Winter Tides (40 page)

The cop pulled over to the curb and leaped out of the car, and Edmund kept going, moving the camera to the floor and dropping his coat over it. Watching the review mirror for any kind of pursuit, he drove south to the Huntington Towers before turning off the highway.

“A
CAR FIRE?”
D
AVE SAID.
“D
ID HE GET BURNED?
W
HAT
the hell happened?” The waiting room at Humana Hospital was mostly empty and smelled of fresh paint and upholstery. Nancy’s eyes were red from crying, but she was composed now. Her long blonde hair was pulled back in a heavy ponytail. She’d just been walking out the door to go to work when the phone had rung with the news of Casey’s
accident. She’d called Jolene, looking for the Earl, and Jolene had given the news to Dave when he showed up for work.

“The burns aren’t bad,” she told him. “He hit the windshield hard, though, and the doctors think he’s got a subdural hematoma, that he’s bleeding in the brain. They did a CAT scan, and I guess they’re going to open him up to relieve the pressure.”

“Open him up?”

“Drill a hole in his skull. That’s how I understand it. The doctor acts like it’s no big deal, but …”

Dave realized that she wasn’t going to finish the sentence, that she was crying again. “I don’t think it’s all that uncommon, Nance. The brain works itself out. It’s a weird organ.”

“Uh-huh,” she said after a moment. “Anyway, he has some burns on his legs and arms, but nothing worse than second degree. A cop was right there when the truck hit the tree, and he got the flames out as quick as he could. Casey had got out of the truck and made it down onto the beach. I guess he was trying to reach the water.”

“He still wanted to get some waves,” Dave said. Nancy didn’t laugh. “How’d he get out of the car if he hit his head that hard? Maybe the injury’s not that bad.”

“Adrenaline. That’s what the doctor said. When he was fighting to get out of the truck and put out the fire, the adrenaline blocked the bleeding. Then when the adrenaline backed off, he started bleeding again. He’s been on and off, you know. First he’s dingy and then he’s okay. It’s scary.”

“He’ll be all right, Nance.”

“Yeah,” she said flatly. There was relative silence in the waiting room now, the brief sound of a bell from up the hallway, the elevator doors opening and shutting.

“What did you mean about him getting cited? Earlier, over the phone. Did they arrest him? What did they charge him with, hitting a tree?”

“An open container in the car.”

“I don’t believe it.”

Nancy stared at him, as if he’d said something utterly idiotic. “Well, Dave, it’s true,” she said. “You know how much he drank. You and I have talked about it more than once. So don’t act like it’s a shock. He’s a big boy. You don’t have to stick up for him.”

“And you
do
know he quit?”

“He’s quit about ten times, Dave. There was an empty quart of vodka in the truck. It looks like he spilled it all over the place when the fire broke out. The alcohol apparently flared up. According to the police, it’s easy to test for vodka residue in the upholstery and floor carpet. Even his wetsuit burned. You’re not allowed to burn your own car up and run into a tree like that. Turns out it’s against the law.”

“Vodka
,” Dave said flatly.

“That’s what it was. A vodka bottle. They’re not lying, Dave. The cop didn’t rescue him and then plant a bottle in the truck.”

“Of course not. But did you
ever
see him drink vodka? I mean aside from in a bloody Mary or something?”

“That’s the liquor of choice for the alcoholic who’s hiding it. I’m not all that naive, Dave. I watched my father go down that same road, morning till night. Casey stayed up late and kept himself company. He left in the morning with a thermos full of coffee. Who knows what he put in his coffee? If you haven’t lived with an alcoholic, you can’t imagine.”

“I’m sorry,” Dave said. “I guess I can’t imagine. If you told me that they found a can of Budweiser,
then
I could imagine. This was at five this morning?”

“Yeah, about.”

“Then he was on his way to the beach.”

“Of course he was. Casey was always on his way to the beach.”

“Well I can tell you that he never drank before he surfed, Nance. He just didn’t. Alcohol doesn’t go with the vibe, if you know what I mean. It kills your reaction time. It makes you stodgy. When you drink you don’t want to surf, you want to drink. And when you drink, what you want is another drink. You want to keep the buzz. If you’re out in the water for three hours, the buzz is going to die and leave you feeling stupid. I’m telling you the truth; he wouldn’t
have been drinking at all before he surfed, not even beer, and he certainly wouldn’t have been drinking vodka out of the goddamn bottle.”

