Молчаливая ночь [with w_cat] - страница 20

[346] Kids should stay with their mothers … Gigi’s words haunted her. Dear God, where had Jimmy taken that little boy? What would he do to him? What should she do?

[347] Cally stared at the box with the candy-cane paper. That’s for Santa Claus. A vivid memory of its contents flashed through her mind. The uniform of the guard Jimmy had shot, the side and sleeve still sticky with blood. The filthy overcoat-God knew where he’d found or stolen that.

[348] Jimmy was evil. He had no conscience, no pity. Face it, Cally told herself fiercely-he won’t hesitate to kill that little boy if it helps his chances to escape.

[349] She turned on the radio to the local news. It was seven-thirty. The breaking news was that the condition of the prison guard who had been shot at Riker’s Island was still critical, but was now stable. The doctors were cautiously optimistic that he would live.

[350] If he lives, Jimmy isn’t facing the death penalty. Cally told herself. They can’t execute him now for the cop’s death three years ago. He’s smart. He won’t take a chance on murdering the little boy once he knows that the guard isn’t going to die. He’ll let him go.

[351] The announcer was saying, “In other news, early this evening, seven-year-old Brian Dornan became separated from his mother on Fifth Avenue. The family is in New York because Brian’s father…”

[352] Frozen in front of the radio, Cally listened as the announcer gave a description of the boy, then said, “Here is a plea from his mother, asking for your help.”

[353] As Cally listened to the low, urgent voice of Brian’s mother, she visualized the young woman who had dropped the wallet. Early thirties at the most. Shiny, dark hair that just reached the collar of her coat. She’d only caught a glimpse of her face, but Cally was sure that she was very pretty. Pretty and well dressed and secure.

[354] Now, listening to her begging for help, Cally put her hands over her ears, then ran to the radio and snapped it off. She tiptoed into the bedroom. Gigi was already asleep, her breathing soft and even, her cheek pillowed in her hand, the other hand holding the ragged baby blanket up to her face.

[355] Cally knelt beside her. I can reach out and touch her, she thought. That woman can’t reach out to her child. What should I do? But if I call the police and Jimmy does harm that little boy, they’ll say it’s my fault, just the way they said that the cop’s death was my fault.

[356] Maybe Jimmy will just leave him somewhere. He promised he would… Even Jimmy wouldn’t hurt a little boy, surely? I’ll just wait and pray, she told herself.

[357] But the prayer she tried to whisper-“Please God, keep little Brian safe”-sounded like a mockery and she did not complete it.

[358] Jimmy had decided that his best bet was to go over the George Washington Bridge to Route 4, then take Route 17 to the New York Thruway. It might be a little farther that way than going up through the Bronx to the Tappan Zee, but every instinct warned him to get out of New York City fast. It was good that the GW had no toll gate at the outgoing side where they might stop him.

[359] Brian looked out the window as they crossed the bridge. He knew they were going over the Hudson River. His mother had cousins who lived in New Jersey, near the bridge. Last summer, when he and Michael spent an extra week with Gran after they came back from Nantucket, they had visited them there.

[360] They were nice. They had kids just about his age, too. Just thinking about them made Brian want to cry. He wished he could open the window and shout, “I’m here. Come get me, please ^>!>”

[361] He was so hungry, and he really had to go to the bathroom. He looked up timidly. “I… could I please… I mean, I have to go to the bathroom.” Now that he’d said it, he was so afraid the man would refuse that his lip began to quiver. Quickly he bit down on it. He could just hear Michael calling him a crybaby. But even that thought made him feel sad. He wouldn’t even mind seeing Michael right now.

[362] “You gotta pee?”