Toll Call Read online

  “I wish I could believe you.”

  “Why can’t we just give it a try?”

  “Because he’s nuts, Peggy. He’s going to marry a CPA for Christ’s sake. He may be nice but he’s nuts. Which means he’s unpredictable. Which means he’s dangerous as hell.”

  “He’s a professional man, Marsh. He makes scads of money counseling people about their taxes. He’s not going to jeopardize all that just to play some silly game with me.”

  “He already jeopardized all that the first time he picked up the phone and called you. And if you’re trying to convince me he’s normal, you’re going to have a tough time. I think we should go to the cops. Let the shrinks and the DA decide whether he’s safe enough to let out on the street.”

  “During the Usser case you were always telling me no one can predict what someone’s going to do in the future.”

  “It’s true; they can’t. And neither can you.”

  “Well, I’m not going to the police, I’m going home.” She pulled out a drawer in the bottom of the desk and took out her purse and placed it in her lap. “I’ll see you on Monday. Have a nice weekend.” Her words were laced with ridicule, as if I was incapable of the task.

  “I want someone to stay with you tonight,” I said quickly. “You stirred him up. It’s not safe for you till he has a chance to cool down.”

  She shook her head. “We already tried that, remember? It does more harm than good.”

  “If you don’t agree to let me or Ruthie stay with you, then I’m going straight to Charley.”

  “No.” The word was quick and angry.

  “I can understand that you don’t want me around your place tonight. Or Ruthie, either. We haven’t been very consoling during this thing, I admit. So how about Allison? She could come stay with you, or you could go down there.”

  “I can stay with Karen.”

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “Allison or me. Which?”

  She didn’t like the choice, but she finally said, “Allison. If she can.”

  “Call her. If she can’t help, I’m taking you to a motel down the peninsula. I won’t stay with you, but at least you’ll be where Constable can’t get at you.”

  She picked up the phone and dialed a number. After an uneasy opening, she began to talk in low tones about the night’s arrangements. I sensed an instant of resistance, but then Peggy’s voice softened and the pauses were longer. When she hung up she smiled and told me Allison would come to her apartment after work. I said that was fine. She said Allison thought I was a hunk.

  Peggy began to gather up her things. I sat down on the couch and watched her. When she sensed my inspection she stopped stuffing her purse and looked at me.

  I put on my crony’s smile. “What’s really going on with you and this guy, Peggy?”

  She looked startled by the question. “How do you mean?”

  “I mean here he’s made your life miserable for months, and physically assaulted you, and now you’re finally in a position to put him away and you don’t. Not only don’t you put him away, you agree to prolong your relationship with him. Which is exactly the attitude that got you in trouble in the first place.”

  “So?” Peggy asked in a huff. “It’s my business, right?”

  “So I don’t get it. Surely you know it’ll be the same old story, the one that’s already driven you to the point of breakdown. He’ll convince you to try to help him with this hollow libido he claims he’s got, but all he’s really going to do is keep you under his thumb while he gets off on hearing you talk some more about your sex life. You’ll end up in the same shape you were before, only this time voluntarily, so you won’t be able to prosecute him even if you want to. What I want to know is why you’re doing all that.”

  “What difference does it make?”

  “The difference it makes is that I can’t stand to see you hurt.”

  I wanted her to reciprocate or at least respond, but she only shook her head despondently.

  “You said you wanted us to get back to how we were,” I went on. “Well, if I can’t understand why you’re doing this, then I don’t see how that’s going to be possible. Because the woman that would let this guy toy with her again, after all she’s been through, after everything he’s done to her, is not the woman who’s sat behind that desk for the last eight years.”

  “I—”

  “Agreeing to talk to him some more is not only a lousy idea, it’s pathological, and I think you know it is, and yet you’re still going to do it. That doesn’t make sense, and you’re a sensible person. The most sensible person I know, or you were until two months ago. So what did he do that I don’t know about? What the hell did he do to you to make you lose your mind?”

