Cat and Mouse

Gary
contacted
me this week, two days ago. Gary let me know he has the Fever.”
    We had come full circle. Autry knew that he had me from the minute he walked into the room. Now I got to hear the punch line of his joke — the one he’d promised at the start. First, though, I had to be his straight man for a little while longer.
    “Why? Why would he tell you he’s dying?” I played my part.
    “Soneji said you’d come here asking questions. He knew you were coming. He knows you, man — better than you know him. Soneji wanted me to give you the message personally. He gave me the message, just for you.
He said to tell you that.”
    Jamal Autry smiled his crooked smile again. “What do you say now, Dr. Cross? You get what you come here for?”
    I had what I needed all right. Gary Soneji was dying. He wanted me to follow him into hell. He was on a rampage with nothing to lose, nothing to fear from anyone.

Chapter 39

    W HEN I got home from Lorton Prison I called Christine Johnson. I needed to see her. I needed to get away from the case. I held my breath as I asked her to dinner at Georgia Brown’s on McPherson Square. She surprised me — she said yes.
    Still on pins and needles, but kind of liking the feeling, I showed up at her place with a single red rose. Christine smiled beautifully, took the rose and put it in water as if it were an expensive arrangement.
    She was wearing a gray calf-length skirt and a matching soft gray V-necked blouse. She looked stunning again. We talked about our respective days on the drive to the restaurant. I liked her day a lot better than mine.
    We were hungry, and started with hot buttermilk biscuits slathered with peach butter. The day was definitely improving. Christine ordered Carolina shrimp and grits. I got the Carolina Perlau — red rice, thick chunks of duck, shrimp, and sausage.
    “No one has given me a rose in a long time,” she told me. “I love that you thought to do that.”
    “You’re being too nice to me tonight,” I said as we started to eat.
    She tilted her head to one side and looked at me from an odd angle. She did that now and again. “Why do you say that I’m being too nice?”
    “Well, you can tell I’m not exactly the best company tonight. It’s what you’re afraid of, isn’t it? That I can’t turn off my job.”
    She took a sip of wine. Shook her head. Finally she smiled, and the smile was so down-to-earth. “You’re
so
honest. But you have a good sense of humor about it. Actually, I hadn’t noticed that you weren’t operating at one hundred and ten percent.”
    “I’ve been distant and into myself all night,” I said. “The kids say I get twilight zoned.”
    She laughed and rolled her eyes. “Stop it, stop it. You are the least into-yourself man I think I’ve ever met. I’m having a very nice time here. I was planning on a bowl of Sugar Puffs for my dinner at home.”
    “Sugar Puffs and milk are good. Curl up in bed with a movie or book. Nothing wrong with that.”
    “That was my plan. I finally gave in and started
The Horse Whisperer.
I’m glad you called and spoiled it for me, took me out of my own twilight zone.”
    “You must really think I’m crazy,” Christine said and smiled a little later during dinner. “Lawdy, Miss Clawdy, I believe I
am
crazy.”
    I laughed. “For going out with me? Absolutely crazy.”
    “No, for telling you I didn’t think we should see each other, and now late dinner at Georgia Brown’s. Forsaking my Sugar Puffs and
Horse Whisperer.”
    I looked into her eyes, and I wanted to stay right there for a very long time, at least until Georgia Brown’s asked us to leave. “What happened? What changed?” I asked.
    “I stopped being afraid,” she said, “Well, almost stopped. But I’m getting there.”
    “Yeah, maybe we both are. I was afraid, too.”
    “That’s nice to hear. I’m glad you told me. I couldn’t imagine that you get afraid.”
    I drove Christine home from Georgia Brown’s around midnight. As we rode on the John Hansen Highway, all I could think about was touching her hair, stroking the side of her cheek, maybe a few other things. Yes, definitely a few other things.
    I walked Christine to her front door and I could hardly breathe. Again. My hand was lightly on her elbow. She had her house key clasped in her hand.
    I could smell her perfume. She told me it was called Gardenia Passion, and I liked it a lot. Our shoes softly scraped the cement.
    Suddenly, Christine turned