“Don’t lecture at me, Dave.
I
didn’t find the bottle in his truck; the cop did. I’ve been living with Casey’s drinking for years, putting a smile on my face, pretending there was no problem. I’ve always been afraid of this kind of thing. All those years and he never even got a DUI. All I can tell you is that if he’d hit another car instead of a palm tree, he’d be in a hell of a lot more trouble.”

“Yeah,” Dave said, lowering his voice. “You’re right. I don’t mean to be arguing with you. It’s just that … I don’t know. I mean, I can buy there was a fire and all, but there’s something dead wrong about the vodka bottle. And not only that, but he and I talked this out just a couple of days ago. Casey and I made a sort of deal, I guess you can say. He might have fallen off the wagon, Nance. All kinds of people do that every day—better people than me. But he would have told me if he did. I know he would have told me.”

“It was early. Maybe you weren’t up yet,” Nancy said.

Dave stared at her. She was shook up. There was no point in arguing this now. “When can I see him?”

“I don’t know. They chased me out. The Earl was here, but he left. He’s coming back in a little bit.”

“How is he?”

“The Earl? He looks like hell. He’s coping, though, or at least he seems to be. The doctors are pumping him full of positive statistics. You know how he is. It’s like Casey’s got tonsillitis or something. The Earl’s not into negativity.”

“You’ll give me a call when he can have visitors?”

“Right away. And I’m sorry I’m bad company. Thanks for having some faith in Casey. But he needs a reality check, Dave. We all need a reality check.”

“That’s the truth,” Dave said. He stood up and tried to smile at her. “I’ll be at the warehouse most of the time. Call me.” She nodded, and he left, heading out through the glass doors and walking through the parking lot under a dreary sky.

“T
HAT WAS THE GIST OF IT,”
D
AVE SAID TO
A
NNE
. “Nancy’s pretty upset. You haven’t met Nancy?”

Anne sprayed dark gray shading onto the edges of the etched Styrofoam blocks of the palace. The compressor grumbled into life, pressurizing the sprayer, and Anne waited until it fell silent again before she answered. “No. I only met Casey once. Seemed like a nice guy. Edmund had a little bit of contempt for him. He called him a beach bum, I think.”

“Well, I guess he is. He’s an interesting guy. Drinks too much, or at least he used to. He happens to be my best friend.”

“So I’ve gathered.”

“Well, it looks like he might have been drinking before he drove the truck into the tree.”

“Anybody else hurt?”

“Just him. He’s got some sort of brain hemorrhage. They’re going to operate to relieve the pressure.”

“Well, he’s a little bit lucky anyway. He’d be in trouble if he’d hurt anybody else.”

“He’s lucky. You’re right about that. He also happens to be absolutely honest, at least outside of the drinking. And as far as I know, he’s even been honest about that. He never hid it from me.”

“He didn’t have to. There’s lots of stuff you don’t have to hide from your friends. You hide things from your family. Sometimes it’s the people you love the most who you hide things from.” Anne switched paint jars, cleared the gray paint out of the spray tip, and misted the base of the stones with moss green, then stood back to take a look.

“I can’t argue with that,” Dave said. “And there’s a
lot
of really complicated family politics in the Earl’s case, a lot of trouble over the years that’s been overlooked. The Earl’s got a pair of rose-colored glasses that would fit Godzilla. Sometimes I wish I could borrow them.”

“It’s a little late for him to take them off now.”

“I wouldn’t want him to. But I’m really having a hard time with the cop finding an open container in Casey’s truck. I just don’t believe it. Casey was on the wagon. And not only that, but in all the years I’ve known him, he never drank before he surfed. It was maybe the only good reason he had
not
to drink, except Nancy, of course.”

“Yeah, but drinking’s a kind of a downhill slide, isn’t it? Sooner or later it gets the upper hand. I’m sorry to talk in clichés, but it’s true. He might have different habits now than he had ten years ago.”

“If he does, he’s kept them a secret from me. And he wasn’t the kind of guy to keep secrets.”

“So what are you saying, exactly?”

“I’m saying that something’s wrong. They found an open bottle in his car. I don’t think he put it there.”

“Who did?” She brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes and looked at him, setting her airbrush down on a keg.

