Read Online Into the Web by Thomas H. Cook - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Thomas H. Cook
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happy to be loved, he’d seemed almost to float in the warm spring air. Then it was only Archie I saw, sitting in his cell, reaching for my hand, I ain’t told the sheriff nothing, Roy, and I ain’t going to.
Her gaze darkened mysteriously, a storm cloud in her mind. “You knew what you wanted.”
And what I’d wanted more than anything was Lila. Watching her now, I could see my own younger self in her eyes, the valley boy who’d spotted her at a dance, summoned the courage to approach her.
She drew in a long breath, and the dark cloud disappeared. “So, you finished college and stayed in California.”
“A little town in the northern part of the state,” I told her. “I teach at a school there.”
“Good for you,” Lila said. Her eyes lowered to her hands, then rose again. “Well, thanks for dropping by, Roy.”
I knew that I was being dismissed, but I held my place at the entrance to the cell. “Lonnie tells me you’re not saying much, Lila. About Clayton, I mean.”
Her voice chilled. “I say as much as I want to say.”
“Lonnie’s just doing his job, you know. Just trying to find out a few things so that—”
“He’s pretending he thinks Clayton Spivey was murdered,” Lila interrupted sharply. “But I know better than that. Clayton had been sick for years. And lately he’d gotten a lot worse.”
“Well, there was a gun near the body,” I said, trying toput the best light on my detective-story understanding of Lonnie’s tactics. “And so until Doc Poole can take a look, he has to assume that—”
“I came down to identify the body,” Lila said, the fire of her youth suddenly returning. “I did it out of respect for Clayton. And it’s all I’m going to do. I’m not at the beck and call of Lonnie Porterfield, and I never will be.” She gazed at me in the way she had as a girl, eyes that peeled me back layer by layer. “I’m not going to play by Lonnie Porterfield’s rules.”
“I can see that.”
“Good,” she said. “Because I don’t want to talk to Lonnie or about Lonnie.”
With that, it was clear she’d closed the subject, and I half expected her to rise, stride out of the cell and through Lonnie’s office, but she remained in place, her face brightening somewhat, as if hit by a ray of light.
“Remember that day at Taylor’s Gorge?” she asked.
I saw her leap up from the blanket we’d spread across the ground.
You don’t believe me, Roy? You don’t believe I’ll do it?
“Remember what we did?”
She was racing now, at full speed, toward the overhanging cliff, a gray wall that rose above the sparkling water.
“Yes, I remember.”
I’d run after her, watching, amazed, as she hurtled forward, sleek as a deer over the forest floor, then out into the bright light that hung in a blinding curtain over the cliff’s rocky ledge.
“Do you know what the best part was?” Lila asked.
oShe’d never slowed, never for an instant, but had dove out into the glittering air, her white feet like two small birds taking flight from the stony edge.
She stared at me now with the same willful gaze she’d had that afternoon. “The way you came running and leaped off that cliff right behind me.”
I felt the earth fall away, its heavy pull release its grip, saw the dark water below.
She looked at me pointedly. “You wouldn’t do that now, would you?”
“No.”
She shrugged. “I guess I wouldn’t either,” she said.
Lonnie was sitting in his office when I left her a few minutes later. He plucked a thin cigar from his mouth, its white plastic tip well chewed. “Well, what’d she tell you?”
“Nothing. At least, nothing about Clayton.”
“But she did talk to you, right?”
“Only about the old days. You know, when we were in high school together. I told her you needed to clear a few things up. That there was a gun near the body. She said she came down to identify the body, and that’s all she’s going to do.”
Lonnie crushed the cigar
Her gaze darkened mysteriously, a storm cloud in her mind. “You knew what you wanted.”
And what I’d wanted more than anything was Lila. Watching her now, I could see my own younger self in her eyes, the valley boy who’d spotted her at a dance, summoned the courage to approach her.
She drew in a long breath, and the dark cloud disappeared. “So, you finished college and stayed in California.”
“A little town in the northern part of the state,” I told her. “I teach at a school there.”
“Good for you,” Lila said. Her eyes lowered to her hands, then rose again. “Well, thanks for dropping by, Roy.”
I knew that I was being dismissed, but I held my place at the entrance to the cell. “Lonnie tells me you’re not saying much, Lila. About Clayton, I mean.”
Her voice chilled. “I say as much as I want to say.”
“Lonnie’s just doing his job, you know. Just trying to find out a few things so that—”
“He’s pretending he thinks Clayton Spivey was murdered,” Lila interrupted sharply. “But I know better than that. Clayton had been sick for years. And lately he’d gotten a lot worse.”
“Well, there was a gun near the body,” I said, trying toput the best light on my detective-story understanding of Lonnie’s tactics. “And so until Doc Poole can take a look, he has to assume that—”
“I came down to identify the body,” Lila said, the fire of her youth suddenly returning. “I did it out of respect for Clayton. And it’s all I’m going to do. I’m not at the beck and call of Lonnie Porterfield, and I never will be.” She gazed at me in the way she had as a girl, eyes that peeled me back layer by layer. “I’m not going to play by Lonnie Porterfield’s rules.”
“I can see that.”
“Good,” she said. “Because I don’t want to talk to Lonnie or about Lonnie.”
With that, it was clear she’d closed the subject, and I half expected her to rise, stride out of the cell and through Lonnie’s office, but she remained in place, her face brightening somewhat, as if hit by a ray of light.
“Remember that day at Taylor’s Gorge?” she asked.
I saw her leap up from the blanket we’d spread across the ground.
You don’t believe me, Roy? You don’t believe I’ll do it?
“Remember what we did?”
She was racing now, at full speed, toward the overhanging cliff, a gray wall that rose above the sparkling water.
“Yes, I remember.”
I’d run after her, watching, amazed, as she hurtled forward, sleek as a deer over the forest floor, then out into the bright light that hung in a blinding curtain over the cliff’s rocky ledge.
“Do you know what the best part was?” Lila asked.
oShe’d never slowed, never for an instant, but had dove out into the glittering air, her white feet like two small birds taking flight from the stony edge.
She stared at me now with the same willful gaze she’d had that afternoon. “The way you came running and leaped off that cliff right behind me.”
I felt the earth fall away, its heavy pull release its grip, saw the dark water below.
She looked at me pointedly. “You wouldn’t do that now, would you?”
“No.”
She shrugged. “I guess I wouldn’t either,” she said.
Lonnie was sitting in his office when I left her a few minutes later. He plucked a thin cigar from his mouth, its white plastic tip well chewed. “Well, what’d she tell you?”
“Nothing. At least, nothing about Clayton.”
“But she did talk to you, right?”
“Only about the old days. You know, when we were in high school together. I told her you needed to clear a few things up. That there was a gun near the body. She said she came down to identify the body, and that’s all she’s going to do.”
Lonnie crushed the cigar
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