"And what do you want me to tell them?"
"Just call them up anonymously and report the murder."
"Turn myself in?! Are you nuts?!"
"You just said that I"m off the hook. Nothing more I need to do."
His face changes and she takes another step back.
"Just make the call. It"s OK. You can always throw the phone away later."
She looks around. There"s people everywhere around them. She lowers her shoulders a little as she looks at him.
"Remember, the airport is full of cameras."
He looks at her for a long time and then opens the door to the front seat.
"The phone is in the glove compartment."
She looks at him for a while.
"Just remember that I know you"ve committed a murder. You just confirmed that."
He blinks at her. She closes her eyes and shakes her head. Then she gets into the car and opens the glove compartment. Next to the gun there"s a phone just like he said.
"Hmm, tell me something..."
She turns to face him.
"...Stuart Pettersson is dead now."
He looks at her attentively.
"I used to deliver..."
She nods at the bag.
"...to an apartment down town. His... Stuart Pettersson"s I found out. You know how fast the gossip columns work. Behind him in the apartment I saw a young girl that night. She had dark hair. Pretty actually, but young. Maybe at an age where you would start asking some questions."
The driver starts to push the door back and forth just a little.
"I saw her on the street later. She wasn"t beautiful anymore. She had dark rings under her eyes and was way too thin. She was going to h.e.l.l fast."
She stops and he is visibly annoyed.
"What do you want to know?"
"How come she ended up in his net?"
"How should I know?"
She smiles.
"I have done my homework. You have been his driver for years and now you"re James Schmidt"s preferred driver. Strange!"
He breathes heavily.
"I don"t work for any of them. I work for a small company."
"Hmm. But that doesn"t change the fact that you"re the one driving them around."
"Well, a lot of people are ready to talk for the right price."
She touches her coat pocket slightly. The driver knocks his finger against the car door a couple of times and breathes in deeply. He looks down at her.
"Stuart had a thing for young girls."
"Let"s call them very young."
He tightens his grip on the door so his knuckles turn white.
"Especially a pair of girls who were almost the same age. One was dark and one was fair."
"Poetic."
He stares at her intensely.
"They lived with their mother in a cute little yellow house."
He blinks at her before going on.
"We often drove by the playground and often stopped there."
"The playground?! That young."
"He sometimes got out and sat down on a bench to look at them. They were usually together on the playground, but one time the dark haired one had run home and he disappeared with the fair one."
He can hear how she moves around in her seat, but he keeps looking at her.
"When she was a teenager, he managed to persuade the dark haired one."
He stops and stands up straight.
"The first time I drove her home from the apartment, I could see that she"d been crying. Stuart had taken her down to the car."
He looks away briefly and then back at her.
"He looked very pleased."
He looks at her for a little while before continuing.
"She died from an overdose..."
"Now, make the call!"
She slams the door closed, but right away he opens it a little.
"What is it now?"
"I want to hear what you say to them."
She dials the number and waits.
"There"s a dead man in..."
The driver scans the parking lot around them and stops when he sees the garbage truck slowly approaching. She opens the door and gets out.
"Let"s get you sent off."
"What about the phone?"
"Throw it in a garbage can inside."
"But..."
"There"s so many people that no one will notice. And n.o.body calls up that phone."
They speak no more of it and he gives her his hand to say goodbye. She feels a sting in the palm of her hand and quickly pulls it back.
"Ouch."
She stares at him hatefully, but he just smiles at her. He elegantly picks up her bags and shows her the way, professionally taking on the part of limo driver.
"Come on, we need to hurry."
She looks around but doesn"t move. He quickly touches her arm and leads her the short distance to the departure hall. When they reach the counter, he puts down her bags and gets very close to her.
"You don"t have to stand so close."
She looks at him full of hate and pulls away.
"Sorry miss, I didn"t mean to. We"ll send you the bill. Goodbye."
A cold feeling rushes over her as he turns and leaves her there.
"He had some nerve."
She looks at the older woman who is now standing behind her.
"Did he jump the line?"
She leans against the counter and watches the woman speak, but doesn"t understand the words. She touches her pockets, but there"s no phone and no money. She opens her mouth but he"s gone - disappeared in the crowd. She can"t speak and collapses without being able to send out the scream she so desperately wants to.
Chapter 19.
It"s long past midnight. The papers have been signed and certified when he steps into the elevator as he says goodbye to the young girl thanking her for her help again. He holds back the elevator doors several times and keeps giving her tips that will help her last for a long time in the business. He gives her a couple of names to contact where her career chances will be better because they are smaller places than Walter, Walter & Walter. When he finally stops talking, she promises him that she will stay in touch and let him know how she"s doing. Finally, the elevator doors close and he"s alone. He is scared by the sight of his own reflection. There is no life in his eyes, his skin looks grey in spite of his tan, and his body has collapsed even more in the last few hours. In spite of all this, he feels happy and content. When he gets into his car he"s overwhelmed by how tired he is and falls asleep.
"h.e.l.lo!"
Nathan grunts a couple of times before falling asleep again.
"h.e.l.lo!"
"Hmm."
Nathan opens his eyes in surprise.
"Where am I?"
He"s completely lost and looks around. It takes a while before he realizes that he"s sitting in his car. Outside, the faint light of morning has arrived.
"h.e.l.lo, are you OK?"
"What?"
He looks out the window and outside there"s a young man in a police uniform. Nathan sits up and rolls down the window.
"Are you OK?"
"Yes, I"m sorry. I fell asleep. I was out late last night."
The officer raises his eyebrows a little.
"In the office?"
Nathan nods.
"I was with Walter, Walter & Walter until after midnight."
The officer looks at him with disbelief. Nathan can hear the sound of high heels behind the officer and catches a glimpse of the young girl from the reception at Walter, Walter & Walter. She sees him right away and comes back to see what"s happening. There"s a look of surprise on her tired face.
"What"s going on?"