ABC Amber LIT Converter by Island of Lost Girls Page B

she makes up her mind about a thing, it’s like trying to stir dried cement.”

    “Will you try?”

    “Okay. I’ll try. If you’ll do something for me.”

    “What?”

    “Consider that Peter might not be what you think. I’m not saying he’s the one who took Ernie, I’m just asking you to look at the evidence and realize he might be involved in some way. He might not be the person he seems.”

    “I’ve known Peter since I was born!”

    “I know. I know you have. But everyone has secrets.”

    She was about to open her mouth to say that she knew all of Peter’s secrets, and he all of hers, but she was interrupted by the ringing phone. She excused herself and grabbed the cordless phone from the table in the front hall.

    “Ronnie? It’s Tock. Listen, Suzy just told me she was talking to you about Ernie this afternoon.”

    “Yeah, a little.” Rhonda began to pace back and forth across the hall, studying the dissection drawings.

    “She said you asked about Ernie and the rabbit.” There was an edge to Tock’s voice that made Rhonda cringe.

    “I just wondered if she’d ever seen the rabbit,” Rhonda explained. She looked at her own rabbit drawing, the layers of fur, skin, and tissue peeled back to reveal the bright, jewel-like organs inside.

    Tock blew out a breath, hissing into the phone like some far-off snake. “She had one of her worst seizures ever last night. Did Peter tell you that? God, I can’t believe he brought her into Pat’s in the first place, all that Ernie stuff around…it’s too much. She’s alittle girl , Rhonda. A very upset little girl with a serious medical condition that isn’t being controlled very well at the moment.” Tock’s voice was strained. She sounded like she was on the verge of either crying or screaming.

    “I’m sorry, Tock. God, I would never do anything to hurt or upset Suzy. I was just making conversation. I’m so sorry. I’ll be more careful in the future.” Rhonda stood with her back against the wall and let herself sink down, back sliding, until she was sitting on the floor.

    “Thank you. That’s all I’m asking.”

    “Of course,” Rhonda said. “Thanks for calling, Tock. Thanks for telling me.” She started to stand.

    “Wait, there’s something else. Did you stop by my mother’s trailer yesterday?”

    Rhonda took in a breath, let herself fall back to the ground. Shit. “Yeah. I just wanted to see how she was.”

    “And you brought some guy…some movie director or something?”

    “I brought a friend. My friend Warren. He’s not really—”

    “My family’s been through a lot these last couple of days. I don’t know what it is you hoped to find by interrogating a sick woman and a little girl, but you’re not the cop, Rhonda. It’s not your job to go digging around in other people’s lives. You’re justawitness . A witness who did nothing, which, let’s face it, is pretty fucking suspicious, isn’t it?”

    Before Rhonda could respond, Tock slammed the phone down, sending a smashing shriek across the lines, echoing inside Rhonda’s already rattled skull.

    MAY 31, 1993

    TWO WEEKS BEFOREhis birthday, Clem began sleeping in his study. There was a love seat there, and he’d lie down with his long legs draped over one armrest, his head forced up at an unnatural angle by the other. When he woke up in the morning, he’d emerge from his new lair in the rough shape of a question mark, hobble his way to the kitchen, and make coffee. By the time he was into his second cup, he’d straightened up again.

    “Why are you sleeping in the study?” Rhonda asked after it became clear that this was to be an ongoing arrangement.

    “My snoring was keeping your mother awake,” he said.

    “You snore, Daddy?”

    He shrugged, turned the coffee mug in his hands.

    Rhonda would watch him get ready for work (Clem was the boss at the sawmill those days—Dave Lancaster had retired) after one of his nights on the love seat, wondering what was reallygoing on. She heard bits and pieces of arguments through the walls.