Gingerbread Man (23 page)

She flung back her covers, too, got to her
feet "You don't do relationships," she said. "I got it."

He gritted his teeth. "Sex for me is a
function best served by professionals. I don't like it messy. I
don't like feelings and emotions involved. I like it straight up,
and quick and meaningless. Like taking a shower. You jump in, you
do what needs doing, and you get the hell out. Anything more is a
waste of time. If it happens between us, that's the way it's going
to be. Just so you know, up front."

She moved closer to him, but didn't touch
him. She didn't get close enough to touch him, and when she spoke,
she spoke very slowly. "I like long, slow soaks in the tub. Scented
salts. Loofah sponges. Expensive shampoos and hot oil treatments.
All the trimmings. You ever take baths like that?"

He had closed his eyes for some reason. "Not
that I can remember, Red."

"Well, then, maybe you're due."

***

ERNIE GRAYCLOUD OFFERED them a ride back to
Holly's house, and Vince took him up on it. They'd showered and had
coffee, but passed on the full breakfast Amanda had offered. Vince
stood outside the D'Voe mansion, wearing his now-dry
clothes—laundered overnight by Amanda—and watching Holly as she
thanked Reginald, hugged his neck gently, and moved toward the
waiting car. Doc was already behind the wheel.

Vince took his cue, walked up to where Reggie
and Amanda stood. He clasped Amanda's hands. "Thanks for
everything," he said.

"You're more than welcome."

He reached out to shake Reggie's hand.
Reginald slung an arm around Vince's shoulders instead. "I'll walk
you to the car."

"No need," Vince began, but Reggie ignored
that, kept on limping along beside him, while Amanda stayed where
she was, standing on the front step.

"You wanted a private moment, I take it?"
Vince asked.

Pausing halfway between the house and the
car, Reginald removed his arm from Vince's shoulder, turned to face
him. He wore the most menacing look Vince had seen him wear off
screen, and the walking stick suddenly looked like a potential
weapon. "I want you to stay away from Amanda. Do you
understand?"

Vince blinked. "Why?"

The older man's brows lifted. "Why? Because I
said so. And because I'm someone you'd be wise not to piss off,
young man. I will make you very sorry if you do."

"I see."

"Good."

He wanted to argue with the man, but that was
ego and pride and temper. The cop in him had it in hand. He
controlled it.

Holly had her window rolled down as he turned
and walked toward the car. "Good-bye Amanda," she called, waving
once again.

The young woman on the front step waved back,
smiling. "I'll see you both soon," she called back. "At the
Halloween party. You are coming, aren't you?"

Vince couldn't help it. He should have, but
he couldn't. He smiled, shot a sideways glance at Reggie, and said
loudly, "We wouldn't miss it."

It was a good thing the man couldn't
incinerate things with the power of his evil glare, as he had in
The Eyes of Dr. Stark,
Vince thought, or his hair would have
been smoldering.

He gave a nod, and got into the car.

"I don't think Reggie likes you," Holly
said.

"Really? I thought he was downright
friendly."

She leaned back in the seat, sighing.

***

HER HOUSE SEEMED different somehow when she
walked through the front door that morning. Out of order. Not...
right. Her routines were so far out of whack she wondered if she
would ever get them back again, and she consciously had to force
herself not to count. No. Not to count aloud. Inside her mind, she
was counting anyway. Counting the steps from the car up the
sidewalk, to the front door. Counting the nine small windowpanes in
the door.

She understood the psychology of it. If she
stopped counting, she would have room in her mind for the other
things. The fears. The memories. The guilt. The knowledge that very
bad things could happen to her and to those she loved, at any
moment, at any time, without warning or rhyme or reason.

So, silently, she counted.

Waking up in a strange bed, having to take a
ride in Dr. Graycloud's car to get back to her own kitchen for
morning coffee with her mother, was not the way things were
supposed to go.

Vince looked at her, watched her, all the way
back to the house. He knew, she thought. He knew how she was
feeling right now. He was waiting for her to fall apart, but,
dammit, she wouldn't. She refused. So she counted. It was better
than the alternative.

