You know that's illegal?"
"So's putting a man in jail on trumped-up evidence. Is this the book she had?"
"It might be," he said, distracted. "Is there another red one?"
"Yes, the biology book, here."
"That might be it, too."
"Okay. You look at the history, I'll look at the biology."
I turned the book upside down and shook it, and a piece of paper fell out. I figured I'd discovered an old grocery list or a note she'd written the boy who sat beside her in fourth period in high school. I found it was something much less straightforward.
It was half a sheet of blank paper, and on it was written, "SO, MO, DA, NO."
"If you'd left it in there, we'd know which section it fell from," Hollis pointed out.
"You're absolutely right," I said absently. "I messed up. Does this mean anything to you?"
"No, not at first glance. But that's her handwriting... Sally's."
There was a new note in his voice that penetrated even my overloaded emotional system.
"I'm sorry," I said, making a great effort. "I know this is dredging up stuff for you that you're trying to put behind you."
"No, I'm not trying to put Sally behind me," he said. "But I am trying to think about the rest of my life. And the ideas of the last few days, the idea that Sally was murdered, that the son of bitch who did it has been walking around this town, talking to me, free, has been curdling my gut. And the fact that every time I see you, I want to screw you so bad it hurts. You practically break in my house, my damn house, and I want to fuck you right here on the floor."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
It was like he'd flipped a switch. Suddenly, I was thinking about it, too, thinking that it would feel good to forget about my problems for a few minutes, and I rolled over on my back and pulled my shirt over my head.
It was short and violent and the most exciting encounter I'd ever experienced. Nails and teeth, slick skin against slick skin, the thud of body against body. Afterward, he lay beside me on the floor in the small space we'd had available and said, "I need to vacuum." He was panting heavily, and the words came out slowly.
"A few dust bunnies," I agreed. "But they were good company."
He wheezed as he laughed, and I pulled my bra back up because there was a draft along the floor. I rolled to my side and propped up on one elbow.
"I made your back bleed," I said, looking from the scratches to my fingernails. "I'm sorry."
"It felt good when it happened," he said, and he was beginning to drift off to sleep. "I don't mind."
While he dozed, I rolled onto my stomach and flipped through the biology book. It was a very basic text, with chapters on plant cells and reproduction, the human nervous system, how eyes work, and...
I glanced at the scratches on Hollis's shoulder and shook my head. I looked back down at the graph on the page.
I pulled my jeans back on.
"Hollis," I said, very quietly.
"Mmph?" he said, opening his eyes.
"I have to go."
"What? Wait a minute. Where's you car?"
"I ran from the motel to your house. I'll walk back."
"No, just wait a minute, I'll run you to the motel. Or you can stay here. I know you don't like to be alone."
It wasn't being alone that made me so antsy. It was being without my brother. But I didn't want to explain that. "I need to go back to the motel," I said, as regretfully as I could manage. "I think the lawyer may call me." Okay, that was a lie, but I was trying to spare his feelings. I had a few things I needed to do, and I'd have free reign to do them when I wasn't around Hollis, the lawman. He pulled on his uniform swiftly.
"Have you eaten?" Hollis asked practically, as we drove down Main.
"Ah... no, I guess not." I hadn't even finished the granola bar.
"Then at least let me take you to Subway to get something."
"That would be good," I agreed, suddenly aware that I was hungry.
The truck filled with the good smell of the hot chicken sub; my mouth was watering.
When Hollis pulled into the slot in front of my room I hopped out of the truck with the bag containing my sandwich; I wanted to use the glare of his headlights to help me fit the key in the