14

As the train pulled into the 90th Street–Elmhurst Avenue stop they rose and stood before the nearest door. From the corner of his eye Jack saw the blond guy take another peek. When the train stopped and the door panels split, they stepped out onto the platform. One car down, the blond guy stepped out too. As they headed for the stairs down to the street, he followed. But then, he’d do that even if he wasn’t following them.

“All we’ve accomplished is to prolong the trip,” Eddie was saying.

“Yeah, I suppose so. But it gives us a little extra time to discuss the elephant in the room we’ve been ignoring.”

“You mean, ‘burn my house.’ ”

Jack had been thinking about it while watching for a tail but could make no sense of it.

“Yeah. What’s up with that?”

“I’ve turned it over and over and upside down and inside out and still can’t make sense of it. She loves that house. It contains all her worldly possessions—and believe me, she has a lot of worldly possessions.”

“I thought you said she lives very simply.”

He smiled. “She does. And her possessions are simple, but there’s lots and lots of them.”

“I’m not following.”

“You’ll see when you get there. It’s easier to show than tell.”

When they hit the street they crossed Roosevelt Avenue to the Manhattan-bound entrance. As they reached the turnstiles, Jack stepped ahead of Eddie and swiped his MetroCard through the reader.

“Since I’m the reason you’re here, my treat.”

Eddie laughed. “Jack, I can well afford—”

Jack made a flourish toward the turnstile, saying, “I insist,” and used the move as an opportunity to peek behind them.

The blond guy was standing at the bottom of the stairway across the street looking baffled.

Jack swiped the card for himself, and then he and Eddie climbed the stairs to the platform. Jack guided him to a spot that would put them on the middle of the train. The sun was hot so they stood back in the shadow of the partial roof.

“So you have no idea why she’d want us to burn her house?”

Eddie shook his head. “Not a clue. But I assume it has something to do with her idea that she’d turn up ‘missing.’ ”

“Well, she was missing for a while.”

“Because she ran out in front of a car—not because someone abducted her. And not because someone was following her—if you get my meaning.”

He gestured around the near-empty platform just as the blond guy emerged from the stairwell and stood thirty or so feet away. Eddie glanced at him but didn’t react.

Clueless, Jack thought as he forced a heavy sigh.

“I guess you’re right.”

The Manhattan-bound train pulled in half a minute later. Jack and Eddie boarded. Uptrack to his left, Jack saw the blond man step on as well.

“Let’s stand,” Jack said, stopping just inside the door. “It’s only one stop.”

Eddie shrugged. “Sure.”

Jack waited a few seconds, then grabbed the back of Eddie’s jacket and yanked.

“On second thought . . .”

“Hey!” he cried as he was pulled through the closing doors. “What are you doing?”

As the train began pulling out, Jack gestured at the empty platform. “Just making sure we weren’t followed.”

“Jesus, Jack! You’re crazy, you know that? You and Weezy always had this . . . this rapport, where one seemed to know what the other was thinking. And now you’ve bought into her paranoia.”

“I don’t know about that. But one thing I do know: Your sister was way smarter than I ever was. I think that counts for something.”

He remembered his continuing wonder at the breadth of her knowledge and her photographic memory.

“She’s still smart—smarter than both of us put together, I’ll bet—but that’s not going to bring the next train any faster.”

Jack couldn’t decide whether it would be easier to leave Eddie in the dark about the tail or clue him in. He decided a wake-up call was in order.

“Keep your eyes on this train,” Jack said as it gathered speed. “In one of the cars you’ll see a guy with bleached-blond hair combed forward. When he spots us out here he won’t be happy.”

Sure enough, the next-to-last car carried the blond man who stared out at them with an angry, befuddled expression.

“Wave to the nice man.” Eddie didn’t. Jack began pulling him toward the stairway. “Now walk with me.”

Eddie came along but was staring at him with an uncomfortable expression.

“You think that man was following us?”

“Just walk.”

He hoped seeing them heading toward the exit would convince the blond guy that Elmhurst had been their destination all along.

“Seriously, Jack—”

“He was peeking at us from an adjoining car all the way out from the city. When we doubled back, so did he. Draw your own conclusion.”

Eddie stopped at the entrance to the stairwell. “So it’s true? Someone was really following us?”

“Looks that way to me.”

“You’re . . . you’re not an appliance repairman, are you.”

Jack had been afraid of this.

“As you said yourself, I’m just Jack from Johnson.”

“Yeah, and I knew that Jack, and that Jack would never settle for being an appliance repairman.”

“Why not? It’s honest work. You have the satisfaction of accomplishing something. You’re your own boss, you set your own hours, and you leave the job behind at the end of the day.”

Not an untrue word there—except he wasn’t talking about himself.

“But how does a simple appliance repairman spot a tail and outsmart him like you just did?”

“Well, maybe I am a bit paranoid—after all, I was watching for a tail. And I’ve read my share of thrillers.”

“You were awfully smooth giving him the slip.”

“Learned everything I know from Jake Fixx.”

Eddie smiled. “You read those novels? Me too, I’m ashamed to say.”

“Ashamed?”

“Well, they’re just plain silly. And that character, that Jake Fixx, he’s preposterous.”

“But you keep reading them.”

“Yeah, well, there’s something about the guy . . . he may be ridiculous but—this is going to sound crazy, but I almost feel as if I know him.”

You have no idea, Jack thought.

“Yeah, me too.”

Eddie frowned. “But if we really were being followed, that changes everything.”

“Ya think?”

“No, seriously. It means—”

“—that Weezy might not be as paranoid as you thought.”

“Yeah. Which is not a comfortable thought.”

Welcome to my world.

“I agree. But first thing we do is check out her house. And we’ll cab it from here. My treat.”