ON THE WAY BACK TO DANI’S APARTMENT RUBY TALKED THE whole time. She was pointing out stores she’d like to go into. She was naming restaurants where she’d like to eat.
It’s like this is all new for you, Dani said.
It is.
We’ll go out to dinner tonight, Dani said. After I close up at the shelter. Anywhere you want to go.
Ruby turned to look at her. Dani’s silhouette was striking against the glass.
I got you something, Ruby said.
When?
The other day.
What day?
The other day.
Yesterday?
No.
The day before?
Shut up and listen, Ruby said.
Dani smiled. Well, what is it?
Just something I bought you.
With what money?
Just some money I found.
You stealing my money again?
I’ve never stole your money.
My money’s your money, is that it?
Would you just listen.
Are you going to make me guess or what?
Close your eyes, Ruby said.
I can’t close my eyes, Dani said. I’m driving.
Okay, then open your eyes.
They are open.
Ruby took it from her purse.
It was a necklace. Silver and thin as a strand of hair.
You bought me jewelry, Dani said.
You don’t like it.
It’s not that at all, Dani said. You bought me something. You bought me a present.
So you like it?
Yes, Dani said. It’s the most perfect necklace I’ve ever seen.
Later that night Dani moved about the quiet shelter cleaning up a mess here and there. A few plastic cups. A plate or two. Remnants of dinner. She walked among the rows of men and women sprawled on cots. Some asleep. Snores echoing back and forth like the calls of strange songbirds.
Pastor Lee walked about. He would talk to the ones still awake. Pray with them if asked to. Dani walked past him holding an extra blanket. Lee held out his hand to her.
Is our friend Ruby doing well? he asked.
Yes, Pastor Lee, Dani said. It’s very nice to see.
I haven’t seen her here lately.
Yes, Dani said. I found her an apartment in town. A small one-bedroom.
I see, Lee said, his eyes squinting with judgment. Are you helping with the rent? I assume so.
Yes, Dani said. Paying it forward, I guess. Following your lead.
Well, Lee said, not exactly my lead. It wasn’t me who paid your rent. It was the church.
But you helped me and now I want to help her.
That’s kind of you, Lee said. You are a kind woman. Here.
He took the blanket from her arms.
Why don’t you leave early tonight, he said. I’ll close up.
Are you sure? I’m happy to stay.
No, he said. Bring some of the leftovers from supper to Ruby. Tell her I’m thinking about her.
Thank you, pastor.
It was raining when Dani stepped outside. The lights of town ran in the wet streets. The colors looked like melting wax. It was a Tuesday night and the streets and the sidewalks were empty and the stores were all closed. The only things open were a bar down the street and a twenty-four-hour diner on the corner. She turned her collar up against the rain and tucked the plastic bag of leftovers under her arm and started for her car.
The little VW was parked three or four blocks away. She walked quickly. Her shoes were soon wet. There was a gap in the buildings where she could see the water of the bay. The water was dark and the only thing out there to see was the lighthouse with its beam revolving endlessly like a lost satellite.
The night was cold and it felt like it might snow. The kind of cold that left you damp even if you were dry. Kind of cold that made you tremble with weakness. She stopped and watched the lighthouse and for some reason the image frightened her. The isolation of it in such an inhospitable place. To be a beacon to all those unseen things prowling the darkness. Attracting both the good and the evil. She turned away and walked on with a great feeling of discomfort. For the three or four blocks she couldn’t rid herself of it. Near her car was a pay phone. She was only a few minutes from her apartment but she opened the hinged door of the booth and set the leftovers on the floor and fished a quarter from her pocket and dialed the number to her apartment and leaned against the glass of the booth as the phone rang.
Hello?
Hi.
Where are you? Ruby asked.
Just left the shelter.
Are you coming home?
Yes, Dani said. I just wanted to check in.
What’s wrong?
Nothing.
Are you okay?
I’m fine. I’ll be home soon. Just wanted to hear your voice.
Dani said goodbye and hung up the phone. She picked up the bag of leftovers and opened the glass door. The rain had lightened. Only a drizzle now. She stepped out of the booth and closed the door behind her and walked around the front of the VW and set the bag on top of the car. She fumbled with her keys, tilting her face down and searching through the keys in the low light. She found the right one and put it in the lock and was about to turn it when she heard, Hello, Dani.
His dark silhouette was reflected in the glass. It seemed to rise up behind her, filling the window, consuming all of it. Before she could say anything the blade passed across her throat. A spray of blood like bird shot peppered the glass. She turned to him, trying to suck in air, but the blood was spilling into her windpipe. She was trying to speak but only the sound of her choking breath through the blood came through. She fell back against the door and he grabbed her by the arms and tenderly helped her to sit in the street. She was watching him all the while. Her eyes wide and unfathomable. He smoothed her hair. He tucked some of it behind her ear. Her blood was black as tar in the light and the last of it fell forth in a diminishing rill down the skin of her sternum to die out in the valley of her breasts, staining her tattoo of the woman being carried off by a raven.
Noon took a deep breath in and then he let it out. He lifted the necklace from her chest and popped it in one motion. He looked at it draped over his hand. He balled it up and put it in his pocket. Then he went around to the passenger side and opened the door and saw a few envelopes on the seat and found one with Dani’s address on it and picked it up and folded it and put it in his pocket and then shut the door. Then he turned and walked to the alley across the street, to his camera on the tripod, and turned it off and put the camera back in the gladstone. Then he folded up the tripod and walked off down the sidewalk while the rain fell, washing Dani’s blood into the gutter.