Hide and Seek

You had to yell over the howl of the wind.

"Where to?" I asked them.

Casey's breath was warm in my ear. "The beach. But first we want to

stop at Shop "N' Save. Pick up a few things."

"Fine."

Steven switched the radio on and turned up the volume, and after that

there was no possibility of talking at all. His long slim fingers beat

time against the steering wheel. I could smell Casey's perfume in

sudden gusts, a clean smell, with nothing sweet or musky about it. Kim

looked back at us from the front seat and smiled. The smile was

crooked, but the teeth were white and dazzling.

We pulled into the Shop "N' Save lot, and all of us piled out. Casey

reached under the driver's seat and pulled out a green book bag with a

long strap and slung it over her shoulder.

"Get us a couple six-packs, will you, Clan? Steve, see if you can find

some decent crackers this time, okay?"

Steven held the door for us, smiling, then flinched at the blast of

cold air. I was the only one dressed for the air-conditioning. They

always overdo it in these chain stores. You could keep corpses back

there and they'd never decompose. Both girls were wearing shorts and

halters, and Steve had on what I came to know as his usual gaudy

Hawaiian-type short-sleeve shirt. With the thin white linen slacks he

looked prosperous and trendy and very cold.

I went for the beer.

I had to do some digging for the Heineken dark, so by the time I had

that and the two six-packs of Bud to the checkout stand, Steve was

already there ahead of me, paying for two boxes of crackers. "See you

outside," he said, shivering.

I paid for the beer, and as the girl was packing it up for me I saw Kim

step into line in back of the woman behind me. She had a large loaf of

french bread under her arm and some butter and was smiling at me in a

strange, uncomfortable kind of way. Then I saw her eyes move along,

following something behind me. I turned around.