Part 43 (1/2)

'Are you all right?' he asked.

'I hated lying to him.'

'He doesn't need the truth. Not right now.'

She shook her head. 'It'll really knock the wind out of his sails.'

'Wait a few days.'

'That won't make it any easier.'

'I know.'

'He's in for a world of hurt.'

'When he finds out what his wife and Harrison did to him, he might not be all that upset they're dead.'

'Just a different kind of pain.'

'He wouldn't have had to go through it if he'd stayed in his coma. Better this way, isn't it?'

'Yeah.' A smile tilted her lips. She looked at Bodie. 'A lot better this way.' Her hand tightened in his. 'I'll have to stick around for a while, though. He'll need me.'

'I know.'

'I'm sorry.'

'Summer break is coming up. In the meantime, I'll come every weekend. If you want.'

'Of course I want.'

'Don't let anyone else change those bandages. They're mine.'

'Whatever you say, sir.'

'It'll be a fine summer.'

'We'll go to the beach.'

'Let's go to the beach, now,' Bodie said.

They stopped at a corner and waited for the traffic light to change.

Bodie felt a little sad. He knew he would be leaving Pen in a few days and he knew there would be some hard times ahead for both of them - pain and sorrow and loneliness.

But they were together for the moment. She was with him, a missing part of him that had been found and must never be lost.

The light changed.

The traffic stopped.

Bodie waited on the curb, holding Pen's hand, and looked both ways to be absolutely sure it was safe. Then he stepped off the curb with Pen at his side and they started across.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE.

At the intersection of Crescent Heights and Sunset Boulevard, Phil Danson stopped for the red traffic signal. He looked both ways. Not a car was in sight, so he gunned the Jaguar XKE and sped across Sunset.

It gave him a little rush.

A small risk, a small rush.

Keeping the gas pedal to the floor, he s.h.i.+fted and picked up speed. The road up Laurel Canyon was steep and twisting. He took the curves fast, grinning at the way the low car hugged the road. The quick turns pushed him from side to side. If he'd had the safety harness on, he wouldn't have felt the force so much. That's why he had it off.

Ahead of him, a traffic signal turned red. He kept his foot on the accelerator as he approached it.