Blood Red

Ben had experienced two of his favorite things the night before and well into the morning. He’d had a wonderful conversation that covered the whole spectrum of discussions, and he’d spent time with Margaret, no, with Maggie Preston. The worst of the morning breakfast crowd had overrun the diner and then left for other places by the time they left the diner, and he’d felt so bad about it he’d left Sally an embarrassingly large tip. Funny, she didn’t seem at all embarrassed. She just smiled and told him to come back any time.

After that he walked Maggie home, the conversation slowing down only because both of them were tired and even all the extra cups of coffee only went so far to keep them conscious.

“I had fun.” She stretched and smiled as she spoke and Ben found himself smiling right back.

“Me too. It’s nice to meet an insomniac with a personality now and then.”

Maggie laughed and her hand moved over to squeeze his fingers for a second. Then she leaned in and kissed his cheek. A moment later she was pulling out her apartment key and slipping through the door. “See you in class, Ben.”

He’d walked numbly into his own apartment, and sat down on the couch. The smile lingered long after he sat down and he was almost certain he’d never wash his cheek again. Well, not for a while at least.

And now, one day later, he was still amazed by the kiss on his cheek. Maggie had gone to school and he had seen her there, but once again she was strictly there to study. She smiled and waved, but beyond that there was no contact. Not that he had expected any.

The policeman on the other end of the line was not at all happy to receive the call. He sounded stunned when he heard that Ben knew where he was. The chances were decent that he’d even looked around the area in a panic, trying to figure out where Ben was hiding. It wouldn’t do him any good, because he’d never even seen Brian Freemont and he certainly hadn’t gone out into the woods to watch for him. All it took was listening to the police radio broadcasts to know where the man was.

Ben smiled when he thought about the desperation in the sick bastard’s voice. He forced the smile to go away. He couldn’t take this as a game. It was serious business.

He turned off the cell phone and started wiping it clean. That was the second phone he’d used, and it was going into the trash.

Somewhere across the way, Maggie was probably sound asleep. He was thinking about getting some rest himself, as he had a test to study for later and his eyes were dangerously close to crossing. He wasn’t going to do himself any good if he didn’t catch up with the Sandman at some point.

And then Maggie walked out of her apartment and he was wide awake again. She was dressed in a simple gray skirt and silk blouse, with a matching jacket, and her hair was pulled back in a ponytail. He watched her as she left, amazed by her as always. It wasn’t something he could define; it went beyond her obvious looks, but whenever he saw her, his day was made more complete.

“Romantic pabulum.” He sighed and turned on the CD player near his laptop. He had a paper to finish and it wasn’t going to write itself. Norah Jones started singing songs directly into his soul and he let her.

He wrote, just as he was supposed to, but in the back of his mind he was looking forward to being out near the accident site where he’d called Freemont. There would be packages waiting for him and he intended to go through them meticulously.

Danni Hopkins was a sweet girl, and he intended to make sure she got her life back. He also intended to make a few phone calls to the other victims of Freemont’s game and let them know that they were free and clear.

Then, and only then, he’d consider giving the crooked cop back his life.

III

Kelli walked into the nurse’s station at the elementary school with a frown on her face. Teddy was lying back on the small cot they had in the corner, his hand over his eyes. He was asleep, but it was a fitful slumber at best.

“Teddy? Sweetie?” She moved over to him and sat on the edge of the cot, careful not to knock them both through the air. It was hardly designed to have a grown-up sitting on its edge.

He looked as pale as death and for a second, even knowing that he was breathing, she thought he was dead.

Then Teddy opened his eyes and smiled apologetically at her. “Hi, Kelli. I’m sorry.” His voice was weaker than she’d heard come from him in the past and it bothered her a bit.

“What for, honey?”

“You have school today.”

“It doesn’t matter. You’re way more important.” She ran her fingers through his hair and smiled at him. He closed his eyes and his face relaxed a bit. “Why don’t we see about taking you home, okay?”

He nodded his head, and closed his eyes as he waited for her to speak with the nurse.