him.” She shakes her head. “You should have seen him.”
“Just remember he didn’t,” Paulie says. “Your dad’s gonna be okay and everyone’s alive. I wanna know who set the fire at Kylie’s. That’s the guy I want drawn and quartered.”
“My bet’s Stack,” Justin says. “Or that fucking cop.”
“Heard anything about her?” Paulie says to Hannah.
Hannah shakes her head. “God, I wonder how long she’s been sitting in class wanting to tell somebody. And where is Mary? I sure could’ve been nicer to her.”
“She’s somewhere, I bet,” Paulie says, “and I’ll bet we’ll hear from her again. The news said all the bad guys fingered Woody as the ‘brains’ behind the sex ring stuff, but none of them thought he was a killer. Rankin, yeah, but not Woody.”
“Profiler dude on CNN said the same thing,” Justin says. He kicks the water. “I woulda bet ol’ man Wells had a hand in it there for a while, but I guess I just didn’t get him.”
“He did have a hand in it,” Hannah says. “Raise your kids so they can’t think and sooner or later, your kids will be in trouble. At least that’s what Logs says.”
“Yeah,” Paulie says, “we’ll probably hear from her, but I’ll bet she’s never the same.”
Justin nods. “All the happy endings are taken.”
They look around at a junky turn-of-the-century Chevy cresting the hill. Paulie stands, waves. “Bobby Wright,” he says. “Told him to meet me up here.”
“Did he raise his hand and ask if you really meant it?” Hannah says.
“Gonna turn him into a channel swimmer,” Paulie says. “Don’t be dissin’ my man Bobby. He’s a work in progress. Been spending a little weight room time with him.”
Justin laughs. “How’s that workin’?”
“It’s gonna take a little more time in the weight room,” Paulie says.
The door to the Chevy opens and Bobby steps out. “I didn’t know you guys were up here having a meeting,” he says. “I could come back later.”
“We’re havin’ a meeting, all right,” Justin says, “but you’re invited. Step right up here.”
“Got your suit?” Paulie asks, looking down at the others. “A lot of work in progress.”
Logs watches from the back of the room as Period 8 slowly fills up on the last day of regular classes.
When everyone’s seated and into their lunches, Bobby Wright raises his hand.
“Bobby, I’m begging you, put your hand down. Spit it out.”
“What are we gonna do?” Bobby says.
“About what?”
“Some of these guys are graduating, but the rest of us are still here. What’re we gonna do with no Period 8?”
“Bravery doesn’t just last a few days, Aquaman,” Justin says. “That’s what you’ll do. Be brave.”
“You don’t need a classroom,” Hannah says. “Mr. Logs sleeps through half these things anyway. You can meet any time, any place you want.”
“Yeah,” Justin says. “Do it like the Thumpers.” He points to Ron Firth. “Those guys’ll meet in a barn.” He laughs. “They do midnight campfires at Twisted Crick.”
“And a damn good thing, too,” Paulie says.
“Always happy,” Firth says, “to light the way.”
Hannah turns to Logs. “Do you think we’ll ever hear from Mary? Do you think she’s alive?”
“God, I wish I knew,” Logs says. “Conventional wisdom says Woody Hansen took her. He’s gotta be watching television, so he knows the law knows everything he’s been into, the sex ring, the drugs, everything. Killing her could only make it worse.” He pauses and thinks a moment. “If Rankin didn’t find a way to hook up with them.”
The room is silent.
“Mr. Wells is putting considerable resources into finding her. Money can make things happen. I’ll pass along anything I learn.” He shakes his head. “I just don’t know.”
“How did Arney fool us like that?” Marley asks. “I mean, we elected him student body president. And knowing he’s been in Period 8 all this time, hearing us talk about our lives, makes me feel . . . I don’t know . . . shitty.”
Logs smiles, a smile devoid of humor. “I don’t know if Rankin found Arney or Arney found Rankin. You can bet they recognized each other on first sight. Guys like them have radar for human weakness and they feed on it. Arney Stack is a guy who will tell you a brilliantly conceived lie and then have nothing but contempt for you for believing it. People are objects to Arney. He learned early how to imitate things like care and intimacy, but he never felt either of them. Arney Stack is among a very small and very dangerous percentage of humanity. He’s