Hide and Seek

I could have lied to her. I could have said, sure, I'm about ninety

percent certain the devil's rolling around in there- but I didn't. I

couldn't. We'd both said a lot to each other just the night before. It

wasn't a great time to start lying.

"Okay. No, I don't think there is. But I want you to know... there

As limp as wilted lettuce.

Casey smiled. "See? Just as I said. The possibility makes it all the

nicer. It was a good try, Clan. Don't worry. If the cops show, we'll

cover for you."

"Great."

How she meant to do that I didn't know. Only that she'd read me like a

book. And knowing her, I couldn't entirely put it past her. Maybe she

had some disappearing act for me in that green bag she was holding in

her lap- holding very tightly. I wondered what was in there besides

the army shirt. It looked bulky.

I kept kicking myself. Maybe I'd played it badly. Maybe if I'd told

them sooner.

We were off to do something dumb again.

Maybe we'd done things just as stupid before but about this one I had a

very bad feeling. I could have said forget it, take me home. I could

have said I'd wait in the car. I considered both things, then rejected

them. It wasn't that I was proving anything, that I was worried about

Casey's reaction. I'd have lost a few points. But she'd have gotten

over it.

The problem wasn't that. The problem was that without me it would be

the three of them alone there. She'd do it anyway. And the way Kim

was giggling beside me again and the way Steve was driving they'd go

along no matter what I did. The three of those clowns alone in

there.

That thought bothered me.

If anything went wrong I wanted to be inside. I didn't want to depend

on Kim and Steve to keep her safe and healthy. Nor did I trust her to

take care of herself particularly. She was smart and she was strong,

but she took chances. Bad chances. I worried about her.

And there was another thing. Something that now, today, I'm pretty

ashamed to admit to.