Read Online Fear Has a Name: A Novel by Creston Mapes - Free Book Online Page A

boys. They didn’t have a daddy at home tonight. In spite of Wendy’s reservations about suicide, the evidence was difficult to deny—missing meds, gun and ammo, farewell note.
    Wendy might be a widow right now and not even know it.
    And those boys—no father …
    His cell rang, and Pam’s photo came up. While creeping along in the pelting rain, dodging lake-size puddles, Jack hit answer on the phone, and Pam’s voice came over the Bluetooth speaker above his head.
    “I’m going to beat you,” she said.
    “Where are you?” He gripped the wheel tight. “I just passed Sergeant Road.”
    “Sergeant?” She paused. “I didn’t take 16. I’m going White Pond.”
    “White Pond? Shoot, I just assumed you’d take the highway. Is it raining where you are?”
    “Not bad yet, but I need new wipers.”
    “I know. That’s my bad. I’ve been meaning to do it.”
    “We’ve been a little busy …”
    “It’s a gusher here,” Jack said. “Sounds like you took the right route.”
    “I told you, you should have followed me. Whoa!”
    “What?”
    “Some idiot just passed me.”
    “On that road? Was it a double-yellow line?”
    “No, but it’s no place to pass,” Pam said. “Everybody’s in a big hurry.”
    “Hey, Cecil’s gonna run the police sketch on the front page.”
    “You’re kidding me. You asked him?”
    “No! He volunteered it. He actually sounded concerned.”
    “Come on,” Pam said. “What are you doing? This is ridiculous—”
    “What?” Jack said.
    “The guy who passed me is riding his brakes all of a sudden.”
    “He’s probably looking for a street.”
    “There aren’t any streets out here.”
    “Where are you?”
    “Almost to the bridge, by the river.”
    “Just be patient.”
    “He’s starting and stopping, right in the middle of the road.”
    “Keep your distance. Your tires aren’t that great.”
    He reminded himself to do new wipers and tires, all at once.
    “If you get home first,” Pam said, “hurry up and relieve Darlene and Tommy. They’ve been there forever. Tell them we owe them dinner.”
    “Knowing them, the girls are probably up partying.”
    “You have got to be kidding me. He’s stopped!” she yelled. “We’re right in the middle of the bridge and this guy is stopping his car.”
    Jack could picture the bridge’s enormous rusty metal girders and rivets the size of baseballs. He’d done several stories on it, because the Lincolntown River tended to swell and flood near the bridge. Big local issue.
    “There is no way. I think he put it in park,” Pam said. “What the …”
    “Is there something in front of his car? Maybe he can’t get across.”
    “The other lane’s clear, he could go around. Oh wow, it’s raining hard now. You almost home? I just wanna make sure everything’s okay with the girls.”
    “I’ll be there in a few,” Jack said. “No worries. Rain’s letting up a little here. What’s going on with that guy?”
    Jack could hear the rain ticking the roof of Pam’s car.
    “Pam?”
    Nothing.
    “Pam?”
    He turned up the volume.
    “Pam? Answer me!”
    “Oh my gosh, Jack!” she screamed. “It’s him!”
    Something jolted the inside of Jack’s chest, like a gong being struck by a sledgehammer. His insides went hollow and waves of electricity vibrated down his arms and out his empty fingertips.
    “How do you know?” he barked. “What’s he doing?”
    “It’s his car. Oh dear God, Jack … he’s getting out !”

9
    “Are you sure?” Jack’s words were clipped, fierce.
    One glance at the husky body as it emerged from the brown car … the black clothes … the boots …
    “Yes!” Headlights glared in her rearview mirror. “I’m blocked in!”
    Lock doors, lock doors …
    She let the phone slip away and felt her armrest for the door-lock button.
    The stranger hunched over in the driving rain and did a hop-skip-jog directly toward her.
    His trot was more agile than she would have expected, with one blocky