Mean Woman Blues

dazed, as if traveling hadn’t occurred to her yet. “I’ll get on a plane as soon as I can.”
    “I’ll pick you up at the airport. Listen, did he say where he saw his father?”
    “Well.” She drew out the word and hesitated afterward. “You know Isaac, Skip. He wasn’t even sure he saw him. He was heavy into OCD mode.”
    “I thought he was medicated these days.”
    “I don’t know… maybe he got off the meds. But if the OCD ever went away, it came back— with a vengeance. He kept saying he couldn’t be sure.”
    “Well, maybe he really wasn’t sure.”
    “He even said it was the OCD. Listen, I’ve got to call the airlines.” Panic was starting to rise in her voice.
    “Lovelace, wait. Did he call you, or did you call?”
    “He did. He told me to be extra careful for a few days.”
    “Did he give you any idea why the time limit?”
    “To figure out if the guy was actually Errol, I guess. I don’t really know.” The line went quiet; she was apparently trying to remember the conversation. “Oh, I know! I asked if his father was in New Orleans, and Isaac said
he
wasn’t in New Orleans. But he kind of slid off my question.”
    “So he didn’t say where the guy was?”
    “No.”
    “Okay. Is this a cell phone?”
    “Yes. Do you have one?”
    Skip gave Lovelace her number and made her promise to call when she had an arrival time. When she hung up, she debated whether or not to call O’Rourke. No need, she decided. He was perfectly capable of asking the same questions she had— so long as he had the sense to think of them.
    She called Terri instead. “Listen, I need to come over right now.”
    “I’m not home. I’m at the hospital.”
    “Charity?” Charity Hospital was where gunshot victims were almost always sent.
    “Yes.”
    “Good. I’ll come there. Any word?”
    “He’s still in the accident room.”
    * * *
    She found Terri twisting a tissue in the waiting room. She’d changed into torn jeans and a tank top with a skull on the front— an outfit strangely at odds with her neat haircut, as was the tattoo it showed. “How is he?”
    Terri shrugged. “No news. I’m just… waiting.”
    “Look, Terri, I spoke to Lovelace. She’s flying in.”
    “Oh! Does she need a ride from the airport?”
    “Maybe. I’ll let you know. She told me something really interesting. She said Isaac called her this morning and said he might have seen his father.”
    “You mean Errol Jacomine?” Skip realized she still hadn’t taken it in that Jacomine was really his father.
    She only nodded. “And that isn’t all. I think he flew to Dallas last night.”
    “But—”
    Skip nodded again, to indicate she’d already gone where Terri was headed. “There was enough time. He could have flown there and back this morning. What time was the show?”
    “Seven o’clock. But why? Why the hell would he go to Dallas?”
    “Let’s think it through. I see you went home and changed. Had he left any voice mails for you?”
    Terri barked a laugh. “About ten of them: ‘Terri, it’s Isaac. Guess you’re not there yet.’ Pretty much like that.”
    “Nothing else?”
    “No.” Terri quit playing with the tissue and folded her hands, sitting quietly for a moment. “He sounded scared, though. I might not have thought that if I didn’t know what I do now. But I think it’s right; he might have been scared.”
    “When were the calls made?”
    “Oh.” She jerked her head, startled. “I didn’t pay attention, but I’m sure it says on the voice mail.” She looked at her hands. “I saved them. I wanted them. In case…”
    In case he dies
, Skip thought. She understood. She’d have done the same thing in Terri’s place.
    “You can’t think of any reason he’d have gone to Dallas?”
    “Not unless it had something to do with me. But that’s crazy; I was coming right back home. And, anyway, he didn’t know where to find me; I’d left my hotel room, and I hadn’t called him.”
    “Listen, I’m going to ask you to focus on something.”
    “Sure.” Terri closed her eyes.
    Skip’s cell phone rang. It was Lovelace, giving her flight number and arrival time, late that evening. Skip said, “Good. I might have to work overtime. If I can’t make it, okay if Terri picks you up?”
    “Sure. Is she okay?”
    “She’s here. We’re in the hospital, waiting.”
    “Can I talk to her?”
    It was another few minutes before Skip had Terri back. “Okay, here’s my question. I want you to