Vince opened the door and she went in,
stopped walking, and glanced up at her mother. Her mother was at
the kitchen table, her coffee mug in her hand. Right where she was
supposed to be at this time of the morning. Thank God. Chief
Mallory sat beside her. Not across from her. His being there was
not part of the daily routine, but was an accepted variation on it.
He was there often enough for her to adjust to him. And at least he
wasn't in Holly's chair.

"Well. Good morning," her mother said. Her
smile was knowing and her cheeks pink as her shining eyes shimmied
back and forth between Holly and Vince.

"It's not what you think." Why those were the
first words to come out of her mouth, she couldn't imagine. Not
when their lives were at risk, and she was about to give her mother
news that would alter hers dramatically.

Doris frowned and got to her feet. "Your head
..." She came forward, eyeing the patch Dr. Graycloud had applied
to Holly's head.

"It's fine, Mom. But..." She glanced at Vince
for help. "We need to talk."

Chief Mallory got to his feet, but Vince held
up a hand. "No, Chief, I think you need to be here for this, too.
You're going to need to know about all of it, sooner or later."

Nodding, the chief sat back down.

"I don't like the way this is sounding,"
Doris said. "What's going on with you two?"

Sighing, Holly took her mother's hand. "Come
on, Mom. Sit down. How are you feeling this morning?"

"Fine. Better than you, by the looks of you.
What happened last night, Holly?"

Holly bit her lip. She walked with her mother
back to the table, urged her back into her seat. Then she got two
cups, poured coffee for her and Vince, and sat down in her own
chair. Vince took his cup, but remained standing. Holly sent him a
silent plea. She was gratified that he seemed to read it so
easily.

"Last night," he said, "Holly and I took a
rowboat out on the lake. The light on the dock went out after dark,
and we got lost in the fog. Then the storm started kicking up, and
we wound up in the water.” When Doris gasped, he smiled gently at
her. "It's okay. As you can see, we're both fine. We did have a
heck of a time hiking back from the far side of the lake. The first
place we came to was the D'Voe mansion. Reginald was good enough to
let us hole up there for the night."

"We'd have called, Mom, but the phones were
out."

"My God. In that storm... are you sure you're
all right?"

"Yeah. We're fine." Holly reached across the
table to squeeze her mother's hand.

Chief Mallory said, "That light is damn near
indestructible. We replace it every five years or so, and it isn't
due for another two yet."

Vince nodded. "So Holly tells me."

"You think it was deliberate?" the chief
asked.

Vince's lips narrowed. "Possibly."

Doris sat perfectly still, just staring from
face to face for a moment. "Are you saying ... that someone tried
to… kill you?"

"They were probably just trying to scare us.
Mom," Holly said. God, she couldn't bear the fear in her mother's
eyes.

But Doris was shaking her head, getting to
her feet. "And last night, when you were so upset about the door
being open. And the intruder at Vince's place. This is all related,
isn't it?"

He nodded. "Yeah. I'm afraid it is."

"Mom, it's not going to be easy to hear any
of this. I want you to sit down, and just try to listen. Hold on to
me, and the chief, and let Vince explain it. Okay?"

She stared at Holly. "What are you saying?
Holly, what do you mean?"

"It has to do with Ivy, Mom."

Doris's knees bent. She landed heavily in the
chair. "No. No, I don't want to do this."

"I didn't, either," Holly said gently. "But
we don't have a choice."

Doris looked at Holly, her eyes big and round
and filling with old, old pain. She sought something in Holly's
eyes. Holly held her gaze, and, finally, Doris looked away, at
Vince, gave him a slight nod.

"Doris, the reason I came here had to do with
the deaths of two young children in Syracuse. They were abducted
and killed by a pedophile. At the scene, I found a copy of a book
that came from the Dilmun Public Library."

"The Gingerbread Man,"
Holly said
softly.

Her mother's eyes fell slowly closed. "It was
Ivy's favorite."

"I checked the library's old records, for
Vince," the chief told her. "It's the same copy that Holly checked
out when she was seven years old."

Doris's eyes snapped open. "The same copy...
the same copy Ivy was carrying when she was taken? But how can that
be?"

