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Daniel stepped forward and put out his hand. “We just got here ourselves, so don’t worry about it.”
“Oh, thank God.” Sarah-Gary’s-Daughter shook what was offered. “I really appreciate it. I just moved back to Walters. I went to SUNY Plattsburgh and I graduated this past June—well, I had to make up one class this summer—”
She stopped herself again. “I’m doing it some more, aren’t I. Okay, refocus, refocus—so come on in.” The girl smiled, flashing beautiful teeth. “You guys are the first to see this place, and I don’t know your situation, but if you’re serious about renting, I’d jump on it. There aren’t many houses in Walters like this one.
“Three bed, two and a half bath.” After fishing around in her pocket, she took out a key and unlocked the front door. “And there’s the barn in the back meadow as well as that detached garage over there.”
At this point, Lydia’s ears stopped working as she tried to look around the woman’s shoulders as things opened—and as soon as she was able to get into the living room, she didn’t pretend and play a role. She strode through the rooms—and knew Eastwind was gone. The sparse furniture was all in the same places, the beautiful Native American textiles hanging right where they’d been, the kitchen neat as a pin. But as she inhaled, there was no fresh scent of the sheriff.
He must have left in the middle of the night, soon after they did.
Even though the speed with which she surveyed the house wasn’t going to change anything, she hurried upstairs, taking the steps two at a time. She hit the big front bedroom first, the one with the en suite bathroom, and everything was tidy, the queen-sized bed made, the towels in the loo folded neatly over rods by the shower, a faint whiff of Windex and Pine-Sol lingering in the hot, dry air—
A hissing sound made her jump. But it was just the radiator under the windows that faced the main road.
“What the hell are you doing, Eastwind,” she muttered as she went over to the dresser.
Of course all the drawers were empty. And the closet was free of even hangers, nothing but a solitary dowel stretching from one side to the other.
Just as she was pivoting around to check the other bedrooms, something caught her eye. An envelope. On the bed stand closest to the door. As she went over to it, the strangest feeling of déjà vu went through her.
The fact that her name was on the front was almost not a surprise, and her hand shook as she reached out. It was heavy and thicker than it appeared, and as she opened the flap with her forefinger, her heart started to beat hard.
Things beat harder as she eased out the letter that had been folded around—
“What the hell?”
The stack of twenties that feathered down to her feet made no sense, and she gathered them up and put them on the little table so that she could read the handwriting. There wasn’t much, but she could hear the words spoken in Eastwind’s deep voice:
I’ve stayed too long. But I was waiting for the next steward. Take care—and if the radiator in the living room stops working, just kick it a couple of times. It’ll come back on. Tom
Lydia reread the four sentences over again. And then tried them out for a third time, only stoppingwhen she heard footsteps ascending the uncarpeted stairs.
“—have kids? No? Well, Walters is a great place to live. Everybody knows everybody. Hey, do you do spinning? No? Well, it’s great exercise—”
The realtor stopped short in the bedroom’s doorway and smiled. “Oh, hi! I was wondering where you’d gone. Great place, isn’t it?”
“How much is the rent,” Lydia asked hoarsely.
“Eight hundred and forty. That’s what the owner said he wanted.”
“Um… who owns it? This house, I mean.”
“I’m afraid he didn’t want to say. I mean, we all know him, he was the—sorry. He doesn’t want anyone to know.”
Lydia cleared her throat. “Did he explain—did he say why? I mean, is he going somewhere? Or did he just not like the… house. Or something.”
Man, she was a sucky liar.
The young woman looked back and forth between her and Daniel. Then leaned in like she was afraid the room was bugged. “He said he was relocating? Frankly, we all find it a little sus. He’s only ever been here. Why would he leave?”
“Where to,” Daniel said casually.
“He didn’t say. But I think there’s a story.” Abruptly, the young woman put up her hands in surrender and shook her head. “None of my business, though, and my dad’d kill me if I go blabbingmy mouth. Here, let me show you the rest of the upstairs.”
This was going to go fine.
As Cathy stepped into her mansion’s main elevator, her heart was tap-dancing in her rib cage and she had a fine sheen of perspiration above her upper lip. There was a momentary pause while she was cleared for descent—because in days and nights like these, everybody got cleared,everybody—and then, when things got going, she entertained a brief fantasy about Gus St. Claire. She imagined that, having been reunited with his coworkers at the lab, he would be so struck with a longing to return to the place where he was needed most, wanted most… that he would rip up that employment contract with Rhobes and tell her he was staying for the rest of his life.
