Nancy Bush's Nowhere Bundle: Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide & Nowhere Safe. Nancy Bush

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СКАЧАТЬ a sharp breath. “Then I met Barkley and changed my life. I never really expected to meet you. It’s all so long ago now . . .”

      Liv drank the lemonade down. It was cool and tart and puckered her mouth a bit. When silence fell among them, she said, “This is really good,” and Patsy struggled up another smile.

      Auggie said, “Can I ask you some questions about that time?”

      Patsy didn’t seem to hear for a moment, then she nodded.

      “There was a serial killer, a strangler, in the area,” Auggie said.

      “Oh, yes. We all locked our doors and windows at night. It went on for a few years.” She drank from her lemonade, her gaze shifting from Auggie, to Liv, then down to her hands. “They were mostly prostitutes from the Portland area. He dumped their bodies in Rock Springs.”

      Auggie flicked Liv a look, then asked, “Were any of them from around Rock Springs?”

      “I don’t . . . recall . . . You could probably look it up.”

      Liv’s feeling of otherworldliness continued. It was hard for her to believe this woman gave birth to her. She’d always expected to feel something more when she met her birth mother, but she just felt off-kilter and eager to escape.

      A big, fat, yellow tabby cruised into the room and fixed Liv with its gold eyes. Her dream came back to her. And her conversation with Aaron. She reached a hand toward him and the tom sauntered forward and allowed her to slide a palm down his back.

      “He never does that,” Patsy said with mild surprise.

      “Fat cat,” Liv whispered to him affectionately and he started to purr.

      A few moments of awkward silence ensued, and then Auggie got to his feet and said, “It’s getting late. Thank you for your time.”

      “And the lemonade,” Liv said, standing as well. The cat slid back and forth between her legs. She’d never had a pet growing up, hadn’t really thought about them. Now she wanted to pick up the purring beast and bury her face in its fur.

      She felt Auggie’s hand at her elbow and amidst some last good-byes, he guided her out to the porch. Squinting up at the sun, she said, “My father always called the doctors who treated Hague and me fat cats. He hated them. I always thought it was a derogatory term until now.”

      “That was a nice fat cat,” Auggie observed. “They’re not all that way. I’m a dog guy.”

      “Auggie Doggy,” she said, almost by rote.

      “Dr. Augdogsen to you.”

      She tried to muster up a response, maybe even some of that fierceness Patsy had commented on, but she couldn’t do it. They got back in the Jeep and Liv looked back at the house, hoping to catch another glimpse of the tom, but he was inside, out of the heat, and they drove away from the neat house just as a blue Chevy Blazer pulled up and a middle-aged man climbed out and watched them leave. He was short and balding and a bit paunchy and he lifted his hand in good-bye, looking a bit perplexed. Barkley Owens.

      “I’m glad I didn’t have to meet him, too,” Liv said.

      “I hear you. You met your biological dad and mom today. That’s more than enough for a decade or two. Family . . .” He shook his head.

      “Are your parents still alive?” she asked.

      “My father is. Don’t ask me about him. My mother died in an automobile accident a lotta years ago.”

      “You have any sisters or brothers?”

      He made a face. “Not that I want to talk about.”

      Auggie drove through a Burgerville on the way back and Liv bought them each a hamburger and fries, a Coke for him, a Diet Coke for her.

      “I’m going to pay you back with interest,” he said as they headed up the freeway to the turnoff to Highway 26—called Sunset Highway at this stretch—and to the Sylvan exit and his home.

      “If you want to go to Bean There, Done That and ask about your wallet I can stay in the car,” she said, but the thought of being so close to her apartment sent shivers down her nerves. She wasn’t ready to turn herself in yet. She asked herself, honestly, if she ever would be and didn’t have an answer.

      “Nah, but I think we should go see Hague.”

      “Now? What about the burgers?”

      “We’ll stop at the house. Eat. Then go see your brother, okay?”

      “Okay.”

      Auggie pulled into the garage a few moments later and gathered the two drinks while Liv grabbed the bag of food and followed him inside. They sat at the table like an old married couple, like they’d been doing it for years, and dug into the food. At least Auggie dug in, Liv forced herself to eat some of everything then sipped at her Diet Coke.

      She didn’t want to go see Hague. She wanted to stay right here. With Auggie. Forever. “What’s your last name?” she asked.

      He thought a moment, then said, “Rafferty.”

      “Auggie Rafferty.”

      “August Rafferty,” he corrected her. “I think . . . tomorrow we’re going to have to go to the police.”

      “No.”

      “Liv, if we don’t find out anything from your brother or—”

      “I need more time. Just a little more time. Please. August. . .”

      “Nobody calls me that but my family. Auggie’ll work just fine.” He sounded depressed.

      “I’m sorry. Let’s go see Hague. And tomorrow we can go to Halo Valley and see if we can find out more about Dr. Navarone. Then we can talk about the police. Not tonight, okay?” She felt desperate. Their time together was coming to an end and she didn’t want that.

      “Everything changes tomorrow,” he said, and he sounded so sober that her heart clutched.

      “Okay. I—I can . . . okay . . .” She swallowed hard.

      “Let’s go talk to Hague,” he said, getting up and tossing the crumpled bag into a trash can by the back door.

      She couldn’t decipher his mood as they headed across the river to Hague’s condo. Her anxiety ratcheted up as soon as they drew near; she would have to see Della, most likely, and Hague’s companion was unpredictable. She probably knew that the police were looking for Liv, and was just as likely to turn her in as help her.

      Pulling the baseball cap from her backpack, she smashed it on her head and down her forehead so she could scarcely see.

      “Put your hand through my arm,” Auggie said once they were parked and on the street. “Lean in. More people will remember you if you’re alone.”

      “You know a lot of tricks for a fisherman.”

      “Human СКАЧАТЬ