through the veil. He looked at the casket descending, and when he could not see the small dark lid or the white wreath of flowers on it anymore, he turned away.
18
What took the longest was for Claire to let him sleep in the same bed with her again. She spoke to him now, but only to ask what pants he needed ironed, to say that supper was ready. They bought their food at a different supermarket each time. They stopped having milk delivered. They drove Sarah to and from school instead of allowing her to walk, and they never let her play outside without them. Even with the cruiser in front of the house, every car that slowed made them stare.
But nothing happened, and the more nothing happened, the more he tensed in dread of answering the phone and hearing the man’s voice rasp at him again. The abrupt harsh ring never stopped unnerving him. He concentrated to forget by working, but it wasn’t any use: he knew all about the position he was in, he had written about it too many times. If somebody wants to get you bad enough, there simply isn’t any way to stop them. They have too many ways to do it. It’s all just a matter of time.
He went upstairs to the closet in the hall and arranged the rifle, pistol, and revolver on the top shelf, with a box of ammunition for each of them. Webster had warned him not to think like that, but Webster wasn’t the one in fear of dying. The guns were normally kept in a locked dressing cabinet in the bedroom, hard to get at, secure from any accident with Sarah. Now he had to show her where they were, tell her, order her not to touch them, and he believed her when she promised.
He went to his bank, withdrew five thousand dollars in twenties, and put the money in a knapsack in the same closet.
19
Early one morning, he came downstairs, and there was no detective in the hallway by the phone. The tape recorder, the earphones, the lead-in wires, all the surveillance equipment was gone. He hurried to the front window, and the police car was gone too. He was suddenly conscious of the thin loose pajamas he wore. Immediately he stepped clear of the window.
“I tried to get over here before you found out,” Webster came and said. “Understand I had nothing to do with it. The chief himself ordered it. Three shifts of men a day, one on the phone, two in the car outside, another two in three cruisers circling the district. Multiply that by the weeks we’ve been at this, he says, and figure the cost, figure the other places we need those men.”
His face was burning. It was all he could do to control himself. “But you’re supposed to be the police. If you can’t protect us, what good are you?”
“I know how you feel, but—”
“You don’t know how I feel at all.”
“Well, listen to me anyway. The chief has a point. He says if Kess and his people haven’t moved against you by now, it’s either because they’ve lost interest or else they’re waiting until we pull out. In any case, there’s no sense in our sticking around. If they’re really determined to wait for us to go, he says we could be here all year and still do no good. The day we left they’d be right back at you.”
“So why not save time and let them come for us today, is that it? What is he, one of Kess’s men or something?”
“Now you watch it. I spent all night arguing with him, and that kind of talk just makes me wish I hadn’t bothered. I’ve already talked to the guys who were out here guarding you, and they all agreed to come around from time to time and make it look like we’re still involved. You have my office number and my home. If anything happens, even if you think you’re only imagining it, you give me a call. I don’t care what time day or night, you call. With any luck, you won’t need to. The chief could very well be right. Maybe they lost interest. Maybe they’re satisfied now that they’ve scared you and killed your son.”
“Maybe nothing. They’re going to come all
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