Point of Law by Clinton McKinzie

Author:Clinton McKinzie
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction
ISBN: 9780440333807
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2003-04-28T16:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-THREE

WE GET BACK in the car and drive to a local coffee shop on Lake Powell Boulevard. From a vinyl booth with a window, Kim orders orange juice and dry toast, which explains her slim, athletic figure. I request coffee, pancakes, eggs, and bacon. Although Kim appears more confident now, no longer in the agitated trance that had affected her earlier in the morning, she still sits across from me unsmiling and preoccupied. I’m sure she must be enormously relieved that Sunny is unhurt. And maybe also relieved that the secret regarding their relationship is no longer a secret.

“We’re off to a good start, Kim. At least we know she’s okay. At least she wasn’t physically hurt. Even her drunken, scumbag stepfather would have noticed if she was injured.”

She plays with the utensils in front of her, not looking at me. “Now it’s her emotional state I’m worried about.”

I nod. I’m worried about that, too, but not nearly as much as I’m worried about David Fast and Burgermeister finding her first. Neither of us speaks while I fill my coffee cup to the brim with sugar and cream.

“I didn’t know you were gay.” The words just slip out.

“Does it matter?”

“No, not really. But since we’re working and traveling together, I’d like to know a little about you.”

She finally looks up at me. Her thin lips are tight with something like exasperation. “I’m not gay, okay? I’m into people. If I’m attracted to someone, then I’m attracted to someone. Subject closed. Don’t bust my balls, Anton.”

“Weird. A lesbian with balls.”

She doesn’t want to, but she smiles. “That’s right, kid. Big balls.”

I think about the way she let me hug her outside the courthouse yesterday. The way she’d pressed herself against me—chest, hips, and thighs—making it a full-body hug. And the way she’d touched my arm during the night and then laid her head in my lap. I wonder if I’m one of those people she could be attracted to. We’re both staring out the window, watching the street. Mid-morning now, it’s jammed with the pickups and muscle cars of the locals as well as tourists in motor homes and Cadillacs.

“So how do we find her?” Kim asks. “We know she’s in a Sea Ray with Mercs, right, whatever those are. Do you know what one looks like?”

I shake my head. “I don’t know anything about boats. Just that we need one to find her. And we need a clue where to look.”

My knowledge of Lake Powell extends to having read The Monkey Wrench Gang years before and the brief glance at the map and tourist information in the motel room. What I know is that Lake Powell, with its innumerable canyons, islands, and inlets, has more shoreline than the entire western coast of the United States. Almost two thousand miles of it. According to the Visitors’ Guide, the geography of the water-filled canyons includes natural arches, Indian ruins, and hidden slot canyons. The lake was artificially formed in 1956, when the Colorado River was dammed at Glen Canyon, just a couple of miles to the west.

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