Now she was annoyed. “Why would you bring that up? That was years ago. I felt so guilty about that. I never should have told you. To this day I feel bad I didn’t leave a note. You remember two years ago I was using that machine at the drugstore where you can check your blood pressure? And I thought I broke it? And I told them about it and offered to pay? And lucky for me, they said it had broken down before and it wasn’t my fault, but it could have been. I was prepared to do the right thing, so why you’d dredge up that other matter I don’t—”
“I only mention it because it was nothing,” Don said. “It was nothing compared to what I did—or didn’t do.”
“What on earth are you talking about?”
Those lips were pressed together again. Arlene sensed he was getting to the hardest part. He said nothing for more than a minute, but finally said, “I was one of them.”
“One of what?”
“One of the people who did nothing,” Don Harwood said.
FIFTY-FOUR
ANGUS Carlson phoned his wife, Gale, at the dental clinic where she worked as a hygienist. She was with a patient, doing a cleaning, but Carlson told the woman at the desk that it was an emergency.
Several seconds later, Gale came on the line. “What is it? What’s happened? Are you okay?”
“It’s not that kind of emergency,” he told her. “It’s something good.”
“Oh, God, you gave me a heart attack. You’re a cop! Someone says it’s an emergency and my mind goes to the worst possible place!”
“Sorry, I didn’t think.”
“I’ve got someone in the chair. What’s happened?”
“I got a promotion.”
“What?” Excited now, no longer annoyed. “What kind of promotion?”
“It’s temporary,” he said. “But if I do a good job, they might make it permanent.”
“Tell me.”
“Detective,” he said. “They’ve got me working as a detective.”
“That’s fantastic! That’s wonderful! I’m so proud of you.”
“I just wanted you to know. I wanted you to be the first call.”
“Does this mean you’ll get more money?”
“I’ll probably get a bump up while I’m doing it.”
“Because,” Gale said gently, “if you get a raise, this could be a good time—”
“Only thing I’m a bit worried about is this guy I have to work with. Duckworth. I don’t think he likes me. There was this thing with squirrels, and I was just making a joke and—”
“Squirrels?”
“It doesn’t matter. I’ll just have to work it out with him. Prove to him I’m not an idiot.”
“You’re not,” Gale said. “You’re going to do great. But what I was going to say was, if you’re going to be making more money, maybe this would be a good time to think about starting a—”
“Please, Gale, don’t go there,” Angus Carlson said.
“You don’t even know what I’m going to say.”
“I know what you’re going to say. That’s not why I’m calling you. I don’t want to get into that.”
“I’m sorry,” Gale said. “I just thought—”
“You know how I feel about this.”
“I know, but we’ve had this discussion. I’m not like her. I’d be a good mother. Just because—”
“That reminds me. I’m going to let her know.”
“Let who know?”
“My mother. I’m going to let her know.”
“Angus.”
“I am. She never thought I’d amount to anything. I’m going to tell her.”
“Angus, please,” Gale said. “Don’t say that. Let it go. We left that behind. We came here to get away from all that.”
He didn’t say anything for a moment. Finally, his voice somewhat distant: “Okay, okay. You’re right. I don’t have to do that.”
“We should . . . celebrate,” Gale said, her voice starting to break. A sniff, then: “When you get home.”
“Are you crying?”
“I’m not crying.”
“You sound like you’re crying. This is a big thing for me, Gale. Don’t ruin it by crying.”
“I said I wasn’t crying. I have to go. I have to get back to Mr. Ormin.”
“Okay,” he said. “We’ll go out. You want to do that?”
“You pick,” Gale said. “I have to go.”
FIFTY-FIVE
THE first thing Sturgess and Gaynor had to do was get rid of Marshall Kemper’s van. The doctor drove; Gaynor followed in the Audi. Sturgess was mindful that he didn’t want to take any route, or leave the van, anyplace where there might be video cameras. He did not want to be showing up on any surveillance video driving a vehicle owned by a man who would soon be on a missing-persons list. That left out the parking lots of major department stores, fast-food outlets, or getting onto a toll road like the New York State Thruway.
Nor did Sturgess want to take a lot of time disposing of the van. He needed to return to Kemper’s place, where he believed Sarita was waiting for the man. And then it hit him—the solution was simple: Leave the van at Kemper’s house.
He phoned Gaynor in the Audi, told him where he was going. The doctor could hear a baby making gurgling noises in the background. “Hang back a block or so,” Sturgess said. “We don’t want anyone seeing your car, noticing your license plate, out front of Kemper’s place.”
“What do you want me to do?” he asked.
“You just take care of your kid,” Sturgess said. “I’ll handle this.”