Eve's Men by Newton Thornburg Page A

time there another sound too, that of breaking glass, metal, and flesh as the lead car skidded directly into Belinda and her body did a grotesque cartwheel across the hood of the vehicle before dropping out of sight into the high grass beyond. And still more cars kept coming, horns and tires screaming as they slammed into the vehicles that were already stopped. Then Charley realized that Eve was screaming too, at him.
    “Get back in! Charley! Come on!”
    Sick and dazed, he did as he was told, thinking that she planned to drive across the median strip and pull up in front of the accident site, so they could more easily get the girl back into the truck and continue on to the hospital. But Eve merely swung out in front of the slowing traffic and gunned the engine, heading south, away from the accident.
    “What the hell you doing?” he cried. “We’ve got to help her!”
    Eve did not look at him. “We will. This exit ahead, I’ll cross over and come back.”
    “It’ll take too long! Come on, turn back!”
    But she had already swerved onto the exit ramp, and now they roared up it at a good fifty miles an hour. At the top, she turned left and took the bridge back over the freeway. Looking down at the accident scene, Charley could feel his heart walloping his chest.
    “Jesus, did you see her!” he got out. “She ran right in front of the cars! They couldn’t stop!”
    “Fucking idiot!” Eve said. “We were only trying to help her.”
    They had come to the traffic light on the other side of the freeway, but instead of getting into the turn lane, so they could enter the freeway’s northbound lanes, Eve accelerated past the intersection. For a few moments, Charley did not understand what was happening, then he took hold of the steering wheel and reached over with his left foot and pushed hard on the brake pedal. Eve struggled against him for a few seconds, then gave in and pulled over to the side of the street, which was lined with gas stations and car washes and fast-food stores, a few of which were still open at this late, predawn hour. Charley roughly took her by the arm and pulled her across his body so he could slide in behind the wheel. After he had U-turned and was heading back toward the freeway, she began to cry, softly, shaking her head.
    “I want to help her too, Charley,” she got out. “I really do. But it’s too late. Can’t you see that?”
    “We’ve got to go back.”
    “And do what? Make sure we incriminate Brian? Make sure he never gets out of prison?”
    “Eve, we can’t just leave her there, for Christ’s sake.”
    “ Leave her? Charley, there are dozens of cars there already! And probably the police by now too! You want to explain it all to them? You want to take a breathalyzer test?”
    And indeed, as he approached the entrance ramp, he could see the red-and-blue flashing lights of a police car already on the scene, apparently having driven in from the north and crossed over the median. So he drove on past the ramp and stopped the pickup on the bridge, where they could see more clearly in both directions. To the south, weaving through the stopped traffic, was the red flasher of an ambulance. Back at the accident site, a policeman on foot was directing traffic with a lighted baton, trying to keep a single line of cars moving past.
    “Have you seen enough?” Eve asked. “Do we go on back to the motel, or does your sense of duty require that we go down there and ruin our lives?”
    Charley put the truck in gear and started on over the freeway again, thinking that they would have to find another way back to the motel now.
    “Yes, I’ve seen enough,” he said. “And I’ve heard enough too.”

Chapter Four
    Eve waited only long enough for Charley to close the door behind them before she told Brian about the accident, her voice breaking. At first, Brian looked as if he didn’t believe her. He just stood there staring at her and then he looked over at Charley, apparently hoping for