  She closed her eyes. “Nothing.” The hush succeeding the word was a fatalistic chasm.

  I tried to find encouragement in the sliver of affection that was left between us, but I couldn’t. My sadness mated with anger, and produced a skeptical reaction. “I don’t believe you, Peggy. What was it? Allison? Did he threaten to harm her if you didn’t cooperate?”

  She shook her head. “No. He never mentioned Allison.”

  “Then what was it, damnit?”

  She shook her head but didn’t answer. I simmered with frustration and tried to think of a new approach. I hadn’t come up with one when Peggy said, “I have to go. I have to feed Marilyn.”

  I gave up. “You will let Allison stay with you tonight, won’t you?”

  “Yes.”

  “Okay. You win. After I drop you at home I’m out of it. From here on it’s between you and Constable and the cops. You know the number at the Central Station. I strongly advise you to call them, but I suppose you won’t. I’ve done all I can do. I won’t try to contact you this weekend, and I won’t hang around outside the apartment, so you don’t need to worry about me messing up your plans with Arthur. I’ll see you here on Monday afternoon, if you still want to work for me. As far as I’m concerned it’s back to strictly business between us, Peggy. Just the way you want it.”

  THIRTY-ONE

  We left the office in a steely silence, our bonds more frayed than ever. It seemed to take a year to reach the parking lot. Peggy waited impassively while I unlocked the car door for her, then slid inside. Once I was behind the wheel she removed herself as far from me as she could. In the icy blast from her cold shoulder, I drove through the city in a storm of debate and confusion, wanting to say something that would reverse what we had become, afraid of making what we were far worse. Then Peggy rearranged my life even more than my dejection contemplated.

  “I think I should resign,” she said as I emerged from the Broadway Tunnel.

  “Why?”

  “Because it’s not the same anymore.”

  “You meant the job or you mean us?”

  “Us.”

  “It can be if we want it to.”

  “But that’s the trouble. You still don’t know what you really want.”

  “So it’s all my fault?”

  “I didn’t mean that. But I can’t change the past, Marsh. I can’t make what’s happened between Arthur and me disappear, not from your consciousness, at least. The point is, if you can’t come to terms with what I’ve done with Arthur, and what I may be doing with him in the future, then there’s not much reason to fool ourselves about the course of our relationship.”

  “I admit I’m having trouble with all this, Peggy. But don’t I get some time to try to deal with it?”

  “You can have all the time you want. But it’ll be better for both of us if I’m not around to get in the way of your deliberations. I know a law firm that needs a temp for a month. I think I’ll tell them I’ll take the job, and then we’ll see where we are when the month is up.”

  “What about my stuff?”

  Peggy smiled tolerantly. “I’ll get someone to replace me before I go. Don’t worry.”

  “A trial separation, is that it? Do you know of one
that ever worked?”

  “They must, once in a while.”

  “In my experience those temporary arrangements always end up being permanent.”

  “Well, if that’s what happens to us it’ll be because we want it to, right?”

  “Not necessarily. Some diseases are inevitable, but others don’t need to happen if you take sensible steps to prevent them. It’s like people who think having an affair will improve their marriage, when really an affair is terminal. But I guess you already know how that works,” I said bluntly. “That affair you had, by the way. I was wondering who you had it with.”

  “My boss,” Peggy spat angrily, and looked away from me.

  I’d been cruel to bring it up, intentionally and flagrantly so, but the situation was so delicate and our past so current and compressed that Peggy seemed prone to excuse it. “Is that what we have, Marsh? A disease?”

  “I think so.”

  “What’s it called?”

  “Third-degree disenchantment.”

  “Just like I warned you.”

  “Just like you warned me,” I acknowledged.

  I drove another block before I spoke again. “Are you definite about resigning?”

  “I think so.”

  “No point in even talking about it?”

  “No. Not now, at least.”

  “Will you think about it for a week?”

