Aftershock by Andrew Vachss Read Free Book Online Page B

to be around, and you don’t make sounds or move, you might as well be invisible.
    I didn’t learn that in La Légion—the Americans taught me. Well, one American. He was an Indian, which is what they call the people they took this country from. In Oregan, they pay restitution for that by allowing Indians to open all kinds of casinos. To preserve their culture.
    “It is less than a second, that space where you have to decide if you have been detected,” he told me. “If you can be completely calm
inside
that second, they will show themselves before they see you. There is no guesswork. This”—he tapped his nose—“must always match. If your own scent is the same as what surrounds you, you will not alert those who search only with their eyes.”
    All I knew about the Indian was that he was called Ira, and that he never made it back to wherever his home was.
    T he jail had a women’s wing. A small one, but with conference rooms for the lawyers, and a much bigger one for visits.
    “I don’t see your name on the list,” the guard said, nodding at me.
    “This is my husband,” Dolly told him. “I couldn’t … handle this without him there. I just can’t believe little MaryLou would …” Her voice went fluttery, showering tension like a glass butterfly in a brick cage.
    I stayed silent and still, right hand grasping my left wrist, covering the scar, which was bigger than any wristwatch I’d ever wear. I put a dull look on my face, selling it as best I could. The guard had to think that if they let me in on the visit I’d just sit there like a lump, maybe go get some of whatever they were selling out of the vending machines.
    But he never looked up, so he didn’t see my eyes. He just waved his hand, like a prince allowing a commoner to cross his land.
    MaryLou was sitting at one of the tables. As soon as I saw her, I remembered seeing her before, though she’d never been one of those who wandered back into my den. Her table was in the corner farthest away from the door where we walked in.
    There’s no magic to it. And it’s not a movie script, this back-to-the-wall stuff. Your body naturally puts itself wherever it feels safest. MaryLou may have been scared, or just acting on instinct. For me, it was perfect: I sat facing her, so all anybody could see was the back of my head. Hard to make an ID from that, especially since I never took off the fisherman’s cap I was wearing.
    She stood up and hugged Dolly. Her pale eyes were clear and peaceful. I’d seen that look before, right after a firefight.
La missionest sacrée
. Whatever she’d wanted to do in that school, it was already done.
    “Oh, sweetie, what happened?”
    I shook my head as I pressed a thumb inside Dolly’s hand.
    “Don’t say anything about this case,” I told MaryLou. “Not to us, not to anybody.”
    She turned her head a few degrees. Made sure Dolly agreed with what I’d said. Then she nodded an okay at me.
    “Especially not to anyone you meet in here. Some of them would trade you for a snort of meth. And that’s not the biggest bullet you have to dodge. Some of the other women in here are facing heavy charges, and they’d be happy to swear you said anything that would help the DA, in return for some time off the years they’re facing.”
    Another nod. Her eyes were that same pale blue, but I was checking for something else, and I found it. Now they were focused, hard, and sharp.
    “Don’t say anything to whatever lawyer they give you, either.”
    Her eyes widened a bit at that, but her posture didn’t change; she stayed as relaxed as if I were talking about the weather.
    “When you see me again, I’ll be with a lawyer. Could be the same one they give you, or one you’ve never seen. Point is, you see me, you’ll know it’s all right to talk. Talk
then
, not before. Not even in court. Never volunteer anything.”
    “I got it.” Her voice was firm, not annoyed.
    Dolly took that as her cue to start talking. Did