was thinking about her introduction to Varay too.
“I’m afraid that the Coral Lady won’t be the only case like this,” I said. “The genie’s out of the bottle and we may not be able to get him back in.” Like when car bombs become so faddish. “It’s a miracle it’s taken this long. You remember that A-bomb they found in New York a few years ago?”
“I remember.”
“It may have been the same batch of terrorists. Or different people with the same idea. There’s tons of uranium and plutonium unaccounted for.”
Joy shook her head. “The sooner we get started, the sooner we get back,” she said.
I nodded. I was ready to change the subject too.
“I just hope Eddie kept my car going the last three months.” Eddie was the day man down in the building’s garage. I paid him to run the car a couple of times a week while I was “traveling” to keep the battery charged.
* * *
It was still too early for Eddie to be on duty, but my LeBaron started right off, so I knew that he had been doing his job. The odometer reading hadn’t changed, but the low-fuel light started blinking as soon as I turned the key in the ignition. Aaron finally woke up while I was backing out of my parking space.
“Where are we?” he asked, his voice still sleepy.
“We’re in Chicago, Aaron,” I said. “We’re on our way to Joliet now.”
“I’m going home?” I couldn’t tell what he was feeling, disappointment, sadness, or a mixture of both.
“Yes, you’re going home,” I said, and I had to be careful to keep any emotion out of my voice. But Aaron curled up as best he could under the seat belt in the backseat and he went to sleep again.
We had got an early enough start to stay ahead of the worst of the rush-hour traffic downtown. I took Lake Shore Drive down to the Stevenson Expressway and got on that for the straight run out to Joliet. Traffic never got completely insane that morning, and even the inbound traffic across the median seemed a lot lighter than usual. I suspected that a lot of people had decided that it was a good day to play hooky from work, to keep up with the latest news … or just in case there was any more trouble like the bombing in Florida.
Joy found Silver Cross Hospital marked on the map in my glove compartment, but I still had to stop and ask directions when we got to Joliet. The main entrance to the hospital was just opening up as we arrived.
Aaron had slept the whole way out. I had to wake him when we reached the hospital. I didn’t want to carry him inside and maybe cause misunderstandings.
I hated every second of the hospital ordeal. A volunteer at the front desk directed us to Family Services. There were people waiting for us there—hospital people, a police officer, and a couple who introduced themselves as Aaron’s aunt and uncle. Aaron went to them and started carrying on about the wonderful things that had happened to him, while it was all the aunt and uncle could manage to keep from bawling from their grief and their anxiety over Aaron. The uncle thanked me for bringing Aaron in and for taking care of him. When he asked where we had found him, I repeated the story I had told on the telephone. The cop stopped frowning. I was worried that he would ask a lot of uncomfortable official questions, but he started listening to Aaron’s tale of knights and castles and a funny old wizard and he forgot all about Joy and me. We were able to slip away like the Lone Ranger and Tonto, and we got out of the hospital almost as quickly as I had hoped to.
Once we were out of the parking lot and on our way back to the Interstate, I breathed a lot easier.
“They’ll assume that his story is just a reaction to the shock of losing his parents,” I said. “What else could they think?” When Joy didn’t reply, I looked her way. She was just staring straight forward. Tears were running down her cheek.
“He’ll be okay, Joy. He’ll do fine.”
She nodded a little at that, but she
“I’m afraid that the Coral Lady won’t be the only case like this,” I said. “The genie’s out of the bottle and we may not be able to get him back in.” Like when car bombs become so faddish. “It’s a miracle it’s taken this long. You remember that A-bomb they found in New York a few years ago?”
“I remember.”
“It may have been the same batch of terrorists. Or different people with the same idea. There’s tons of uranium and plutonium unaccounted for.”
Joy shook her head. “The sooner we get started, the sooner we get back,” she said.
I nodded. I was ready to change the subject too.
“I just hope Eddie kept my car going the last three months.” Eddie was the day man down in the building’s garage. I paid him to run the car a couple of times a week while I was “traveling” to keep the battery charged.
* * *
It was still too early for Eddie to be on duty, but my LeBaron started right off, so I knew that he had been doing his job. The odometer reading hadn’t changed, but the low-fuel light started blinking as soon as I turned the key in the ignition. Aaron finally woke up while I was backing out of my parking space.
“Where are we?” he asked, his voice still sleepy.
“We’re in Chicago, Aaron,” I said. “We’re on our way to Joliet now.”
“I’m going home?” I couldn’t tell what he was feeling, disappointment, sadness, or a mixture of both.
“Yes, you’re going home,” I said, and I had to be careful to keep any emotion out of my voice. But Aaron curled up as best he could under the seat belt in the backseat and he went to sleep again.
We had got an early enough start to stay ahead of the worst of the rush-hour traffic downtown. I took Lake Shore Drive down to the Stevenson Expressway and got on that for the straight run out to Joliet. Traffic never got completely insane that morning, and even the inbound traffic across the median seemed a lot lighter than usual. I suspected that a lot of people had decided that it was a good day to play hooky from work, to keep up with the latest news … or just in case there was any more trouble like the bombing in Florida.
Joy found Silver Cross Hospital marked on the map in my glove compartment, but I still had to stop and ask directions when we got to Joliet. The main entrance to the hospital was just opening up as we arrived.
Aaron had slept the whole way out. I had to wake him when we reached the hospital. I didn’t want to carry him inside and maybe cause misunderstandings.
I hated every second of the hospital ordeal. A volunteer at the front desk directed us to Family Services. There were people waiting for us there—hospital people, a police officer, and a couple who introduced themselves as Aaron’s aunt and uncle. Aaron went to them and started carrying on about the wonderful things that had happened to him, while it was all the aunt and uncle could manage to keep from bawling from their grief and their anxiety over Aaron. The uncle thanked me for bringing Aaron in and for taking care of him. When he asked where we had found him, I repeated the story I had told on the telephone. The cop stopped frowning. I was worried that he would ask a lot of uncomfortable official questions, but he started listening to Aaron’s tale of knights and castles and a funny old wizard and he forgot all about Joy and me. We were able to slip away like the Lone Ranger and Tonto, and we got out of the hospital almost as quickly as I had hoped to.
Once we were out of the parking lot and on our way back to the Interstate, I breathed a lot easier.
“They’ll assume that his story is just a reaction to the shock of losing his parents,” I said. “What else could they think?” When Joy didn’t reply, I looked her way. She was just staring straight forward. Tears were running down her cheek.
“He’ll be okay, Joy. He’ll do fine.”
She nodded a little at that, but she
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