Red Rain: A Novel (16 page)

Mark didn’t give them a chance to answer. “Where’s Ira? Was he on the bus with you?”

“The lad is taking the late bus,” Samuel said. “He was doing a project with Ethan.”

Mark smiled, pleased to get so many words from him. “So did you boys rule the school today?”

“Not yet,” Samuel said with surprising gravity.

“Soon,” his twin offered.

———

Their school day had gone very well, Samuel thought. Miss Montgomery split them up, seating Daniel in the front and Samuel in the back. But they didn’t care about that.

Samuel sat next to an open window. The April air smelled fresh and salty. He liked that. He spent a lot of time watching two squirrels collecting and devouring acorns at the base of the old tree across from the school.

Daniel sat next to Ira in the front row. They didn’t talk much. They weren’t really friends yet. In fact, Ira seemed very uncomfortable around Daniel.

Maybe he was still angry about Daniel trying to take his room from him. Maybe he just didn’t want new bruvvers.

He’ll get over it,
Samuel thought, watching Daniel and Ira ignore each other.
Daniel will win him over—one way or the other. He’ll be true blue, that boyo.

And Derek? Samuel looked for him, but Derek had a doctor appointment and didn’t come to school till lunchtime.

Samuel and Daniel ran into him on their way out of the lunchroom. Derek wore baggy cargo jeans and a red-and-white New York Rangers sweatshirt. His eyes went wide, and his mouth opened in surprise when he recognized them.

“How’d you get into this school?” He managed to find his usual bluster. “This used to be a good school.”

“It’s our first day,” Samuel said. “We’re in your class.”

Derek bumped Samuel’s shoulder with a pudgy hand. “You got any money? Mom forgot to give me my lunch money.”

“We don’t have any,” Samuel replied. “We already had our lunch.”

“Let’s see,” Derek said. He grabbed Samuel by the pants, spun him around with surprising strength, and began to dig into his pockets.

Samuel squirmed. “Boyo, stop!”

Daniel moved quickly. He stepped up behind Derek and, with a powerful tug, hoisted Derek’s heavy backpack off his shoulders.

Derek let go of Samuel and spun around furiously. “Hey, jerk! You almost ripped my arms off.”

“Sorry, boyo.” Daniel held the backpack above his head. “You want it? Jump for it.”

Derek uttered a low growl. He narrowed his bulldog eyes and glared at Daniel. “
You
jump for it.” He lowered his shoulder and bulled into Daniel, sending him crashing against a metal locker.

Daniel giggled. Holding the backpack high, he quickly regained his balance.

Derek rushed at Daniel, both hands outstretched. He grabbed for the backpack—just as Daniel let go of it. Derek couldn’t stop his momentum and slammed headfirst into the wall.

The collision didn’t faze him. His big belly heaving up and down beneath the Rangers sweatshirt, he grabbed the backpack off the floor and grinned in triumph. Slowly, he slid it onto his back. “You dudes should be careful. I can mess you up totally.”

Samuel felt a tremor of fear.
Please, Daniel. Don’t be Daniel. Let it ride.

Daniel raised both hands as if in surrender. “Truce?”

Samuel took a step back.

“Okay, truce.” Derek’s reply after thinking about it for a while. “You’re both new here, so you don’t know what’s up. I’ll give you a break today.”

“Truce,” Daniel repeated. He stuck his hand out for Derek to shake.

Weird,
thought Samuel.
What’s up with the handshake routine?

“Truce,” Derek said. He stomped away without shaking hands.

The bell clanged above their heads. Lunchtime was over.

Samuel turned to find Ira, Ethan, and several other kids watching the whole confrontation. “What was
that
about?” Ira asked Daniel.

Daniel’s smile made his dimples appear to grow deeper. “You’ll see, boyo. You’ll see.”

———

Samuel wasn’t in on his brother’s secret, either. But all was revealed just before the final bell that afternoon. Miss Montgomery dismissed the class. And as the kids all gathered their books, stuffed their backpacks, and scurried from the room, Mrs. Maloney came charging into the classroom.

Her gray eyes gazed around the room and came to a stop on Derek, who was standing in the front. Arguing with a short, red-haired girl. “Derek, could I see you for a moment?” she called.

The girl hurried away. Derek eyed the principal warily as she approached. The classroom was nearly emptied. Samuel and Daniel watched from the doorway.

“Yes, Mrs. Maloney?” Derek suddenly being very polite.

