The Affix by Lee Gaiteri

Author:Lee Gaiteri [Gaiteri, Lee]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2013-02-10T00:00:00+00:00

Lightning Crashes

There weren’t many cars on the freeway this time of night, but it was far from deserted. On the long straightaways we could see the lights of several other vehicles ahead of and behind us, and a steady trickle of cars going the other way. Wallace kept the speed at an even sixty-seven—fast enough to be technically speeding, slow enough that a patrolman wouldn’t bother pulling us over. If he drove below the limit it would probably be a red flag, a telltale sign of a drunk leaving a bar. All the bars had closed more than half an hour ago, except possibly at the casino.

Our windows were open. That was my idea, since I liked the weather and the Professor shared the sentiment. Except for the leaves blowing slowly across the road, I could almost imagine it was a regular summer night. Well, that and present company. On any regular summer night I’d be out driving with the guys, and he was a far cry from my regular friends. Wallace had at least forty years on me, and his attitude toward casual murder had no place in my friends column.

“Drive two more miles, then take exit 29 to the right,” the GPS said. The voice was Felice Weatherby’s, but the manufacturer had found a way to give it slightly better inflection. Maybe it was easier with such a limited sentence structure.

“What’s in Sutton?” I said, and took another sip of my dwindling coffee. Sutton was the village where Mark and Gina’s holey house was. I had taken exit 29 there many times, and also to Tony’s or to Greg’s apartment. In fact I had taken it just last night. I was stunned to remember that it was still Friday night; it was only Saturday on a technicality.

“Temporary headquarters. I’m not ashamed to tell you, Todd, that the events earlier this evening have left me a mite concerned. I believe I took the wrong road before, metaphorically speaking.”

I nodded. “Bartlett said I needed to form a better affinity with the stone before I could successfully give it away.”

“You realize that’s horseshit, son. It’s about mastery, as I said before. The stone is a tool like any other. This car obeys my instructions because it’s maintained well and I know how to operate it. The same principle is everywhere. My problem was failing to read the instructions.”

“Lexi’s still working on that,” I said. “The last owner kept a notebook—”

“Yes, I’m aware. That notebook is almost as sought-after now as the gem itself.”

I took another sip, which drained the cup for good. Goodbye, coffee. “How’d you find us at the hotel, anyway?”

Wallace laughed. “A magician never gives away his secrets, son. As for Miss Treager, I’ll leave the explanations to her.”

“What if she doesn’t want to share either?”

“I’m quite certain she’ll want to.”

I didn’t like where he was going with this.

“Exit right. Stay in right lane, then turn left.”

I watched him pull off the highway and toward a traffic light ahead. My imagination was conjuring some unpleasant thoughts that I hoped were overblown.

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