Page 99 of Roadrunner

“How do we get it here?” Riley asked.

“Flatbed,” Jay said. “I’ve got a guy. Let me get at him and see.”

Riley looked at me across the table while he said it, checking. I nodded, because some decisions you make once and don’t need to make again.

“Do it,” I said. “But don’t expect much.”

“You sure?” Riley asked.

“I’m sure,” I said. “I want you to see what’s left of it.”

He held my gaze a moment, like he was making sure that was really the sentence I meant, and then he told Jay to go ahead, and something in my chest that had been clenched since the night of the accident finally, slightly, let go.

CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

Alex

Now

They were up to something.

I knew it the moment they left Saturday morning. Riley had come by early, earlier than usual, and Arthur had been ready and waiting at the door the way he was ready when he already knew where he was going and had known for some time.

They were sharing a secret.

I’d looked at Riley over Arthur’s head. He’d looked back at me with an expression of complete innocence that told me everything.

“Where are you going?” I asked.

“Out,” Riley said.

“Out,” I repeated.

“Back by noon,” he said.

Arthur was already at the truck.

I stood in the doorway and watched them go.

Martina joined me on the front porch at ten.

She brought two cups of coffee and sat in the chair beside mine and looked at the empty street.

“They’re up to something,” I said.

“Obviously,” she said.

“Do you know what?”

She sipped her coffee. “No.”

I looked at her.

“I don’t,” she said. “Riley called the house phone yesterday while you were in the shower. He spoke to me for approximately forty-five seconds.”

“About what?”

“About nothing that concerns you,” she said.