She frowned at him. Rubbed her short salt-and-pepper hair. “Derek, I received a disturbing note this afternoon. About you.”

His mouth dropped open. “Huh? Me? Who sent it?”

Miss Montgomery stood up behind her desk and looked on.

Mrs. Maloney’s eyes locked on Derek, studying him. “It wasn’t signed. But it said I would find something interesting in your backpack.”

Samuel glanced at his twin. He recognized the eagerness on Daniel’s face. The anticipation. He’d seen it before.

Derek’s blue backpack was on his desk. He stared hard at it as if it would reveal some secret.

“Is there something interesting in your backpack, Derek?” Mrs. Maloney asked softly, almost in a whisper.

Derek shook his head. “No way. Just my stuff.”

“Nothing in there I should know about?”

“No. No way. Unless you mean a Snickers bar and some Starburst?”

Mrs. Maloney let out a long whoosh of air. “I’m sure you’re telling the truth. But why would someone send me that note?”

Derek shrugged.

“Why don’t we just empty out the backpack and settle the whole thing.” Mrs. Maloney kept her voice low and friendly.

“No problem.” Derek lifted the pack and started to unzip it. “I don’t get it. I totally don’t.”

Holding the pack by the sides, he upended it and shook it hard, spilling the contents onto the desk. Books. Folders. A pencil box. An iPod. A cell phone. A Snickers bar.

Samuel squinted across the room, studying the contents. As soon as he saw the silvery watch slide onto the cover of a textbook, he understood.

Mrs. Maloney raised her hands to her cheeks. “Well, my faith. That
is
interesting,” she said softly. She picked up the watch and slid the shiny band through her fingers. “Derek? How did my watch get into your backpack?”

Derek’s face had gone pale. His mouth was working up and down, but he didn’t make a sound. He shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Do you want to think about it?” Mrs. Maloney remained calm. No sign of anger or even surprise.

“I . . . never saw it. Really.” Derek’s eyes down, shoulders slumped. Looking guilty as hell. “I don’t know how it got there. Really.”

“But it did tumble out from the bottom of your backpack, right?”

“Yes. But—”

“Derek, why don’t you gather up your belongings here and follow me to my office for a talk. Do we need to call your mother? What do you think?”

She raised her eyes to the door and saw Samuel and Daniel standing, watching the scene intently. “What are you two lads lingering
there for? This is no business of yours. Go on now. Don’t miss the bus on your first day.”

“Okay. Bye,” Samuel said, turning to leave.

“See you tomorrow,” Daniel said, then quickly added, “Good luck, Derek.”

“W
e have work to do, Sammy.” Daniel pressed his forehead against the window glass as the school bus bounced along Noyac Road, the tall trees along the side making the shadows dance in his eyes.

Samuel shifted the blue canvas backpack in his lap. He knew how impatient Daniel could be. He hoped maybe he would take his time, get to know the terrain, enjoy their new family, their new home at least a few weeks before setting things in motion.

“You gave that lug Derek a good lesson, Daniel.”

Daniel tapped Samuel’s knee with his fist. “Derek is dead in the pasture. The flies are already circling him.”

Samuel laughed. But he could see the growing intensity on his twin’s face.

“Work to do, Sammy.”

“What’s your hurry, Daniel? Haven’t we got it made here?”

“We’ve waited a long time,” Daniel murmured, gazing at a deer chewing tall weeds by the roadside. “A long time, boyo.”

“But look at us now. We’re in Heaven.”

Daniel turned away from the window. He shook his head. “Sammy, it may be heaven but there’s a devil on our cloud.”

Samuel felt a chill, muscles tightening at the back of his neck. “Who is the devil?” He knew the answer.

“The new pa.”

“Maybe he didn’t mean those things we heard him say.”

Daniel narrowed his eyes at Samuel. “He meant them. He said he didn’t want us to come. He didn’t want Mum to bring us here. And he didn’t want us to live in the little house in the backyard. Why? Because he didn’t know if he could trust us.”

That made Samuel giggle. “He
can’t
trust us, boyo.”

Daniel didn’t smile. His normally pale cheeks had turned rosy pink. “Pa doesn’t like us, Sammy. He doesn’t want us here. And he shouted at Mum. You saw him shout at Mum because she wants to make us happy and give us everything we want.”

