk about him anyway. I hate him. He’s always mean to me and he sicced his dog on me, too.”
“He did? Really?”
“Not really, but he said he would. But then Big Mac told him he better just leave me alone. I guess he’s afraid of Mac all right. But I always had to wait in the jeep. That wasn’t fair.”
