Rescue

told me she was unavailable without telling me.
    The bartender gestured toward my plate. “How’s the grouper?“
    “Great.“
    “It’s all fresh down here. Try the yellowtail before you leave. I think it’s the best.“
    “Jesus Christ, freaking Dominique, he has to come to life against us?“
    I said, “Another question?“
    “Sure.“
    “How come all the local places are on the ocean side?“
    “They’re not. But it’s usually cheaper over there.“
    “Why?“
    She tossed her head back over her shoulder, roughly west/ southwest. “No sunsets to charge for.“
    I decided to take a chance. “You know anything about the big church down here?“
    A puzzled look. “Church?“
    “The Church of the Lord Vigilant, I think it’s called.“
    “I’m not much for organized religion, but they have an office on Route 1, maybe five, six miles south on the ocean side. That’s about all I—“
    “Hey, Blondie, you suppose we could get another round over here before half-time?“
    “You bet“—that same scorn in it but a good-bye smile to me.
    I enjoyed the rest of the dinner and suffered through the rest of the first half. I decided to pay up by travelers check before “Ho“ made another bonehead play or “Bill, that freaking reject“ missed another block-out. The bartender stayed inside the restaurant as much as possible, but I’d already decided she wouldn’t be much help to me. As I left, H-1 returned to the general conversation, which had moved on to great traffic tie-ups on the “Dan Ryan,“ which I took to be an expressway of some kind.
    I stopped at the pay phone in the garden corridor and tried Nancy’s home number again. The phone rang four times, and I was about to hang up when a breathy “Hello?“ came over the wire.
    “Am I interrupting anything?“
    “Oh, John. No, no, I was just on the second landing when I heard the phone.“
    “Get my message yesterday from the airport?“
    “Thanks, I did. Are you still in Miami ?“
    “No, the Keys now. I’m okay, but nothing much has happened yet.“
    “Is that good news?“
    “Probably not. I’m going to rattle some cages tomorrow-
    “Be careful the things in the cages don’t bite you through the bars.“
    A couple walked by, leaving the restaurant. We exchanged smiles.
    “John, are you still there?“
    “Yes. I’m in kind of a public place, but I wanted you to know something.“
    “What?“
    “I miss you.“
    “Good.“ A pause. “I miss you to pieces already.“
    “Nance, if anything goes wrong down here, I’ll be trying to reach a friend in Miami. Justo Vega.“
    “Coco-butt.“
    “Right.“ I gave her his numbers. “If you don’t hear from me again by a week from tonight, you might give him a call.“
    Another pause. “I’m sure he’s a nice man, but I hope I won’t have to.“
    “Me, too.“
    It wasn’t until I was in the parking lot, sitting on a dewy driver’s seat and making a mental note to raise the top next time, that I realized that Wife Number Two, the one with the pink drink, hadn’t said anything in the hour-plus I’d been with them. Not one word.

14

    T he next morning was Friday, and I slept in, feeling that air-conditioning dryness in my throat and lungs. When I went to the glass door, I noticed something. There were no screens on the doorway, so you could open it to go on the balcony, but not keep it open at night because of the bugs. I watched a gecko move up the side wall near the railing, stalking something, and wondered if the no-screen design was a security device to encourage guests to keep the balcony doors, accessible to an intruder, locked.
    When I showered, the towels, which hadn’t yet been changed, still smelled like apples. After drying off, I dressed pretty much as I had the night before, hoping to make a good impression on the Church.
    Taking the gun back to the trunk and driving south with the top down, the heavy, humid air was almost a relief to my throat. I stopped at a place that advertised breakfast twenty-four hours a day. Inside, I was the only one at the counter, the waitress asking if I wanted coffee, me going for tea instead, her asking where I was from.
    “ Boston . And you?“
    “ Miami , all my forty years until the Hurricane.“
    “Andrew?“
    “That’s the one, though I’ve seen hurricanes before, and mister, believe me, this was more a huge tornado.“
    She set down my tea in a heavy porcelain mug and laid a menu beside it.
    I said, “Driving here