Visitations by Jonas Saul Read Free Book Online Page A

both hands in the air. “All I have to do is drive a truck twenty kilometers, drop it off, leave the keys in the ignition and walk away. And for that, a cool ten grand. We can start living again. That old weird fucking psychic didn’t know what she was talking about.”
     
    “Sure she didn’t. It’s Saturday night. You’re hired to drive a delivery truck.” Ashley slapped his arm. “Come on. You’re smarter than that. Even if she’s wrong, you don’t fuck with fate.” Ashley looked away, her eyes filling up. A year ago she’d lost her son. Tonight she felt like she was losing her husband. Fierce determination to change his mind seized her. The only way to save his life was to force him to stay. “Ever since our son had his accident you’ve changed,” Ashley said as tears pushed past her eyelids.
     
    “Changed?”
     
    Using her right hand, she pulled finger after finger down as she rambled off her list of sorrow. “You lost your job. You starting dealing drugs, and the problems with your drinking have almost killed you numerous times. When the police raided the factory and arrested those people for narcotics offenses, one of them had to be you. Six months in jail, a big part of your life, gone, just gone, forever. And now you want to deliver a truck for the same guys who put you in jail.”
     
    Jerry shook his head back and forth. “I don’t understand you. What is illegal about driving a truck twenty kilometers? No one can arrest me for that. I’ll be completely safe. It’s late in the evening. Traffic will be light. I’ll be extra careful.”
     
    “It’s what’s in the truck that scares me. You know exactly the kind of stuff these people will be shipping. The thing that’s really frightening is that you could be risking your life and you don’t even believe it. I wish Joshua were here. He’d talk you out of it.”
     
    “None of this would be happening if Josh hadn’t died last year. I would’ve never started dealing. We both dealt with the loss of our son in different ways. My detox program helped me understand a lot about what I was doing to handle the loss of Josh. But this job tonight can set the record straight.” He snapped his fingers hard. “Just like that, ten thousand dollars.”
     
    “Just like that,” Ashley imitated his snap, “dead.”
     
    She moved closer to him. “Please don’t do it. Stay home.”
     
    “I can’t. Once you give your word to these guys you have to keep it. There’s no going back now.”
     
    “Then let’s make a break for it. We’ve got nothing left to keep us here but bad memories and sadness.”
     
    Jerry shook his head in an exaggerated version of no. “If they wanted to, they would find us. I have to do this last job, and I will.”
     
    He turned to snatch up his car keys and cell phone. Ashley stopped him with her sharp words.
     
    “Don’t expect me to be here when you return.” She had nothing left in her arsenal. This was the final blow.
     
    She turned away to hide her tears. When the door slammed shut behind him, she walked to the front window and watched him moving toward his car, knowing she’d never see him alive again.
     

     
    #
     
    Jerry kept his speed down on the way to the factory. The last thing he needed was to be pulled over for speeding and then have to deal with the police.
     
    The factory looked darker than usual. Some of the lights were out. As he pulled up to the security gate, the door started on its rollers to admit him. No one was there to look at his badge.
     
    He drove through and made his way to the back of the building where they said the truck would be sitting. After parking, Jerry walked around and tried the truck’s driver’s-side door. It was unlocked.
     
    He looked left and right, but saw no one. Something stuck in his gut: what if the psychic was right? What if he was supposed to die tonight?
     
    Could this be a simple drop-off, or could someone hate him enough to want to kill him? Too