Read Online The Long Sleep by Caroline Crane - Free Book Online

the
light. It couldn’t be Ben already. Maybe Rhoda? I crept to a window
and pulled aside the curtain.
    It wasn’t Ben’s blue truck. Or Rhoda’s ivory
sedan. It looked like my red Chevy. At least it wasn’t big and
yellow with oversize tires.
    It was mine. And Rick Falco was
getting out of it. I unfastened both locks.
    He waved, and then swept his arm toward the
car, as though presenting it. He wasn’t in uniform and the car had
a new windshield. The dogs greeted him with squeals of joy.
    “Looking pretty good, don’t you think?” he
said as he came in.
    “What did you do? You got it out of hock and
you—got—”
    “A new windshield. You like it?”
    That car came with terrible memories and
probably still a blood-soaked front seat. But it was all I had.
    “How much do I owe you?” I asked.
    “Nothing. It wasn’t really in hock, you know
that, and this whole thing was not your fault.”
    He was evading me. “I mean the
windshield.”
    He waved his hand dismissively.
    “Office—I mean Rick, you shouldn’t have.”
    “Why not? You took the brunt of it all. It’s
the least I can do.”
    The least I could do was try again to
offer him coffee. I wondered how he was going to get home. And
where he lived.
    “How about a rain check?” he said. “I was
thinking you should take a test drive. See if it’s running okay.
You know that car better than I do.”
    I didn’t want to drive it, but I’d have to
eventually. And I did like having Rick with me. An armed guard, if
it was true that police officers carry their weapons at all times,
even off duty.
    “It’s getting dark,” I said. “I’m not
supposed to drive after dark.”
    “You can if I’m with you. Come on, let’s
go.”
    It might be kind of fun, I thought. And good
to have company for my first drive in that car after what
happened.
    I got my coat, and let the dogs know they
weren’t coming with us.
    As we settled in the car, I got
self-conscious. “I’m a little nervous,” I told him. “What if you
don’t like the way I drive?”
    He laughed. “I’m assuming you passed your
test.”
    “Yes, but I’m not perfect.”
    “Is anybody?”
    “I’ll bet you are.” I fastened my belt and
remembered that’s what Hank and I were doing when the bullet
came.
    I turned on the engine. “Is there any more
word about Hank Dalbeck? I called the hospital and they said he’s
still unconscious.”
    “He is,” said Rick. “I really need to talk to
him but they tell me he shows no sign of waking up.”
    I drove out to Lake Road and headed for
Lakeside School. So far the car was okay. “You still don’t have any
leads?”
    “Not one. That’s what I want to talk to him
about. See if he knows anybody who’d be pissed enough to do
that.”
    “Maybe they didn’t mean to actually hit him.
You know, sort of like a warning. But they miscalculated.”
    Falco thought that over.
    I said, “It’s kind of far-fetched, isn’t
it?”
    “Maybe not so much. We’ll see.”
    Lakeside School was white brick. It gleamed
in the dusk, a low sprawling building with a lot of wings and
windows. I circled the parking lot to turn around. “This is where I
used to go,” I told him.
    “Nice looking place.”
    “My family,” I said, “is sure Evan Steffers
fired that shot. You know, the guy who was stalking me? He won’t
let up. I’ve been getting phone messages, mostly music. It’s all
things that have some significance for me. And I’m sure he sent
those roses.”
    “I thought they were for your mother.”
    “That was before I saw the card. He’s in New
Hampshire now, they tell me, but that wouldn’t stop him from making
phone calls. Or ordering flowers.” I turned in at my driveway.
Nobody else was home yet.
    “You said he’s at school in New
Hampshire?”
    “Garson Academy. Something like that. How are
you going to get home? Do you want me to take you?”
    “Hell, no. Excuse the language. It’s too dark
and you’d be coming back alone. Thanks