Storm Front

the fender and walked on down the street, not looking back. Virgil watched her go, until she got in her truck, and then turned back the other way, where Bauer and Sewickey were doing an “old comrades” act for the TV cameras.
    And he thought,
I hope Jenkins and Shrake aren’t too rough with Ellen
.
    —
    V IRGIL WENT HOME and looked at his garage for a while, picking at the peeling paint. When he left the house that morning, he’d thought that the damage had been purely superficial—a matter of scraping off the burned paint and putting on a new coat. Now, he began to see that the damage was somewhat more substantial; nothing that threatened the building, but it needed new wood, a carpenter, and a painter.
    He spent a few minutes talking to his insurance agent, who said that somebody would be around to take pictures and do an estimate on the damage. Virgil had worried that the policy wouldn’t cover arson, but, as it turned out, it did, as long as he made an official report. He called the fire department to do it, and was told that he should also file with the cops. He did that by phone.
    He was working on a computer report for Davenport when his phone rang. The screen said, “Unknown,” and he clicked it and said, “Yes?”
    “Virgil Flowers?” A man’s voice, gruff. He’d heard it before.
    “This is Flowers.”
    “This is Elijah Jones.”
    “Reverend Jones. I’ve been hoping you’d call, you miserable motherfucker.”
    “Well, I am, now . . . I need—”
    “Wait a minute. Before we get to your needs . . . Did you take that stone from my house last night?”
    “Yes. I also set your garage on fire. I hope the boat wasn’t hurt.”
    “You’re a goddamned sinner, you know that? You firebombed—”
    “Shut up!” Jones shouted. “I got my back to the wall, Flowers. I’ve got the stone, but somebody’s got Ellen.”
    “What?”
    “She’s been kidnapped. Whoever’s got her, wants the stone. I never saw this, I never had any idea that anybody could go this low—”
    “I told you, I told . . . Goddamnit, tell me what happened,” Virgil said.
    “I got a call, about forty minutes ago,” Jones said. “A male voice, on the phone I’ve been using for the auction. They said they had Ellen, and would give her up, in return for the stone. They said they didn’t want to hurt her, but they would if they had to. They said they’d start by cutting off her fingers and they’d leave them where I could find them, so I’d know that they were serious.”
    “Did you talk to Ellen?”
    “Yes. They put her on the phone, but they wouldn’t let her say much. She said she pulled into her garage, up in the Cities, and they were waiting for her, they threw a bag over her head and put her in a van and took her someplace, she doesn’t know where.”
    “Did you drop off the stone yet?”
    “Not yet. They said they’d hurt Ellen if I told anybody about this. They told me to start driving down Highway 83 south, and they’d call me and tell me when to turn and where to go, and if they saw anybody following me, they’d hurt her. I think it’s the Turks, Virgil. Kaya likes knives, so I’ve been told. Anyway, I’m headed south now, back toward town. I don’t know what you can do, but if I drop the stone, I’m afraid they won’t want a witness. They won’t have any reason to let Ellen go.”
    “The Turks went home,” Virgil said. “At least, they got on an airplane to Chicago. Listen, did you get a phone number from the incoming phone?”
    “No. It was blocked.”
    “Are you using the phone that Ellen calls you on?”
    “Yes. They told me not to use the phone, but they only know about the auction phone, that’s a different one.”
    “Give me the number—the number they called you on.”
    “Can you do something with that?”
    “I don’t know. I’m hoping the phone company can watch your phone, and if they call you on that again, see where the call is coming from. Or maybe tell where the first call came from.”
    Jones gave him the number. “Does the phone you’re on now, does it have a speaker function?”
    “Yes.”
    “So when you call me, put the phone in your lap and talk down into it. Don’t put it to your ear, in case they’re spotting you.”
    “Okay. Don’t do anything that’ll cause them to kill her.”
    “Just hold tight: I’ll start bringing in help,” Virgil said. “Are you in Mankato?”
    “No, I’m coming down from the north.”
    “Don’t drive too