And then there was Jack…
The man in question dropped into a chair opposite Tom.
“Can I ask you something, Dad?”
“Sure.”
“What were you doing out on those back roads at that hour?”
Tom almost told him it was none of his business but bit it back. He had to put this anger behind him, forget what happened before and be glad for the now.
Could he do that? He had to try.
“Just driving. I have trouble sleeping lately. I lie there in bed and I close my eyes but it won’t come. They tell you not to stay in bed if you can’t get to sleep, so I go out for a drive.”
“And do what?”
“Not much. Lots of times I stop the car and sit on the hood and watch the sky. Jack, you wouldn’t believe it. You can cruise those back roads at night and not see another soul. You stop the car and turn off the headlights and get out and above you are stars like you’ve never seen, stars like I haven’t seen since I was a kid in the Jersey sticks, when the air was still clean enough to see the Milky Way smeared across the top of the sky. It’s breathtaking.”
“You always drive the same route?”
“Pretty much. There aren’t many roads to choose from out there.”
“So you have a pretty set pattern?”
“I guess so. Why are you asking?”
Jack took a sip from his bottle. “Just trying to put some pieces together. Since there’s no one out there, do you bother to stop at stop signs?”
“Well, yes. Of course I do. It may not make sense but…I guess it’s just habit. And it’s not as if I’m going anywhere, or in a hurry to get there.”
“The cops think you might have blown through a stop sign and got tagged by something speeding along South Road. Something big.”
Tom shook his head. “I wish I could remember.”
It disturbed him no end that a piece of his life was missing—an important piece, one that had put him in a coma for days. It scared him a little…no, it scared him a lot not knowing any of the details. That was why he couldn’t stay in the hospital. If he had to be in the dark as to what had happened to him, he’d rather be in the dark here, in familiar surroundings…where he felt he was in control. Or felt he had at least some modicum of control, even if illusory.
“Do you remember a woman attacked by pelicans last year?”
“Sure. Adele Borger. Terrible thing. I heard she was walking with two other women whom the pelicans ignored. They attacked just her. They say she was a terrible mess.”
“And the guy bitten by the snakes?”
“Ed Neusner. Where’d you hear about him and Adele?”
“From Carl.”
Tom had to smile. “Telephone, telegraph, tell Carl. He’s the Gateways gossipmonger. Not the brightest bulb in the box, but a good man. Hard worker. He’s got some wild ideas, though. Has he told you his theory about the angry Everglades yet?”
Jack nodded. “Yeah. Maybe it’s not so far-out. What about the guy killed by spiders?”
“Joe Leo? What about him?”
“Hasn’t anyone noticed a pattern to these deaths—like every three months?”
“No.” Was he right? Every three months? “No one’s ever mentioned it. But why would they? It can’t be anything other than coincidence.”
“Do you realize your accident falls right into the pattern?”
Good Lord, Jack was right. The muscles along the back of his neck tightened, but only for a second. Coincidence. That was all it was, all it could be.
Tom forced a smile. “Is this what you do in your spare time—invent conspiracies?”
Jack looked at him. “As a matter of fact, yes.”
“Don’t tell me you believe in UFOs. Please don’t.”
“The kind with aliens inside? Hardly. But I’ve had to stop believing in coincidences.”
Tom wondered at the bleakness in his son’s tone. “What does that mean?”
“Nothing.” Jack shook his head. “Maybe I’m reading too much into this. For a minute I had this wild idea that the Gateways honchos might be offing some of their healthier residents in order to have their houses revert to them.”
“That is a wild idea.”
He sighed. “I know. Especially when I realized that the houses would stay with the spouses. So there goes the motive for that scenario.”
“Except…,” Tom said as that tightening sensation crept again into the back of his neck, stronger this time. “Except that Adele was a widow and Joe and Ed were widowers.”
“Oh, Jeez,” Jack said as they stared at each other.
10
In Semelee’s vision, at least in the eye covered by the shell, she moved at a height varyin from one foot to almost two foot above the ground. Clumps of saw grass whipped past at eye level. Then she was splashin’ through a shallow pond, and now back up into the grass again. The goin’ was tougher than it shoulda been. In September of any other year, she—or rather, Devil—woulda been able to stay in the wet for the whole trip. This year, though, was different. Still, the drought wasn’t gonna keep Devil from goin’ where she wanted him to.
The goin’ was rougher for another reason: She had to stay on course and find her landmarks with only one eye.
At last she came to the pond she’d been searchin’ for. The level was down, but not as much as most others. She slid into the water and dove deep. Devil’s underwater vision was good, better than any human could claim, and soon enough she found the mouth of the tunnel.
She entered a dark place, so dark that even Devil’s eyes was no good here. Sometime long ago, when all this land was formed, something happened hereabouts that left a channel through the limestone. Its width was enough to allow Devil to swim through, but just barely. She had to go mostly by feel.
The channel branched and Semelee guided Devil to the left. It seemed to go on forever, but eventually she saw a glimmer of light ahead. Devil surged forward. She could feel his hunger, but she held him back, slowin’ him to a stop a few feet below the surface. She made him hover there for a few heartbeats, then started a slow float toward the surface. She let only his eyes and the top of his snout break the surface. An egret wading at the pond edge saw him and took flight. Smart bird. As Devil took a breath through the nostrils atop his snout, Semelee focused on the old man’s house.
She’d been watchin’ the place through a frog’s eyes, waitin’ for the son to come home. After bein’ so close to him in town this afternoon, she had to see him again. She’d felt somethin’ click between them. Like magic. She sensed destiny there. No doubt about it.
But as she’d been watchin’ she saw him arrive with that old crone from next door and his daddy! Semelee was so shocked she almost dropped her eye-shell. She thought this was bad at first, but then changed her mind. She realized that somethin’ must be helpin’ her, somethin’ big and powerful, maybe even the Glades itself must be guidin’ events. Because now that the old man was out of the hospital, he was closer to her. Comin’ home put him within’ strikin’ distance.
And strikin’ was just why she’d guided Devil here. She had to get this finished. And it had to be this old man. He’d been offered, and had to go before the time of the lights.
As a bonus, after the old man was gone, there’d be nothin’ standin’ between her and the son. They could get together, just like they was meant to.
She watched the front door. She wondered when the old man would come out…or if he’d come out. Might be a long wait.