Chapter 38

“Now is the dramatic moment of fate, Watson, when you hear a step upon the stair which is walking into your life, and you know not whether for good or ill.”

-Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Hound of the Baskervilles

Twelve minutes later we were out of Billings. Tom, weak but game, grunted and groaned climbing into the front seat of his Grand Caravan.

“Are you sure you’re well enough to do this? You can still change your mind.” I had no more hope of avoiding this trip, but I was still trying.

“I’m in now,” Tom said weakly. “I’m not getting out again for anything - at least for awhile. I’m thankful you had my van here at Billings. I love your little Miata but couldn’t have squeezed into it tonight.” He settled himself and took a deep breath. “Let’s roll.”

As we pulled out, he said, “DD, let’s swing by the bookshop. I want to pick up Wolfie.”

“But Debra’s taking good care of him, Tom.”

“Yeah, but she told me he isn’t eating. He’s alone all night. I’ll feel better if he comes along. Anyway, he might prove useful.”

“Is he good in the car?”

“He loves to ride. He won’t be any trouble,” Tom insisted. “We’ll take a big bowl and a six pack of water along.”

I headed for Joyce and Company Rare Books and watched Tom visibly relax.

“Debra’s fake faint in the hallway worked like a charm,” he chuckled.

“She was perfect,” I agreed. “The nurse on guard was completely distracted. You better send Debra a box of candy to make up for the grief she’s going to get when they look in your room and find us gone.”

“I was thinking the same thing.”

“So where exactly is this ‘Haven’ place?” I shuddered, knowing that anywhere outside the boundaries of good ol’ Cook County was off limits to moi. If Karl knew I was doing this, he’d... Frankly I didn’t know what he’d do. I didn’t want to know.

“It’s in Wisconsin. I’ve got a map of it, and this van’s got GPS, so we won’t have any problem getting there. But there’s a lot of buildings on the property, so once we get there, we have to find Green.”

I didn’t like the sound of that, but we’d already arrived at Tom’s bookshop and there was no turning back now.

Tom stayed put while I went to collect Wolfie, the bowl and some water.

Wolfie had accepted me as part of his social order some time ago, and we got on famously. He was glad to see me, but when he saw Tom in the van, his tail wagged furiously as they shared a joyous reunion. I noticed Wolfie was quite gentle with Tom. They do say animals can sense when someone’s in pain.

As we got on the road, I was keenly aware that it was risky for us to show up at the Haven. After Tom’s accident and Jean Toller’s death, there was no telling what we’d be getting into. I decided to phone Morgan after we were out of Cook County and let him know our plans. That way, he’d be mad, but maybe he’d help instead of just holler.