'Don't have to, Mom,' Joe said. Tt's an easy ride.' 'Safe, too,' Norrie added. 'Hardly anyone on the roads.'
Claire's eyes were locked on her son's in the Mom Death-Stare. 'But I need two promises. First, that you'll be home before dark... and I don't mean the last gasp of twilight, either, I mean while the sun is still up. Second, if you do find something, mark its location and then leave it utterly and completely alone. I accept that you three might be the best people to look for this whatever-it-might-be, but dealing with it is a job for adults. So do I have your word? Give it to me or I'll have to come with you as your chaperone.'
Benny looked doubtful. 'I've never been down Black Ridge Road, Mrs McC, but I've been past it. I don't think your Civic would exactly be, like, up to the task.'
'Then promise me or you stay right here, how's that?'
Joe promised. So did the other two. Norrie even crossed herself.
Joe started to shoulder the backpack. Claire slipped in her cell phone. 'Don't lose that, mister.'
'I won't, Mom.' Joe was shifting from foot to foot, anxious to be gone.
'Norrie? Can I trust you to put the brakes on if these two get crazy?'
'Yes, ma'am,' Norrie Calvert said, as if she hadn't dared death or disfigurement on her skateboard a thousand times just in the last year. 'You sure can.'
'I hope so,' she said. 'I hope so.' Claire rubbed at her temples as if she were getting a headache.
'Awesome lunch, Mrs McC.!' Benny said, and held up his hand. 'Slap me five.'
'Dear God, what am I doing?' Claire asked. Then she slapped him five.
10
Behind the chest-high front desk in the Police Department lobby, where people came to complain about such troubles as theft, vandalism, and the neighbor's ceaselessly barking dog, was the ready room. It contained desks, lockers, and a coffee station where a grouchy sign announced COFFEE AND DONUTS ARE NOT FREE. It was also the booking area. Here Barbie was photographed by Freddy Denton and fingerprinted by Henry Morrison while Peter Randolph and Denton stood close by with their guns drawn.
'Limp, keep em limp!' Henry shouted. This was not the man who had enjoyed talking with Barbie about the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry over lunch at Sweetbriar Rose (always a BLT with a dill pickle spear on the side). This was a fellow who looked like he'd enjoy punching Dale Barbara in the nose. Hard. 'You don't roll em, I do, so keep em limp!'
Barbie thought of telling Henry it was hard to relax your hands when you were standing this close to men with guns, especially if you knew the men wouldn't mind using them. He kept his mouth shut instead, and concentrated on relaxing his hands so Henry could roll the prints. And he wasn't bad at it, not at all. Under other circumstances Barbie might have asked Henry why they were bothering, but he held his tongue on this subject, as well.
'All right,' Henry said when he judged the prints clear. 'Take him downstairs. I want to wash my hands. I feel dirty just touching him.'
Jackie and Linda had been standing to one side. Now, as Randolph and Denton holstered their guns and grabbed Barbie's arms, the two women drew their own. They were pointed down but ready.
'I'd puke up everything you ever fed me, if I could,' Henry said. 'You disgust me.'
'I didn't do it,' Barbie said. 'Think about it, Henry'
Morrison only turned away. Thinking's in short supply around here today, Barbie thought. Which, he was sure, 'was just the way Rennie liked it.
'Linda,' he said. 'Mrs Everett.'
'Don't talk to me.' Her face was paper-pale except for dark purplish crescents beneath her eyes. They looked like bruises.
'Come on, sunshine,' Freddy said, and ground a knuckle into the small of Barbie's back, just above the kidney. 'Your suite awaits.'
11
Joe, Benny, and Norrie rode their bikes north along Route 119.The afternoon was summer-hot, the air hazy and humid. Not a breath of breeze stirred. Crickets sang dozily in the high "weeds at the sides of the road. The sky at the horizon had a yellow look that Joe first took for clouds.Then he realized it was a mixture of pollen and pollution on the surface of the Dome. Out here, PrestUe Stream ran close beside the highway, and they should have heard it chuckling as it sped southeast toward Castle Rock, eager to join the mighty Androscoggin, but they heard only the crickets and a few crows cawing lackadaisically in the trees.
They passed the Deep Cut Road, and came to the Black Ridge Road about a mile farther on. It was dirt, badly potholed, and marked with two leaning, frost-heaved signs. The one on the left read 4-WHEEL DRIVE RECOMMENDED.The one on the right added BRIDGE WEIGHT LIMIT 4 TONS LARGE TRUCKS POSTED. Both signs were riddled with bulletholes.
'I like a town where the folks take regular target practice,' Benny said. 'Makes me feel safe from El Kliyder.'
'That's A3 Qaeda, nitboy,' Joe said.
Benny shook his head, smiling indulgendy. 'I'm talking about El Kliyder, the terrible Mexican bandit who has relocated to western Maine in order to avoid - '