Man in the Dark by Paul Auster Read Free Book Online Page B

was a long time ago, but I wanted to go out on that date just as much as you did.
    Now you tell me.
    It’s the truth. I mean, whose idea do you think it was to bring you here?
    You’re joking. Come on, Virginia, why would you do something that awful to me?
    I wanted to see you again. And I also thought you’d be the perfect man for the job.
    What job?
    Don’t be coy, Owen. You know what I’m talking about.
    Tobak. The clown who calls himself Sarge Serge.
    And Lou Frisk. You were supposed to go to him straightaway, remember?
    I was tired. I’d been walking all day on an empty stomach, and I needed to eat something and take a nap. I was about to climb into bed when you knocked on the door.
    Bad luck. We’re working on a tight schedule, and we have to go to Frisk now.
    I can’t. I’m just too exhausted. Let me sleep for a couple of hours, and then I’ll go with you.
    I really shouldn’t . . .
    Please, Virginia. For old times’ sake.
    All right, she says, looking down at her wristwatch. I’ll give you an hour. It’s four-thirty now. Expect a knock on your door at five-thirty sharp.
    Thank you.
    But no funny business, Owen. Okay?
    Of course not.
    After giving him a warm, affectionate smile, Virginia opens her arms and hugs Brick good-bye. It’s so good to see you again, she whispers into his ear. Brick remains mute, his arms at his sides, a hundred thoughts darting through his head. Finally, Virginia lets go of him, pats him on the cheek, and makes her way to the door, which she opens with a quick, downward thrust on the handle. Before letting herself out, she turns and says: Five-thirty.
    Five-thirty, Brick echoes, and then the door bangs shut, and Virginia Blaine is gone.
    Brick already has a plan—and a set of principles. Under no circumstances does he want to meet Frisk or carry out the job they’ve assigned him. He is not going to murder anyone, he will not do anyone’s bidding, he will keep himself out of sight for as long as necessary. Since Virginia knows where he is, he will have to leave the hotel at once and never return. Where to go next is the most immediate problem, and he can think of only three possible solutions. Return to the diner and ask Molly Wald for help. If she isn’t willing to give it, then what? Roam the streets and look for another hotel, or else wait for nightfall and then slip out of Wellington.
    He gives himself ten minutes, more than enough time for Virginia to get down the four flights of stairs and leave the Exeter. She could be waiting in the lobby, of course, or keeping watch on the hotel entrance from across the street, but if she isn’t in the lobby, he will make his exit through a back door, assuming there is a back door and he can find it. And what if she happens to be in the lobby, after all? He will make a run for it, pure and simple. Brick might not be the fastest man in the world, but during his conversation with Virginia he noticed that she was wearing high-heeled boots, and surely a man in flat shoes can outrun a woman in high-heeled boots any day of the week.
    As for the hug and the affectionate smile, as for professing to want to see him again and her regret at not having gone out with him in high school, Brick is nothing if not skeptical. Virginia Blaine, the heartthrob of his fifteen-year-old self, was the prettiest girl in the class, and every boy swooned with lust and silent longing whenever she walked by. He wasn’t telling the truth when he said he was about to ask her out on a date. There was no question that he wanted to ask, but at that point in his life, he never would have dared.
    Leather jacket zipped, backpack slung over his right shoulder, down Brick goes, taking the rear stairwell, the fire exit, which mercifully allows him to bypass the lobby altogether and leads to a metal door that opens onto a street parallel to the front entrance of the hotel. No sign of Virginia anywhere, and so heartened is our frazzled hero by his successful escape, he