“But, Daniel—”

“He doesn’t want us to be happy. Pa doesn’t want to give us the things we want. You heard him. You heard every word. We have work to do. We have plans, boyo. We cannot let the new pa stand in our way.”

Samuel felt the chill again. “What are you thinking, Daniel? Why are you saying all this? We can’t
kill
the new pa. We can’t. It would make Mum so sad.”

“He’s a devil, Sammy. A devil in our heaven.”

Samuel grabbed his brother’s wrist. “Don’t think it. We can’t do that to Mum.”

“You’re right. You’re the sensible guy, Sammy. As sensible as potatoes in chowder. We don’t want to kill Pa. We just have to keep him busy.”

Samuel shook his head. The backpack suddenly felt heavy in his lap. He let it slide to the bus floor. “Keep him busy?”

Daniel nodded. He had that thoughtful look in his eyes that Samuel knew well.

“How do we keep him busy? What do you mean?”

A thin smile played over Daniel’s lips. “I have some ideas. We can keep him real busy, Sammy. Maybe with the coppers.”

M
ark watched from the front window as the dark blue Audi pulled up the driveway. A young man with a thick head of wavy brown hair and a seriously tanned face climbed out. He leaned into the car to retrieve a slender laptop case, then walked crisply to the front door, straightening his red necktie and buttoning his dark suit jacket as he walked.

Autumn had left ten minutes earlier, weighed down by a tall stack of folders. She offered Mark several meaningful glances as she left. In return, he gave her a comic wave and a goofy grin, keeping it light.
Nothing serious happened here, Autumn. Did it?

If only he could move back the clock. Would he move it? Maybe not. Moments before, he had kept his eyes on her long, slim legs under the short skirt as she bent to pick up the folders, and felt himself start to get erect again.

Am I crazy? What am I thinking?

Lea, I love you. Why didn’t you stay and watch out for me?

Oh, what kind of juvenile thinking is that?

Roz had returned with a trunk load of grocery bags and a screaming, hungry Axl. Mark emptied the car for her. He saw the twins tossing a tennis ball back and forth in the backyard. He
thought about joining them. But it was time for his meeting with this man from the institute.

What was his name? Hulenberger? Something like that.

Mark had suggested they meet and have tea at the American Hotel on Main Street in town. That way there wouldn’t be kids underfoot, running in and out, demanding his immediate attention. Elena was already angry that he didn’t have time for a long discussion about the sleepover she wanted to have with Ruth-Ann.

But Hulenberger insisted on coming to the house. And here he was at the front door, all tanned and prosperous-looking in a designer suit that fit his slender shoulders perfectly and a crisp white shirt that contrasted his tan.

“Mr. Hulenberger? Come in.”

“It’s Dr. Hulenberger. But call me Richard. Everyone does. Even my kids.” A brief, hard handshake.

“Well, call me Mark. Come in. Welcome.”

Mark led him down the hall to his office. He could hear Roz in the kitchen, pleading with Axl to sit still. The back door slammed, and he heard Ira calling, “Anyone home? Roz?”

“Nice day,” Hulenberger said. “I enjoyed the drive. My wife and I have a house in Sagaponack, but we haven’t opened it yet. It’s almost May, but it still feels like October, doesn’t it? All the rain. Incredible. We probably won’t open up till Memorial Day. My wife hates the country. She always says she’d rather be on Madison Avenue. Ha.”

Was he talking so much out of nervousness? Or was he just a chatty guy?

Mark stopped at the office doorway and pictured Autumn bending over the desk again. Her short skirt tossed up onto her back, black underpants around her ankles, and that smooth little ass . . .

Oh, God.

Would he see her there every time he walked into the office?

The whole left side of the desktop was empty. The papers and folders had all been swept aside. He wondered if Hulenberger noticed that something was odd.

He led him to the green leather couch against the wall. Hulenberger
dropped onto the edge and sat up very straight, lowering his laptop case to the floor. Good posture. He slid a hand down his tie a few times. Nervous habit?

“Nice room, Mark. I like that photo behind your desk. I think I know those trees. From Brisbane, right? Australia? I walked in that very spot and admired those twisty roots all around the tree trunks.”

Mark nodded. “My wife is a travel writer. A good photographer, too. She writes about adventure travel. Seems a lot of people are into it.”

“Hannah and I were on a food and wine tour. We weren’t impressed with the food in Queensland at all. Dreadful. In fact, we didn’t have anything good to eat till we got to Sydney. Were you there with your wife?”