Endless Night (34 page)

Who knows? Maybe he’s got a crush on Sharon.

Or maybe he sees her as a mother figure, or ...

Not hardly. He was talking about Dad boinking her
.

But where is she? And where’s Dad?

Jody scooted slowly across her bed, holding the sheet to her waist and watching Andy. His face was still turned away. She couldn’t hear him breathing because of the air conditioner (it’s running, but is it working?), so she wasn’t sure that he was actually asleep. He might roll over at any moment, wide awake.

But he remained motionless as she pushed away the sheet and swung her bare legs to the floor and stood up. The nightshirt urwmpled, but not enough. She grabbed its hem with both hands and stretched it lower. At mid-thigh, she let go. It unstretched a little, but stopped rising just in time.

Big deal, she thought. Who cares, anyway?

On the other side of the cluttered table, sunlight came into the room through a foot-wide opening between the curtains. Beyond the window, Jody could see the wrought-iron railing of the balcony. Beyond that was a section of parking lot, some scrubby little trees, a road, and the Texaco station where Andy had made his escape from Uncle Willy.

She grinned, thinking about Andy up on the gas station’s roof.

From up there, somebody might’ve been able to see him. But he’d kept low. And besides, it’d been dark, then. And the station was a pretty good distance away.

Jody leaned forward until the edge of the table pressed against her thighs. The table wobbled a bit, so she didn’t dare put anymore weight on it. From here, though, she could reach the curtains. She spread them farther apart. And spotted a man on the balcony, just to the right. He seemed to be standing directly in front of the door and close to the railing.

He wore his blue jeans and T-shirt.

Too hot for the chamois shirt, probably.

No shoulder holster. His Browning was tucked under the waistband at the back of his jeans.

Even with his face turned away, he looked like a thug.

That thick neck, those broad shoulders and bulging arms.

Sharon seemed to really like him, though.

They seemed to really like each other.

Jody couldn’t see Sharon out on the balcony with him.

How long had Dad been out there?

And why was he out there, at all?

Maybe we aren’t as safe as he’s been pretending.

They can’t find us here. How could they?

Ways. Who knows? There might be ways.

Jody let go of the curtains. As they swept down to where they’d been, she leaned away from the table and turned around.

Andy’s hands were up, holding the pillow against the back of his head.

“Good morning,” Jody said.

He pressed the pillow down harder.

“Are you okay?”

She heard a soft, muffled, “Leave me alone.”

She sat on the edge of his bed. The mattress sank slightly under her. She bounced on it a few times to shake Andy, figuring it might amuse him.

“Quit it,” he said from under the pillow.

Jody stopped. She noticed that her thigh was touching his hip and she could feel the heat of his body through the sheet. It felt good. Not exciting, like sometimes when she and Rob had touched. But good in a comfortable, close way.

“What’s the matter?” she asked.

“Nothing.”

On the bumps of his spine just below the nape of his neck, he had fine, golden fuzz. Jody traced it with the tip of her forefinger. She could just barely feel it. Andy squirmed a little.

“What’re you doing?” he asked.

“Nothing.”

“Quit it.”

“Okay.” She bent down and blew. The wind of her breath bent the tiny hairs and sent a miniature wave crawling up the back of his neck.

One of his hands reached down, slapping at Jody but missing, then rubbing his neck.

Jody plucked the pillow off his head.

“Hey!”

She plopped it on her lap and clamped a hand on it.

“Give it,” Andy said, rolling onto his side.

“No way, Jose. And don’t get any funny ideas about...” Her voice went dead when she saw his wet, red eyes.

He didn’t try for the pillow. Instead, he turned onto his back and pulled up the sheet until it covered his face. “Just leave me alone.”

“Can’t.”

“Jodyyyy.”

“Hey, we’re buds.”

“I knowwww.”

She reached out to him. The weight of her hand pressed the taut sheet down against him. Gently, she stroked his chest. “You were fine last night,” she said. “Weren’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“What happened?”

“I don’t know. It’s when I think about them.”

Jody’s hand glided up his chest. She pinched the sheet just under his chin and tugged it. Andy let go. The sheet slid down, uncovering his face, his neck and shoulders. He made a loud, wet sniffle. He blinked, and tears fell from the comers of his eyes.

