Hemlock Bay

street. No way would a taxi magically appear now even though she was ready to part with another four dollars from her stash. No, no taxi. Such good lightning luck didn’t strike twice. A bus, she thought, watching one slowly huff toward her. The bed-and-breakfast wasn’t all that far from here, and the bus was heading in the right direction. She jaywalked, but not before she was sure that no cars were coming from either direction. There weren’t a whole lot of people on the street.
    No Wrinkles Remus is looking particularly handsome and wicked, right there, full-blown in her mind again. He looks annoyed when a colleague hits on a staffer Remus himself fancies, his absolute joy when he discovers that the wife of a senator cheated on her husband with one of his former senior aides.
    She was singing when the bus—twenty years old if not older, belching smoke—lumbered toward her. She saw the driver, an old coot, grinning at her. He had on headphones and was chair-dancing to the music. Maybe she was the only passenger he’d seen in a while.
    She climbed on board, banging her packages about as she found change in her wallet. When she turned to find a seat, she saw that the bus was empty.
    “Not many folk out today?”
    He grinned at her and pulled off his headphones. She repeated her question. He said, “Nah, all of ’em down at the cemetery for the big burying.”
    “Whose big burying?”
    “Ferdy Malloy, the minister at the Baptist Church. Kicked it, just last Friday.”
    She’d been lying in the hospital last Friday, not feeling so hot.
    “Natural causes, I hope?”
    “You can think that if you want, but everyone knows that his missus probably booted him to the other side. Tough old broad is Mabel, tougher than Ferdy, and mean. No one dared to ask for an autopsy, and so they’re planting Ferdy in the ground right about now.”
    “Well,” Lily said, then couldn’t think of another thing. “Oh, yes, I’m at The Mermaid’s Tail. Do you go near there?”
    “Ain’t nobody on board to tell me not to. I’ll take you right to the front door. Watch that third step, though, board’s rotted.”
    “Thank you, I’ll be careful.”
    The driver put his headphones back on and began bouncing up and down in the seat. He stopped two blocks down, just in front of Rover’s Drive-In with the best hamburgers west of the Sillow River, sandwiched next to a storefront that advertised three justices of the peace, who were also notaries, on duty 24/7.
    Lily closed her eyes. The bus started up again. No Wrinkles Remus was in her mind again, playing another angle.
    “Hey.”
    She looked up to see a young man swinging into the seat next to her. He simply lifted off the packages, set them on the seat opposite, and sat down.
    For a moment, Lily was simply too surprised to think. She stared at the young man, no older than twenty, his black hair long, greasy, and tied back in a ratty ponytail. He had three silver hoops marching up his left ear.
    He was wearing opaque sunglasses, an Orioles cap on his head, turned backward, and a roomy black leather jacket.
    “My packages,” she said, cocking her head to one side. “Why did you put them over there?”
    He grinned at her, and she saw a gold tooth toward the back of his mouth.
    “You’re awful pretty. I wanted to sit next to you. I wanted to get real close to you.”
    “No, I’m not particularly pretty. I’d like you to move. Lots of seat choice, since the bus is empty.”
    “Nope, I’m staying right here. Maybe I’ll even get a little closer. Like I said, you’re real pretty.”
    Lily looked up at the bus driver, but he was really into his rock ’n’ roll, bouncing so heavily on the seat that the bus was swerving a bit to the left, then back to the right.
    Lily didn’t want trouble, she really didn’t. “All right,” she said and smiled at him. “I’ll move.”
    “I don’t think so,” he said, his voice barely a whisper now, and he grabbed her arm to hold her still.
    “Let go of me, buster, now.”
    “I don’t think so. You know, I really don’t want to hurt you. It’s too bad because, like I said, you’re real pretty. A shame, but hey, I need money, you know?”
    “You want to rob me?”
    “Yeah, don’t worry that I’ll do anything else. I just want your wallet.” But he pulled a switchblade out of his inside jacket pocket, pressed a small button, and a very sharp blade flew out, long and thin, glittering.
    She was afraid now, her heart