  “The other office needs someone by Monday. I should let them know.”

  “Okay. Monday. Don’t make up your mind till then. Give things a chance to cool off.”

  “What if they only heat up?”

  “We’ve already been through the worst, Peggy. It’s just a matter of adjusting to the experience.”

  “You make it sound easy.”

  “It’s simple, not easy.”

  We completed the trip in silence. Peggy looked out the window at the passing scene, absently, as though it was a trackless waste. I wondered if she was thinking about me or thinking about Arthur Constable. Then I wondered if it was too late for it to make any difference what she thought about either of us.

  I pulled to a stop in front of Peggy’s building and got out and opened her door. “Thanks for the ride,” she said as she got out of the car. “I’ll call you Sunday night and let you know what I’ve decided about the office.”

  As I waited for her to join me on the walk I looked up at her building. As I did, I thought I saw a curtain fall across a window on the second floor. “I’ll walk you to your door,” I said.

  Peggy closed the car door and looked at me. “You don’t need to.”

  “You’re more certain of Constable’s surrender than I am. He could have been handing you a complete fabrication, that business about his sexuality. He could already be planning to pull the phone freak thing on someone else, and planning how to get you out of his way so he’ll have a free hand.”

  She shook her head. “I know him better than that.”

  “The only thing you know is what he wanted you to know.”

  “I … Okay, Marsh. I guess you’re entitled to one last gesture. Walk me to my door and then leave. I’ll give you a good night kiss if you don’t try to come inside.”

  In the wake of her chiding smile I stood by while she unlocked the street door and preceded me into the lobby.

  Her ankle was still tender enough to make her summon the decrepit elevator. As it rumbled to life behind the etched brass doors, we waited as though it was bringing down a coffin.

  After a thud and a clank the doors swung open and I stood aside to let Peggy enter the cage. She was already two steps inside before I noticed it was occupied.

  “Hello, Tomkins,” I said into the path of his oily grin.

  His bow was courtly, sarcastically genteel. “Tanner. Miss Nettleton. Been out to dinner? A damned good idea. I’m the same way—never like to fornicate on an empty stomach.”

  I raised a fist in front of his face. “Shut your mouth, Tomkins. And keep it shut. I’m not in the mood for your brand of filth tonight.”

  Tomkins only extended his leer. “Yeah? What’s the matter? You two have a lovers’ spat?”

  I edged to the side of the elevator and kept my hand on the door to keep it open. “Are you getting out, or not?”

  Tomkins’ expression sobered. “I’m going to the garage. The same place you’re going.”

  “We’re not going to the garage.”

  “That’s what you think.”

  Tomkins reached beneath his jacket and pulled out a handgun and pointed it at me. When I took a step toward him he shook his head and cocked the gun. “We’re going to take a little stroll, Tanner. So get out. Both of you. Now. You move over there beside him, sweetheart, so I can keep an eye on you both. Real slow, now. Keep your hands where I can see them, Tanner. That’s right. Now turn around, hands against the wall. Come on, assume the position, hotshot. I mean it.”

  Because he was too far away to grab and Peggy was too close to be out of danger, I did as he ordered. When he had joined us in the lobby, Tomkins patted me down for a weapon with as much roughness as he could muster. When he didn’t find one he grunted with satisfaction and moved back against the opposite wall. With his revolver he gestured toward the door to the garage. “There. Go on. Open it.”

  When I hesitated, Tomkins came toward me, the gun carefully out of my reach, and grasped a handful of my jacket lapel. With a grunt he tugged me away from the wall and shoved me through the door and into the dark dungeon of the garage. After I staggered to a stop I turned and watched him do the same to Peggy. “Take it easy, Tomkins,” I warned, but he only laughed.

  “What the hell, pal. I’m going to get a lot more familiar with her than that before the night’s over.”

  “Is that what this is all about, Tomkins? Another chapter in your pathetic sex life?”

