Read Online Extreme Denial by David Morrell - Free Book Online Page B

forecast I need. Here’s the car,” Ben said.
    A gray Pontiac, whose driver wasn’t familiar to Decker, pulled up in front of the hotel. The car’s backseat had tinted windows that made it difficult to see in.
    “What did I tell you?” Ben said. “Only a minute.” He opened the passenger door and gestured for Decker to get in.
    Heart pounding, Decker glanced from Ben to Hal and didn’t move.
    “Is there a problem?” Hal asked. “Don’t you think you’d better get in? You’ve got a plane to catch.”
    “I was just wondering what to do about my suitcase.”
    “We’ll put it in the trunk. Press the button that opens the trunk, will you?” Ben told the driver. A moment later, the back latch made a thunking sound. Ben took Decker’s suitcase, lifted the back lid, set the suitcase inside the trunk, and closed the lid. “There, that takes care of that. Ready?”
    Decker hesitated another moment. His pulse racing faster, he nodded and got in the back of the Pontiac. His stomach felt cold.
    Ben got in beside him while Hal took the passenger seat in front, turning to look back at Decker.
    “Buckle up,” the thick-necked driver said.
    “Yeah, safety first,” Ben said.
    Metal clinked against metal as Decker secured his seat belt, the others doing the same.
    The driver pressed a button that caused another thunking sound and locked all the doors. The Pontiac’s engine rumbling, he steered into traffic.
    3
    “A mutual acquaintance told me you said on the phone last night you were tired of flying,” Ben said.
    “That’s right.” Decker glanced out the tinted windows toward pedestrians carrying briefcases, purses, rolled-up umbrellas, whatever, walking briskly to work. They seemed very far away.
    “So why are you catching a plane?” Hal asked.
    “A spur-of-the-moment decision.”
    “Like your resignation.”
    “That wasn’t spur-of-the-moment.”
    “Our mutual acquaintance said it sure seemed like it.”
    “He doesn’t know me very well.”
    “He’s beginning to wonder if anybody does.”
    Decker shrugged. “What else is he wondering?”
    “Why you unplugged your phone.”
    “I didn’t want to be disturbed.”
    “And why you didn’t answer your door when one of the guys on the team knocked on it last night.”
    “But I did answer the door. I just didn’t open it. I asked who it was. On the other side of the door, a man said, ‘Housekeeping.’ He told me he was there to turn down my bed. I told him I had turned down the bed myself. He told me he had fresh towels. I told him I didn’t need fresh towels. He told me he had mints for the bedside table. I told him to shove the mints up his ass.”
    “That wasn’t very sociable.”
    “I needed time alone to think.”
    Ben took over the questioning. “To think about what?” As the Pontiac stopped at a light, Decker glanced to the left, toward the red-haired man. “Life.”
    “Big subject. Did you figure it out?”
    “I decided that it’s the essence of life for things to change.”
    “ That’s what this is all about? You’re going through a change of life?” Hal asked.
    Decker glanced ahead toward the brown-haired man in the front seat. The Pontiac had resumed motion, proceeding through the intersection.
    “That’s right,” Decker said. “A change of life.”
    “And that’s why you’re taking this trip?”
    “Right again.”
    “To where exactly?”
    “Santa Fe, New Mexico.”
    “Never been there. What’s it like?”
    “I’m not sure. It looks nice, though.”
    “Looks nice?”
    “Last night, I watched a TV show about some construction workers fixing up an adobe house there.”
    The Pontiac headed through another intersection.
    “And that made you decide to go there?” Ben interrupted. Decker turned to him in the backseat. “Yep.”
    “Just like that?”
    “Just like that. In fact, I’m thinking about settling there.”
    “Just like that. You know, that’s what has our mutual acquaintance concerned, these sudden