“You’ll get tears in your ears,” Jody told him.

“I don’t care.”

She reached over his face and brushed the wet stream off his left temple. Then she bent down low and turned his head away slightly and stopped the other tear with her lips.

“Gosh, Jody,” he whispered.

She kissed the comer of his eye, then sat up.

Andy raised his head and looked past the end of the bed. “Where’s your dad and Sharon?”

“Dad’s standing guard on the balcony. I’m not sure about Sharon.”

Andy lowered his head onto the mattress. He sniffed. He lifted the sheet to his face and rubbed his eyes, then brought his arms out from under it and lowered them to his sides, pinning the sheet across his belly.

“Better now?” Jody asked.

“A little, I guess. Will you kiss me?”

“I just did.”

“I mean a real one. On the mouth.”

“Oh, sure thing.”

“Please?”

“You’ve got to be kidding.”

“Yeah.” He turned his head away. “Sorry.”

“You’re awfully young, you know, to be trying to get girls to kiss you.”

“I’m almost thirteen.”

“That’s what I mean. You’re too young for that stuff.”

“Mom used to kiss me.”

Jody’s throat went thick and tight. Her eyes grew hot. Andy went blurry as he turned his face toward her. Bracing herself with a hand on the far side of his chest, she eased down and kissed his mouth.

After a moment, she started to rise. Andy moaned as if hurt, so she decided to kiss him a little longer. She hoped Dad wouldn’t suddenly barge in. He’d be sure to get the wrong idea.

We’re not making out. It’s not like that.

She realized that her right breast was pushed against his bare chest. It had been that way from the start of the kiss, but she’d been feeling so sorry for Andy that she hadn’t really given it much thought. She’d noticed some slight pain. She’d even known it was coming from the underside of her breast where she’d scraped it climbing the wall Friday night. But she just hadn’t registered the idea that she was allowing her breast to press against Andy in such a way.

Terrific
. I’ve never even let Rob get ...

This is different, she told herself. It’s perfectly innocent.

Perfectly. So why was she suddenly blushing so hard that she felt as if her face might burst into flame?

She started to push herself up. When their mouths parted, Andy said, “No, don’t.” He hooked an arm across her back.

Her breast hovered over him, almost high enough but not quite, her nipple poised against his chest, touching him lightly through her nightshirt. “Let me up,” she whispered.

“Just a little longer?” he asked.

“Dad might come in. It’d blow everything if he thought we were messing around. You want to come and live with us, don’t you?”

His eyes widened. “Yeah. Do you think I can?”

“Not if Dad gets the idea you wanta ... boink me, as you like to put it.”

This time, it was Andy who blushed.

“Which, by the way, is out of the question,” she told him. “Now, let go.”

His hand dropped away from her back and Jody sat up. When she began to turn around, he raised his knees, making a small tent of the sheet that covered him from the waist down.

She glanced toward the window. Nobody’s face was pressed against it, thank God.

Keeping Andy’s pillow pressed to her lap, she got to her feet. She backed away from his bed.

As she stepped into her moccasins, she asked, “Where’s my robe?”

“What am I gonna wear?”

“What did you do with it?”

“Over here.” He rolled toward the other side of the bed, squirmed to the edge of the mattress and reached down, then flipped over, whipping Jody’s robe through the air. At just the right moment, he released it. The robe sailed toward her, fluttering and falling.

She tossed the pillow at his face.

His smiling face.

And she caught her robe. “Thanks,” she said.

“Thank you.”

She whirled away from him and swept the robe around her back and searched for the sleeves. Not until the robe was securely shut, its belt tied, did she face him again. She wiggled her fingers at him. “See you later, alligator.”

He looked distressed. “Where are you going?”

“Back to the other room where all my stuff is. You can go ahead and get dressed while I’m gone. Just wear what you had on yesterday.”

He wrinkled his nose. “What if I smell?”

“What do you mean, if?”

“Ha ha, very funny.”

“Maybe we can buy you some stuff. I’ll talk to Dad.”

“Okay.”

“Okay, see you.”

Andy suddenly looked forlorn.

“Hey, I’m not going anywhere, just down to the other room. I’ll be back in ten minutes.”