  “You don’t need to worry what this is about, because you’re not going to be around long enough to do anything about it even if you manage to find out.”

  “Don’t be dumb. Your past problems with the police will seem like a traffic ticket if you do anything to her.”

  “Shit. They’re threatening to violate my probation. All because I watched some kids play ball in a goddamned schoolyard. Even my lawyer says I won’t beat it this time, and since Mommy cut off my money he’s not even going to try. They don’t like sex offenders in the joint, you probably heard that. They even cut up Tree Frog Johnson the other day. The probation guy tells me all about the stuff they do to guys like me, thinks that’ll make me stop eyeballing the little kids. Well, I’m not going to take a chance on serving time. No way. I’m taking off. The lawyer says I ain’t done nothing bad enough to make them look for me too hard. And I got enough bread to get me set up down in Houston. So I got it covered, except I got some things to take care of first. You two, then the other two, and then I’m out of here. But I figure I might as well get some jollies in before I go. And this is one jolly I’ve been thinking about for a long, long time.”

  Tomkins eyed Peggy’s breasts with a clear implication. I looked up and down the oppressive confines of the garage, but saw only a stark expanse of grease and shadow that indicated we were entirely alone.

  Tomkins noticed my glance and laughed. “If you’re looking for that swish Mendosa, he’s off tonight. Goes to see his grandkids or something. We got the whole place to ourselves. Now get moving. The boiler room on the left down there. Open the door and go inside.”

  We crossed the slippery floor, then veered toward the door marked FURNACE. “Go on,” Tomkins repeated. “Open up.”

  I turned the knob and pushed the door open. A rush of warm air met me, along with the hissing sounds of imperfectly confined steam. I moved inside, and heard Tomkins shove Peggy along behind. “Over against the wall,” Tomkins ordered. “Just stand there and don’t try anything.” I did as he asked because I couldn’t risk anything else. The gun was lethal and Tomkins was clearly at ease with it.

  There was no room to maneuve
r in the small boiler room, and only the light from a single bulb to see from. The walls were lined with tools and equipment, shining somehow in the middle of the dim bower, doubtlessly thanks to Mendosa’s careful maintenance. Somewhere beyond the light the boiler and the furnace moaned and sighed, mating in snug delight.

  To the left of the furnace the incinerator gave off a molten glow around the edges of its iron door. If Tomkins had wanted to preview our descent to hell, he couldn’t have done a better job.

  When he saw me looking at the fiery chamber he nodded. “You got it right for once, Tanner. You and your sweetheart are going to have your final fling in there. Should be a hot one.”

  I was frightened, but I was also puzzled at the reason behind Tomkins’ deadly task. While I tried to find the key to his motivation, I stood with my back to the brick wall and waited for Peggy to join me. When she had, Tomkins eyed us cheerily. “Damn. I can do this quick or slow, and hell if I know which would be more fun.”

  “Why do it at all?”

  “Because I got to.”

  “Why? We haven’t done anything to you. That harassment thing I was asking you about the other day has been resolved. We know who did it and the cops do too. We won’t be bothering you again.”

  “That’s real nice to hear, but the main reason you won’t be bothering me is that dead people don’t bother anyone.”

  Peggy shuddered at my side. I moved closer to her, but slowly, so Tomkins wouldn’t be alarmed. “I don’t understand, Tomkins. Why kill us?”

  For a moment he looked as witless as I felt. “It’s the story of my life, pal.”

  “How do you mean?”

  “I mean I got into something a little too deep and all of a sudden this is the only way I can think of to get out of it. Happens all the time. Things just never seem to turn out the way I thought they would. Life’s a bitch that way, right, Tanner? Lucky for me I got the time and money to get right again. Then I’m free to screw up all over.” Tomkins’ eyes clouded. “They think I can help it. You know that? They think I want to do this stuff. Shit. Who’d want to do the stuff I do? Huh? Tell me. Who the hell would want to?”