Last Call (24 page)

Frank’s finger curls tighter. She considers her backdrop. All clear.

Go ahead.

Pull!

Pull!

A delay in programming causes the TV screen to go black. For just a second. And in that second Frank catches her reflection, hand jumping, gun in mouth, and she is throwing up. She sweeps the guns onto the floor and pukes until she’s dry-heaving, coughing up blood. She can’t stop the shaking. She staggers into her room and wraps herself in the bedspread. She slumps on the floor, almost convulsing. All she can think is,
seconds and inches. Seconds and inches.

In time her shuddering subsides and with it the terror. She feels as scoured as a beach at low tide. Dropping head to knees, she looses hot, clean tears. When they dry, she pulls the phone off the night-stand. It takes her a couple tries to hit the right numbers, but eventually the phone connects. Listening to it ring, she pleads, “Be there. Christ All-fucking-Mighty, please be there.”

A sleepy voice answers.

“Hey. It’s Frank.”

“Goddamn. What time is it? You forget I’m not your LT anymore?”

“I didn’t know who else to call.”

He may be retired, but Joe barks back, “What is it? What’s wrong?”

He stays on the line while Frank searches for enough guts to answer.

Joe encourages, “What’s the matter? Tell me what it is.”

“I can’t do it, Joe. I know you did. Maybe you can tell me how.”

“What can’t you do?”

Frank squeezes her eyes shut. She forces the answer. “I can’t stop drinking, Joe. And I’m afraid something bad’s gonna happen if I don’t. Something real bad.”

The silence is as long as the distance between L.A. and Minnesota. When it’s broken by a war whoop, Frank despairs that her connection’s been severed. But then Joe’s laugh is in her ear, and it sounds like he’s crying when he says, “Girlie-girl! You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting for this call!”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Baxter Clare lives in Central California with her spouse, artist Anno O’Connor. In addition to writing novels, she holds a Master’s Degree in Biology and works as a wildlife biologist. She is the author of a non-fiction work,
Spirit of the Valley
(written as Baxter Trautman), and three previous L.A. Franco mysteries. She is at work on her fifth novel.