Page 14 of The Same Flesh
“I’m saying that’s not theonlykind.And they’re not all loners.There are people who kill together.Or as a team.Charles Manson, the Chicago Rippers, the Hillside Stranglers.You get these people with strong personalities, and they surround themselves with people who are either scared of them or in love with them or, usually, both.They buy into the fantasy or the mission or whatever it is.”
“They’re definitely not all geniuses,” Jem said.“Or billionaires who don’t have to go to work.I met these guys, and they’re all short a few spoons.They were running an alien campground, for fuck’s sake.”
“But they’ve managed to evade the police,” Tean said.
Outside, a car drove past, and headlights swept the curtains.Scipio groaned and stretched, paws extending as far as he could reach before he curled up into a bean again at Jem’s feet.Jem was starting to get a headache, and he wanted to close his eyes.
Amy broke the silence, her voice tight again.“When I went home tonight, someone was in my house.”
“What?”Jem said.
“You’re sure?”Tean asked.
“It’s a small house.A light was on in back.IknowI didn’t leave it on.I never leave the lights on.I was about to park when I noticed it; instead, I kept driving and went around the block.I didn’t see anything strange.There weren’t any unfamiliar cars.I didn’t see a beat-up black truck.”She stopped, shook her head, and raised her eyes like she was trying not to let tears fall.“Do you ever just know?”
Jem nodded.
“I was going to call the police, but—but I told you how they’ve been.Like I’m this Victorian maiden who thinks she saw a ghost or something.I’m at the point where I’m starting to believe it too.As I was driving around the block, I kept telling myself that I was imagining things, that I’d made a mistake, that somehow I’d forgotten to turn off a lamp.”
“You listened to your gut,” Jem said.“That was smart.”
She shook her head and blinked rapidly again.
“I was thinking about all of it—about that bogus arrest, and about how nobody believed me, and how I couldn’t even go home.And all of a sudden, I thought of you.And I thought—” She broke off and gave a short laugh.“I honestly don’t know.I thought you could do something, I guess.I don’t have any idea what.”She sat forward, and Scipio opened one sleepy eye.“I’m sorry for bothering you.”
“Give us a minute,” Jem said.
He had to ease his feet out from under Scipio’s head, and then he and Tean moved down the hallway.The lights were off here, and the shadows turned Tean’s face into a sketch: that crazy hair, his nose, the line of his chin.
“Do you think she’s telling the truth?”Tean said.
“Oh yeah.She’s scared shitless.”
Tean took a deep breath.
“I know,” Jem said.
It felt like a long time before Tean said, “I want this to be over.”
“I know,” Jem said softly.
“You want to check out her house.”
Jem smiled; he wasn’t sure if the doc could see it in the dark, but some of it must have made its way into his voice.“See?We really are soulmates.”
But Tean didn’t respond.
“You don’t have to come,” Jem said.“I just don’t want to send her back there without, you know, making sure it’s okay.”
The furnace whumped.Seconds ticked past.
And then Tean said, “Okay.Let’s go.”
4
The house was a small clapboard rambler on a quiet street in south Salt Lake.It needed a new roof.The window boxes were ancient and sagging.In some parts of Utah, failure to have a pristine lawn was a crime punishable by death, but Amy’s flower beds were choked with weeds, and last year’s leaves had drifted into mounds.The only light Tean could see was the one on the porch.
“Who lives behind you?”Jem asked.He held his phone loosely in one hand, the call set to speaker.
