Every Trace by Gregg Main

Author:Gregg Main [Main, Gregg]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 1999-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 20

WALKER DRANK A BEER at the kitchen table. He couldn’t decide what to do. It was an impossible situation. Barton would be calling soon. Either that or he’d be sending Dale by. Walker could lie, tell Barton he’d done it. Say the body was two hundred yards from a dirt road in the Mojave, buried four feet under the hard, cracked dirt. That would buy a little time, and he could take off, get a different car, drive to—where? Idaho or Montana? But Barton would be looking for him soon enough, and Walker didn’t think he could hide for very long. And Ellen. What would she do? Go back home, he supposed. But she wouldn’t be alive long. Barton would know exactly where to find her.

The previous night Denise had insisted on coming into the apartment, and Walker realized that to keep her out would cause more trouble than to let her in. First thing she asked about was the spot on the carpet, the stain still visible even though Walker had used two different stain removers on it. He told her he had spilled some wine. This seemed to satisfy her, even though she knew damn well he never drank wine. She sat down, lit a cigarette and asked if he might have a drink for her. Walker just wanted to get her out of the apartment, so he said he felt like going out. But Denise didn’t want to go out. Walker fixed her a couple of drinks and then she started hinting around that she’d been missing something else for a few days, started rubbing Walker’s leg and giving him the look. God, the next thing she’d do would be to stand up and head for the bedroom. What the fuck would he do then? Finally, he told Denise he was out of gin. She was so suspicious that she went into the kitchen to look for herself, which pissed him off. If he said he was out of gin, why’d she have to search the place? Walker had read in one of Eddie’s books that two people can’t have a successful relationship if they don’t trust each other. He’d have liked to read that to Denise and see what she thought. Probably go right over her head. Walker did have a quart of Gilbey’s under the sink, but Denise didn’t look there, so then she believed him. They went up to her place, and Denise had a couple more drinks before they went to bed. When they finished and she was asleep, Walker left.

Most of the afternoon Walker sat in the living room smoking. The phone rang, but he didn’t answer it. It was either Barton or Denise. It rang eleven times and stopped. He heard people coming and going from their apartments. Walker knew that around six Denise would be by. The thought made him shudder. He had to find a way to end things with her. One of Eddies books talked a lot about screwed-up relationships between men and women and how to improve them.

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