“How?” she asked. “They won’t even let the police see her. And look at you. They did that to you yesterday, didn’t they?”
“They did,” he admitted. “You know as well as I do there’s something very wrong about this place. But I’m going to find a crack into it, and I’m going to speak to Melissa. I promise you that.”
“How can you possibly promise me something like that? I tried calling you today and couldn’t even get a hold of you.”
“I’m sorry about that, but I was out of state today working on another case.” He smiled good-naturedly at her. “I do have good instincts sometimes. I knew you were here, didn’t I?”
The resolve bled out of her as she thought about that. Shannon saw the change in her eyes, stepped forward, and gently took the gun from her hand. He was right; it was a. 38 snub nose. He cracked open the cylinder and dropped the bullets into his hand.
“Where’d you get the gun?”
“I asked around and found a pawnshop in Denver that was willing to sell it to me.”
He grimly studied one of the bullets. It was a hollow point. She would’ve done a lot of damage if she had gotten in there. He dropped the bullets into his pants pocket.
“Let’s get back to your car,” Shannon said as he lightly held onto her arm, both supporting and guiding her.
“They could be doing anything to Melissa in there,” she said, half under her breath. “I can’t feel a connection to her anymore. I have no idea if she’s even still alive.”
Something furry and thin, maybe a foot and a half long, darted past their feet. Shannon flashed his light on it as it scuttled away into some underbrush, and saw from its tail and the shape of its head that it was a weasel.
“Let’s keep the faith that she’s okay,” he said to her. “And I have someone in the FBI helping me with this. We’re going to get to Melissa. Until then, maybe you should go back to Portland and be with your husband.”
“If I went back home now I’d kill him. I can’t believe I let him bully me for six months not to do anything. No, I’m staying in Boulder until I see Melissa.”
They arrived back to her car. Shannon watched as she got into the driver’s seat. “You going to be okay driving back?” he asked. She nodded, her face bloodless and frail. “I’ll hold onto the gun for now,” Shannon told her.
He went back to his car, reloaded the. 38 and hid it under his spare tire, then followed Pauline Cousins down Baseline until she turned onto 28th Street. Satisfied that she’d make it to her motel in one piece, he headed back to the Boulderado Hotel. He checked the dashboard clock, and saw that somehow he was going to be on time.
Susan was waiting for him in their room. The tee shirt and cutoff jeans she wore accentuated all the wonderful curves of her small, slender body. She flashed him a dazzling smile as she gave him a hard embrace and even harder kiss. Stepping back, she placed her palms lightly on his face and studied him. “Your swelling’s gone down,” she said, her smile more of a playful kind. “You almost look presentable. Have an eventful day?”
“Thanks, and yeah, I did,” he said laughing. “Damn, it’s good to see you.” He picked her up, spun her around in the air several times, kissing her again on the mouth, then on the neck and earlobe. Dropping her to the floor, he leaned back in and sniffed her hair.
“You haven’t been smoking pot, have you?” he asked.
Her smile changed from playful to something wry. “Of course not, my darling. Since when in all the years you’ve known me have I ever smoked pot?”
He made a hmmm noise, his brow furrowed deeply. “I was thinking we could eat at the hotel tonight,” he muttered, still distracted by Susan’s thin Cheshire-cat grin and the odor he picked up from her hair.
“We could do that. I was kind of in the mood for pizza, though.”
“Pizza it is, then,” Shannon said.
They were out of the room and walking down the hallway when it hit him what that odor was. Their eyes met as he turned to her, Susan still grinning her Cheshire-cat grin.
“You went to the Vishna yoga studio,” he said.
“That’s right, hon. I was going to surprise you about it later-”
“Damn it, Susan, what the hell were you thinking?” He stopped himself and swallowed back the rest of what he wanted to say. “What’s done is done, but you’re not going back there,” he said in a more controlled voice.
Susan stared at him with what could’ve been mistaken for amusement if he overlooked the intensity burning in her dark brown eyes. “Hon,” she asked, “how long have we known each other?”
“A long time,” he admitted.
“Since I was eighteen. Over sixteen years.”
He nodded.
“Do you think now’s the time to start ordering me around?”
“Sue, these people are dangerous. This is not something you should be fooling around with.”
“Hon, I think I can make my own decisions. Besides, all I’m doing is going to a yoga studio on the Hill. If by doing that I can help you, then that’s what I’m going to do.”
“Sue, please-”
She took hold of his hand, gave it a squeeze. “Darling,” she said, “I can take care of myself. You should know that by now.”
He nodded. What he knew was that there was no point trying to talk her out of it. He couldn’t help feeling a sick twisting in his stomach at the idea of her going there. “Just promise me going to that yoga studio is all you’ll do,” he said. “If they invite you to True Light’s compound-”
She got up on her toes and kissed him lightly on his nose, stopping him. “I promise you, hon, that’s all. Nothing else. So stop worrying, okay?” She shook her head, laughing. “I can’t believe that smell’s still in my hair. When I got back today I washed my hair for twenty minutes trying to get it out.”
“What is that smell? Are they smoking pot down there?”
She opened her eyes wide in mock surprise. “Oh, now you want my information?”
“Susie, my darling, quit being coy. You already put me through the wringer, remember?”
“I did, didn’t I? I’m sorry about that. I know you’re just worried, and maybe a bit overprotective. Which is sweet. To answer your question, they’re burning incense.”
“That’s all it is?”
“That’s all, but boy is it powerful. They have it burning all over the room fogging it up. The stuff gave me a headache the whole time I was there. Why don’t we wait ’til dinner and I’ll tell you more about it.”
They decided to go to a pizza place on Pearl Street. The night air had gotten cooler and Susan hung close to Shannon, keeping an arm around his waist. As they walked, her hip brushed against his with almost every step. Shannon expected to see more people on the outdoor mall for a Thursday night, but at that hour it was quiet, mostly just college kids gathered around and a few transients bumming for money. When they were half a block from the restaurant, he spotted Eddie sitting alone under a streetlamp studying a chess position. Given his rapt attention to the chess board and the way the lamp illuminated his heavily-lined face, he could’ve been mistaken for an antique wooden carving that had been dressed up in jeans, work boots and an army jacket. Shannon pointed him out to Susan and told her that he knew the guy and needed to talk to him, but that it shouldn’t take more than a couple of minutes. Susan was fine with it, and joined Shannon as he walked over to Eddie.
Shannon stood quietly for a minute or two studying the position, then told Eddie that white could force a bishop advantage in five moves. The older man looked up, a bit startled, then chuckled softly as he recognized Shannon.
“Caught me by surprise,” he said. “I guess in your line of work you get good at sneaking up on folk.” He noticed Susan, quickly tested his upper plate with his thumb to make sure it was in place, then nodded solemnly as if he were tipping a hat. “Ma’am,” he said.
Susan laughed good-naturedly. “Ma’am?” she said. “I guess there’s a first time for everything. Just call me Susan.”