Dave waited for a moment before he responded. He felt as if he were crossing a line, committing himself to a course of action that he couldn’t quite imagine, but that would change things irreversibly. “I think Edmund put it there. I shouldn’t even tell you this, but Edmund’s been stealing property from the Earl. He’s been quitclaiming real estate into his own name and probably selling it. I talked to a tax accountant who I think was notarizing the deeds. I told Casey about it the other morning, and it didn’t surprise him at all.”

“What did he say he was going to do about it?”

“Nothing. He’s a beach bum. He doesn’t give a flying damn about his brother’s greed. And what Edmund’s stealing is just a piece of what the Earl owns.”

“But with Casey dead, Edmund gets the whole thing, not just pieces.”

“That’s how I read it. The Earl’s heart is a basket case. He could be in more trouble over Casey’s accident than Casey is.”

“How
did he do it?”

“Who?”

“Edmund. You’re telling me that he lit the truck on fire, planted the bottle, and ran the truck into a tree with Casey in it?”

Dave looked at her. “That’s just what I’m saying. There’s way too many fires breaking out around here. I think Edmund’s lighting them. Every damned one. He’s completely screwed in the head.”

“He’s in Mexico, remember? He wanted me to go with him. I saw the plane tickets.”

“That doesn’t change my mind. He could hire someone to do it easily enough. And maybe he’s
not
in Mexico. Maybe he just
told
everyone he was going to Mexico. We didn’t check.”

“How do you check?”

“I have no idea, but I’m going to find out. And in the meantime, I think we better change the locks on your apartment.”

“Today. I’ll call Mr. Hedgepeth.”

“Forget Mr. Hedgepeth. I’ll change them, and then you’ll know you have every copy of the key. We’ll bolt that connecting door, too, from your side.”

It occurred to Dave then that both of the warehouse trucks had long ago pulled away from the loading dock. Jolene was working away in her office. The Earl was at the hospital. Except for Dave and Anne, the warehouse was empty. He looked at Anne. “You know what I’m going to do?”

“What?”

“I’m going to break into the bastard’s office.”

“What do you think is in there?”

“I don’t really care. I’ve had it. I love this place, and I could work here till I drop dead, but unless something gets done right now, this place isn’t going to be this place very much longer.”

“I’m going to break in, too,” Anne said. “Turnabout’s fair play. If he can break into my apartment, I can break into his office.”

“I don’t think so. It’s illegal as hell. Even if we do find something in there, we probably can’t use it against him, not legally. Even if we were cops, we couldn’t use it against him.”

“Right, but I want to know. Right now I don’t care about using it against him. I want to know, absolutely, that the creep was in my apartment. I’m the one with the big complaint against him, aren’t I? He bad-mouths you, but he breaks into my apartment. There’s no way you’re doing this without me.”

“If Edmund finds out that we were in his office, he’ll press charges against us for breaking and entering. He’s liable to say anything—that we stole something, whatever he can dream up to cause us trouble. And if we
do
find anything interesting in there, it’ll just make it worse.”

“He’ll never know. All we have to do is climb over the wall, right? How hard could it be?”

Dave carried an extension ladder up the stairs and tilted it against the wall beside the door to Edmund’s office cubicle. He climbed the ladder and looked in, but as always, there wasn’t anything to see. It was the emptiest possible office, the office of a man who had nothing to do. He pulled himself up onto the wall, swung his legs over, and dropped down onto the top of the desk. He threw the bolt, stepped out on to the balcony and laid the extension ladder down so that it wouldn’t be visible from below, and then followed Anne back into the office and shut the door.

“Two minutes and we’re out of here,” Anne said, wiping the footprint dust off the desktop. Immediately she looked beneath the desk itself, then opened the top desk drawer all the way and peered into the back of it, shutting it again almost at once. She opened another drawer and rifled through papers, and Dave pulled on one of the file cabinet drawers, which was locked.

“They’re locked,” he said. “All of them.”

“Of course they are,” Anne said. She opened a third drawer, shifted the contents around carefully, and then reached up under it, feeling around on the inside walls of
the desk and on the bottom of the drawer above. She opened another drawer and repeated the process, then stopped and seemed to be working at something. “Here’s a key,” she said, removing it from where it was hidden and peeling Scotch tape from it. She tossed it to Dave, who fit it into the lock at the top of the cabinet. He turned it, unlocking all the drawers at once. He pulled the top drawer open and looked inside. There was a litter of real estate pamphlets on the bottom along with a couple of ads for gyms and sports centers.