Spencerville

the head had not affected his judgment. But neither was he the same man he had been before Cliff Baxter came crashing through the door of the motel room. Keith stared at the wolf head atop the uniform. The white teeth and the glassy eyes mesmerized him for a moment, and he knew that to kill that thing, he would have to become that thing. Clearly, his better angels had been chased away, and he felt the dark wolf rising again in his heart.
     
    *  *  *
     
    “You get what you needed?” Chuck asked.
    “Yes.”
    “Off to Lima?”
    “A few more stops first.”
    Keith directed him out to the commercial strip and into the parking lot of a 7-Eleven. Keith took sixty dollars out of his pocket and handed it to Chuck. “Take this for now.”
    “That’s okay, John. I know you’re good for it.”
    Keith put the money on the dashboard. “You just never know, Chuck. Go get yourself something to eat. You have some change?”
    “Sure.” Chuck handed him a pocketful of loose change, and Keith got out and went to the phone booth, while Chuck went into the convenience store. Keith took one of the Rolodex cards out of his pocket and dialed. He wasn’t feeling appreciably better physically, but mentally he was much better, sure she was alive, though not letting himself think of what she was going through.
    “Hello?”
    “Terry, it’s me.”
    “Oh, my God! Keith, Keith, where are you?”
    “I’m on the road. Where is Annie?”
    “I don’t know. They came back to Spencerville, she called me and said they were going away to spend time together and talk it out. She said they were going to Florida.”
    Keith knew they hadn’t packed for Florida. “How did she sound?”
    “It was all a lie. Damn him, he probably had a gun to her head. That bastard. I called the police here in Chatham, but they said they can’t do a thing without proof, and I should call Spencerville—”
    “I know. Terry, listen, I’m going to find her and bring her back. Tell me where you think they really went.”
    “Grey Lake.”
    “I think so, too. Did she give you any clue on the phone?”
    There was a silence, then Terry said, “Yeah, she said something… something about driving through Atlanta on the way, and afterward I remembered that Atlanta is also the name of the county seat in Montmorency County in Michigan on the way to Grey Lake. I think that’s where they really went, but I called up there a few times and only got the answering machine. So I don’t know…”
    “Okay. I think that’s it.”
    “Larry wants to drive up there—”
    “No. Baxter is armed and dangerous. I’ll take care of it through the local police up there.”
    “The police won’t do anything, Keith. She’s his wife. That’s what they keep telling me.”
    “I’ll take care of it.”
    “What happened? I thought you were about to get on a plane?”
    “It’s a long story, but basically we were stopped by the police.”
    “Damn!”
    “Right. But she was all right when they took her away.”
    “I don’t think she’s all right now. My father has been hounding the state police, and he’s gotten a lawyer, but… I can’t believe that bastard could just kidnap her—”
    “When did she call you?”
    “Monday night, about six. She said she changed her mind about going with you and that she and Cliff were home and they’d spent the day together at home, packed, and were about to drive to Florida. She said she’d called the kids at school and told them everything was fine, and that she and their father were going on vacation. But I called her kids after I heard from her, and they said they never heard from their mother—it was their father who called early in the morning. So then I called Annie back, but the damn call rang at police headquarters, and I asked them what the hell was going on, and they said the Baxter calls were being automatically forwarded… so then my father went to the police station, and they told him Cliff and Annie went to Florida. It’s all a lot of bull.”
    “Okay, do me a favor—don’t rock the boat anymore, and tell everyone the same thing. I don’t want to spook him if he’s up there. Okay?”
    “Okay…”
    “What does the house look like, Terry?”
    “Oh, jeez… I was only up there a few times… it’s an A-frame, dark wood, set back a ways from the lake.”
    “What side of the lake?”
    “Let’s see… north side. Yes, north side of the lake, and you can only get to it by a single-lane dirt road