Joyland

us, because Milo was under the table, hoping for scraps, and Jesus—on the face of Mike’s kite—was propped in the extra chair.
    Their bags were in the hall. When the meal was done, I would drive them to Wilmington International. A private jet, laid on by Buddy Ross Ministries, Inc., would fly them back to Chicago and out of my life. The Heaven’s Bay police department (not to mention the North Carolina State Police and maybe even the FBI) would undoubtedly have more questions for her, and she’d probably be back at some point to testify before a grand jury, but she’d be fine. She was the HERO MOM, and thanks to that promotional pen from Kroger’s in the back of the van’s glove compartment, there would never be a photo of Mike in the Post below a headline reading PSYCHIC SAVIOR!
    Our story was simple, and Mike played no part in it. I had gotten interested in the murder of Linda Gray because of the legend that her ghost haunted the Joyland funhouse. I had enlisted the help of my research-minded friend and summer co-worker, Erin Cook. The photographs of Linda Gray and her killer had reminded me of someone, but it wasn’t until after Mike’s day at Joyland that the penny dropped. Before I could call the police, Lane Hardy had called me, threatening to kill Annie and Mike if I didn’t come to Joyland on the double. So much truth, and only one little lie: I had Annie’s phone number so I could call her if plans for Mike’s visit to the park changed. (I produced the card for the lead detective, who barely glanced at it.) I said I called Annie from Mrs. Shoplaw’s before leaving for Joyland, telling her to lock her doors, call the cops, and stay put. She did lock the doors, but didn’t stay put. Nor did she call the police. She was terrified that if Hardy saw blue flashing lights, he’d kill me. So she’d taken one of the guns from the safe and followed Lane with her headlights off, hoping to surprise him. Which she did. Thus, HERO MOM.
    “How’s your father taking all this, Dev?” Annie asked.
    “Aside from saying he’d come to Chicago and wash your cars for life, if you wanted?” She laughed, but my father had actually said that. “He’s fine. I’m heading back to New Hampshire next month. We’ll have Thanksgiving together. Fred asked me to stay on until then, help him get the park buttoned up, and I agreed. I can still use the money.”
    “For school?”
    “Yeah. I guess I’ll go back for the spring semester. Dad’s sending me an application.”
    “Good. That’s where you need to be, not painting rides and replacing lightbulbs in an amusement park.”
    “You’ll really come to see us in Chicago, right?” Mike asked. “Before I get too sick?”
    Annie stirred uneasily, but said nothing.
    “I have to,” I said, and pointed to the kite. “How else am I going to return that? You said it was just a loan.”
    “Maybe you’ll get to meet my grandpa. Other than being crazy about Jesus, he’s pretty cool.” He gave his mother a sideways glance. “I think so, anyway. He’s got this great electric train set in his basement.”
    I said, “Your grandfather may not want to see me, Mike. I almost got your mother in a whole peck of trouble.”
    “He’ll know you didn’t mean to. It wasn’t your fault that you worked with that guy.” Mike’s face grew troubled. He put down his sandwich, picked up a napkin, and coughed into it. “Mr. Hardy seemed really nice. He took us on the rides.”
    A lot of girls thought he was really nice, too, I thought. “You never had a . . . a vibe about him?”
    Mike shook his head and coughed some more. “No. I liked him. And I thought he liked me.”
    I thought of Lane on the Carolina Spin, calling Mike a crippled brat.
    Annie put a hand on Mike’s wand of a neck and said, “Some people hide their real faces, hon. Sometimes you can tell when they’re wearing masks, but not always. Even people with powerful intuitions can get fooled.”
    I had come for lunch, and to take them to the airport, and to say goodbye, but I had another reason, as well. “I want to ask you something, Mike. It’s about the ghost who woke you up and told you I was in trouble at the park. Is that okay? Will it upset you?”
    “No, but it’s not like on TV. There wasn’t any white see-through thing floating around and going whooo-ooo. I just woke up . . . and the ghost was there. Sitting on my bed like a real person.”
    “I wish you wouldn’t talk about this,” Annie