Vince came closer, put a hand on Doris's
shoulder. "My theory is that it's the same man, Doris."

She shook her head. "That's impossible.
Holly, didn't you tell him? The man who took Ivy is in prison,
Vince. He confessed and—"

"I know. Holly and I paid him a visit. We
learned some ... disturbing things."

Holly slid out of her chair now, went to
kneel in front of her mother. "Mom, Hubey Welles was on a direct
path to Death Row when he made that confession. In return for it,
he got life in prison. There's a very good chance ... that he
lied."

Doris's face lost all color. "No. No, he knew
details—"

"None that hadn't made the papers," Vince
said. "He made a deal with the D.A., Doris. It was a bad deal. But
he took it. He'd have said anything to save his own life."

"Oh, my God," Doris whispered. She was
shaking her head slowly, rising to her feet, and staring from one
of them to the other. "No. No. This can't be true. I—"

"It's true, Mom. When I saw the man in
prison—I suddenly remembered the eyes of the man who took Ivy. And
they were different. Totally different. It wasn't him."

Doris looked stricken. Searching each face,
almost pleading with them to tell her it wasn't true. She finally
settled on Chief Mallory. "Jim?"

"I'm sorry, hon. But it all makes sense."

She stood there, fists clenched, trembling
all over, eyes darting around, in search of something. Escape,
maybe. Holly looked down and saw blood drip from her mother's
fists. She was digging her nails into her palms. "Mom..." Holly
reached for her mother.

Doris went limp and her eyes rolled back. The
chief and Vince lunged for her at the same time. A chair went
flying as the chief hit it in his rush.

It was Jim who gathered her up, held her
against him. He looked stricken.

Holly found Vince's eyes, and saw the pain in
them. He'd been afraid of this, it was clear. It was the last thing
she had expected.

"I don't understand," she whispered. "Mom's
always been the strong one."

"She had to be," Vince said. "Because you
couldn't. Now you can. And she knows it. The question is, do
you?"

“I DON'T KNOW what I expected. Devastation,
maybe. But not this."

From the uncomfortable green metal lawn chair
on the patio, Holly had a clear view of her mother's bedroom door,
which was closed, and locked.

"She needs time to digest it all," Vince
said. "And you need to stay close to her today."

"Close to her? Close to her? Vince, she's
dancing on an icy ledge, and she's going to fall, and it isn't
going to matter how close I am when she does." She pressed the heel
of her hand to her forehead. "You were right. God, why did I insist
on telling her?"

"She had a right to know."

"I should have waited. Maybe if I'd waited
until we caught the guy... God, what if we don't? For Mom, that
would be almost like losing Ivy all over again. I don't think she
could survive it."

Sighing, Vince moved to stand behind her,
hands going to her shoulders, rubbing them briskly like some
boxer's trainer in between rounds. "Just be there for her. It's all
you can do."

Holly let her head fall forward, let her
muscles warm under his touch. "Vince?"

"What?"

She swallowed, hesitated. "I think there was
a part of me that wanted to tell Mom what was happening,
because—because—" Her throat seemed to close off.

"Because she's your mom. And that's what you
do when you're in trouble. You tell your mom, and she protects you
from it."

"She tried. I wouldn't have survived it,
Vince. She kept me together, all this time." She sniffed. "I'm not
sure I can ... get through this without her."

"What are you gonna do? Hmm? You gonna fall
off that icy ledge with your mother? Leap off it, maybe? Who the
hell's gonna hold on to
her
if you do?"

She shut her eyes. Vince crouched down,
gripping her arms. "Ivy has been gone for almost two decades,
Holly. You aren't a little girl anymore, and you aren't the
delicate fragile thing everyone's been protecting all this time.
You can do this."

She shook her head. Her eyes focused on her
feet, her heart aching because she knew he was right.

"You don't have a choice, Red."

Sniffling, Holly lifted her head, nodded
once. "I know that."

"Keep on knowing it." He reached up suddenly,
cupped her face with his hands. "Don't quit on me. Not now."

"I won't."

He nodded, his eyes probing hers deeply, then
darkening, and sliding lower to her lips. He licked his own, and
quickly let her go, and looked at the floor.