Painting Beyond Walls by David Rhodes

Author:David Rhodes
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Milkweed Editions

SHAMPOO

AFTER WALKING BACK, August looked through several windows, hoping to catch a glimpse of whoever might be inside. Then he checked inside the garage before entering the house, wondering if Tom and April’s car might be there.

It wasn’t, and he poured some dry food in the dog bowl. While Hannah ate, he punched numbers into the security pad and went inside.

He walked down the hall and into the entryway. Above, light from the second-floor library spilled onto the landing. Climbing up, he stopped frequently to listen. After entering the empty room, August noticed that the spotting scope on the table-mounted swing arm had been moved. There were no other signs of recent occupancy, and after looking through the adjacent rooms, he returned to the ground floor.

Running water could be heard in the kitchen, and he went there.

The room was mostly dark, but August saw the outline of someone sitting at the table. He found the light and turned it on.

“You’re back,” said Ivan, standing up. His hair and beard were uncombed, and he was dressed in the same coveralls and denim jacket August had last seen him in.

“Ivan. What are you doing here?”

“Thought I’d better come over and make sure you were all right. Hanh apparently talked to your mother, and she told me you were here.”

“How’d you get though security?”

“I pestered Hanh until she showed me the way.”

“Is she here?”

“No, she had things to do.”

“I saw the house’s lights from across the lake,” said August, still trying to adjust to Ivan’s presence.

“I turned them on to get your attention. I probably shouldn’t stay too long.”

“How’d you get inside the house?”

“I know a guy who installs security systems. These high-end units come in three different wiring schemes, he says. The one on this house can be disarmed by holding a cow magnet to the right side of the pad when you enter a code—any five-digit number with two sixes will work.”

“Did anyone see you?”

“Of course not.”

“I’m not supposed to have anyone else here.”

“You want me to leave?”

“No. I’m glad you’re here. This day has been strange. There’s so much I need to talk about, but let’s see if we can find something to eat first. I’m starving.”

The refrigerator had nothing inside it but juice, fruit, and lettuce, but the upright freezer held a glacial bonanza, including choice cuts of Kobe beef, two-pound tubs of North Sea brown shrimp, a slab of unsliced bacon, truffles, a holiday-sized turkey, seven quail, and several large Chinook.

“Let’s go with the fish,” said Ivan. “Do you have any idea how much these would cost in a restaurant or store, if you could find them? These red beauties will soon belong in museums. And shrooms, of course, we have to have some of those. Too bad my grandfather isn’t here. He’d go wild.”

“There’s a bag of Kennebecs under the island sink.”

“Let’s bake, since we have to broil the fish anyway. And we’ll need pepper, salt, garlic, parsley, sage, thyme, lemon, or lime. Orange peel will work too.

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