'Are you all right?' he whispered in her ear.
Her hair brushed up and down against his cheek as she nodded. Then she drew back. Her eyes were shining. 'I was sure Thibodeau would look in the cereal, it was Jackie's idea to spit in it, that was genius, but I was certain - '
'Why is mommy crying?'Judy asked. She sounded ready to cry
herself.
'I'm not,' she said, then wiped her eyes. 'Well, maybe a little. Because I'm so happy to see your dad.'
'We're all happy to see him!' Janelle told Jackie. 'Because my Daddy, HE'S THE BOSS!'
'News to me,' Rusty said, then kissed Linda on the mouth, hard.
'Lips-kissin!' Janelle said, fascinated. Judy covered her eyes and giggled.
'Come on, girls, swings,' Jackie said. 'Then you get dressed for school.'
'I WANT TO LOOPIE DA LOOP!' Janelle screamed, leading the way.
'School?' Rusty asked. 'Really?'
'Really,' Linda said. 'Just the little ones, at East Street Grammar. Half a day. Wendy Goldstone and Ellen Vanedestine volunteered to take classes. K through three in one room, four through six in another. I don't know if any actual learning will happen, but it'll give the kids a place to go, and a sense of normalcy. Maybe.' She looked up at the sky, which was cloudless but had a yellowish tinge all the same. Like a blue eye with a cataract growing on it, she thought. 'I could use some normalcy myself. Look at that sky'
Austy glanced up briefly, then held his wife at arms' length so he could study her. 'You got away with it? You're sure?'
'Yes. But it was close. This kind of thing may be fun in spy movies, but in real life it's awful. I won't break him out, honey. Because of the girls.'
'Dictators always hold the children hostage,' Rusty said.'At some point people have to say that no longer works.'
'But not here and not yet. This is Jackie's idea, so let her handle it. I won't be a part of it, and I won't let you be a part of it.'Yet he knew that if he demanded this of her, she would do as he asked; it was the expression under her expression. If that made him the boss, he didn't want to be.
'You're going in to work?' he asked.
'Of course. Kids go to Marta, Marta takes kids to school, Linda and Jackie report for another day of police work under the Dome. Anything else would look funny. I hate having to think this way.' She blew out a breath. 'Also, I'm tired.' She glanced to make sure the kids were out of earshot. 'Fucking exhausted. I hardly slept at all. Are you going in to the hospital?'
Rusty shook his head. 'Ginny and Twitch are going to be on their own at least until noon... although with the new guy to help them out, I think they'll be okay. Thurston's kind of New Age-y, but he's good. I'm going over to Claire McClatchey's. I need to talk to those kids, and I need to go out to where they got the radiation spike on the Geiger counter.'
'What do I tell people who ask where you are?'
Foisty considered this. 'The truth, I guess. Some of it, anyway. Say I'm investigating a possible Dome generator. That might make Rennie think twice about whatever next step he's planning.'
'And when I'm asked about the location? Because I will be.'
'Say you don't know, but you think it's on the western side of town.'
'Black Ridge is north.'
'Yep. If Rennie tells Randolph to send out some of his Mounties, I want them to go to the wrong place. If someone calls you on it later, just say you were tired and must have gotten mixed up. And listen, hon - before you go in to the PD, make a list of people who may believe Barbie's innocent of the murders.'Thinking again, Us and them. 'We need to talk to those people before the town meeting tomorrow. Very discreetly'
'Rusty, are you sure about this? Because after the fire last night, this whole town is going to be on the lookout for the Friends of Dale Barbara.'
'Am I sure? Yes. Do I like it? Most assuredly not.'
She looked up again at the yellow-tinged sky, then at the two oaks in their front yard, the leaves hanging limp and moveless, their bright colors fading to drab brown. She sighed. 'If Rennie framed Barbara, then he probably had the newspaper burned down.You know that, right?'
'I do.'
'And if Jackie can get Barbara out of jail, where will she put him? Where in town is safe?'
'I'll have to think about that.'
'If you can find the generator and turn it off, all this I Spy crap becomes unnecessary.'
'You pray that happens.'
'I will. What about radiation? I don't want you coming down with leukemia, or something.'
'I have an idea about that.'
'Should I ask?'
He smiled. 'Probably not. It's pretty crazy'
She twined her fingers through his. 'Be careful.'
He kissed her lightly. 'You too.'
They looked at Jackie pushing the girls on the swings. They had a lot to be careful for. All the same, Rusty thought that risk was coming into his life as a major factor. If, that was, he wanted to be able to continue looking at his reflection when he took his morning shave.
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