“Okay. Hurry, okay?”

“I will.” She opened the door. Fierce heat and bright sunlight hit her like a blast. “Jeez!” she gasped. Grimacing, she stepped onto the balcony. “It’s horrible out here.”

Dad, grinning, filled his lungs. “Fresh, clean desert air.”

“You can have it.” She turned around and leaned back against the railing. Now, at least, she didn’t have the sun in her eyes.

Dad was wearing his sunglasses. They made him look like a motorcycle cop.

“Have you been out here very long?” she asked.

“Long enough.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means I’m about ready to take a load off. This guard duty’s for the birds.”

“Was it really necessary?”

“Nobody came along, so I guess not. So far. You never know, though. You just never know. It’s when you least expect trouble that it sneaks up and grabs you by the ... throat.”

“By the what?”

“You heard me. The throat.”

“Yeah.” She laughed. “Where’s Sharon, anyway? In our room?”

“That’s where she was.”

“Where is she now?”

He raised his arm and pointed. Jody turned around.

“See that dirt road way out there past the Texaco?”

“Yeah.”

“Last I saw of Sharon, she was heading north. That was about half an hour ago.”

“What’s she doing?”

“Running.”

“Running? You mean, for exercise?”

“‘Gotta keep the bod fit.’ That’s what she told me. I pointed out that it looked plenty fit to me, but that didn’t stop her.”

“I don’t want to stand in this heat, much less run in it. What is she, nuts?”

“Nuts ain’t the word for her, honey.”

“Yeah? What is the word for her?”

“Mmmm. Phenomenal.”

“What do you mean?”

“Look it up.”

“I know what the word means. What do you mean?”

“She’s an amazing specimen.”

“Specimen?”

“Of woman, of cop, of person.”

“Jeez, Dad.”

“You asked.”

“Wow.”

“Is Andy up yet?”

“Trying to change the subject?”

“Hope the little weasel kept his sheet on.”

“He did. He should be getting dressed right now. He’s only got the stuff I gave him yesterday, though.”

“We’ll pick him up a few things after breakfast.”

“Breakfast. Glad you brought it up. I’m starving.”

“How can you be starving, the way you stuffed your face last night?”

“That was only chips and junk.”

“Well, I hope you aren’t starving too badly. God only knows when Sharon’ll get back. And I’m sure she’ll want to take a shower before we go anywhere.”

“Do you suppose she actually sweats?”

“I tell you what, sweetheart, I’ve been wondering about that myself. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

“In the meantime, I might as well go get dressed.”

“Take your time. I have a feeling we won’t be seeing Sharon for a while.”

Chapter Thirty-two

Jody hurried to the other room. After the outside heat, it felt cool and wonderful. The curtains were wide open, so she shut them.

In the dim, mellow light that came through, she saw Sharon’s robe draped over the foot of Dad’s bed. The bed that hod been his, anyway, before he’d gone over to 238 last night. Sharon must’ve come back here to get some sleep while Dad stood guard. And brought her travel bag along with her. It was on the floor between the beds. So was her rifle case.

Jody glanced around, looking for any sign that her father had been in the room with Sharon.

Nothing.

What’d you expect, his jockeys on the floor? Real nice.

I just want Dad to be happy, she told herself. And Sharon’s perfect. It’d be so great if they got together.

Yeah, but you’re wondering if they did it.

No, I’m not. It’s none of my business. Besides, they
didn’t
. No way. Dad only met her last night.

jody tossed her own robe onto the bed that had been hers before Andy’s surprise arrival. Then she pulled off her night- shirt.

Wearing only her moccasins, she stepped away from the end of the bed so that she could see herself in the mirror above the sink counter.

“Horrible,” she muttered.

Her hair looked greasy in the dim light. Her bandages looked dirty. A couple were hanging partly off. In many places, her skin looked smudged with filth. She knew it wasn’t filth, though. The dark areas were bruises and scrapes, and they wouldn’t wash off.

Still, she wanted to take a shower.

Why not?

Andy’d taken a shower in 238 after downing a root beer and a ton of Doritos and Cheetos. He’d come out of the bathroom with a towel around his waist, holding its comers together at his hip because the towel was so small. That’s when Jody had given her robe to him.