Into the Inferno - Earl Emerson [11]
“You bastard,” she said.
“Don’t turn on the charm machine just for me.”
“I saw you running away from me in the parking lot.”
“You must be Stephanie, Holly’s sister.” It was a stupid remark, given their resemblance and the fact that she was driving Holly’s car, but it was all I could think of.
She’d moved closer now. We were almost touching, hate emanating off her like steam off a racehorse. To make matters worse, she was wearing the same brand of perfume as Holly. You can’t blame me for thinking of sex when I smelled it.
“I didn’t run.”
“The hell you didn’t. You thought I was Holly.”
“But you’re not.” This was so typical of me. One incredibly scintillating comment after another.
“You thought I was. You led her on and then didn’t have the decency to admit what you’d done. This innocent act of yours doesn’t surprise me. She said you could be dumber than a bag of hammers when you wanted.”
“Holly said that?”
“You don’t even want to know what Holly said.”
“What do you want?”
“I guess I came to see what a dirtbag looks like.”
“Okay. You’ve seen me.” She didn’t move, just stood close and stared into my eyes. After a few moments, I said, “I didn’t lead anyone on. And I don’t see what business it is of yours anyway. Holly and I dated for a while. Then we broke up. People break up all the time.”
For a moment, my words gave her pause. I wasn’t particularly quick-witted and almost never thought up a reply to this sort of thing until my opponent was long gone, but, damn it, she didn’t know anything about my relationship with Holly.
By now Karrie was laughing on the far side of the rig along with Beebe.
“She thought you wanted to marry her.”
“It was never even on my mind. I mean, think about it. Who gets married after a month? You know as well as I do, one person in a relationship always takes things more seriously than the other. Believe me, I never did anything to make it turn out that way. I felt as bad about the breakup as Holly.”
“You think so?”
“Look, I’m on duty and we’re not exactly having the best day around here. Why don’t you come back to the station and we’ll talk over coffee? Out of the sun.”
“It’s taken me all morning to corner you. I’m not going to let you slip away now.”
“Come back to the station and we’ll talk. How is Holly?” When I saw her eyes relax, I said, “Where is she?”
“As if you cared.”
“I’ve always wanted her to be happy. Holly’s a sweet person. She deserves the best.”
“Which was definitely not you.”
“I never pretended it was.”
She waited a few beats and continued. “When was the last time you saw my sister?”
“I don’t know. Somewhere around the first of May.”
“When was the last time you spoke?”
“She called once after that.”
“Try six times. She called six times after that. She caught you home twice, and the other calls were never returned.”
“There was nothing left to say.”
“You don’t know where this is leading, do you?”
“No.”
“Holly said you weren’t too bright.”
More laughter from behind the truck.
Stephanie was a little taller than Holly—prettier, angrier, crueler. Even at her angriest and most heartbroken, Holly had never shouted at me. Holly was a whiner, a weeper, and, in bed, a moaner—the best sex ever—but one thing she never did and never would do was make a scene in public.
Across the street, two of McCain’s neighbors came outside, attracted no doubt by the flashing red lights and our large lime-green truck. “You’re even more of a coward than I thought you were,” said Holly’s sister, who then climbed into the Pontiac and left.
You can understand I didn’t like getting braced by this pugnacious woman while two of my coworkers hid on the other side of the rig sniggering. I was a firefighter and had been for twelve years. My family and friends thought of me as a regular guy. There were even times on the job when people thought