She forced a tight smile. I thought Id drop by to see a friend, she told him. You did say youd been held up.
So I did.
Hey, Joe, do you know if theyve questioned all the drivers, trying to figure out who hit me? Sam asked.
Joe nodded. Not that it did much good. Apparently, if youre a crook in this city, you find a dark sedan with mud on the license plate so no one can read the number. A lot of people noticed a dark sedan driving dangerously. Some say it was blue, others say it was forest-green, and one man is positive it was black. What do you say?
No idea. Im sorry I cant be more helpful, Sam said. Really sorry.
Joe moved farther into the room to stand by the bed. Sam, do you think the driver might have been gunning for you?
Sam had nice brown eyes. They were intense as he stared at Joe, then Gen. Im praying not. Im praying that someone else didnt die because of me, and that a dozen people arent laid up in a hospital like I ambecause of me.
Do you think the Poe Killer is after more members of the society? Joe asked.
Hell if I know, Sam said bitterly, shaking his head. That psychic says so, huh?
Genevieve expected Joe to say something derisive, but he didnt. He just waited for Sam to go on.
My wife is afraid its true, though, Sam said. Really. AfraidOh, God. Im sorry, Genevieve, I shouldnt be talking to you about fear.
There they were. Back to her ordeal once again, she thought. Why wouldnt people let it rest?
Sam, please, she said awkwardly, avoiding Joes eyes. She knew he was angry with her for leaving the apartment.
Too bad. He would just have to get over it.
There are many kinds of fear, she said to Sam. And Im afraid, too. Afraid for my mother.
The police havent said anything about needing to protect you, right? Joe said to Sam.
No. But Dorothy has decided that she wants to hire off-duty officers to guard my room, Sam said, shrugging. I honestly dont know what I think, but God knows, I have time here to try to figure it all out. But if its going to make Dorothy happy, I guess its fine to bring in some security.
Thats never a bad idea, Joe said, to Genevieves surprise. Had he changed his mind on his conviction that Bigelows murder had nothing to do with Edgar Allan Poe and the Ravens?
Dorothy and Sams mother returned just then. They both greeted Joe and spoke with him about hiring private security. He put through a call to a friend, and before he and Gen left the hospital, an off-duty officer was sitting in the hallway.
I thought you were going to wait at your apartment for me, Joe said a few minutes later, as they got into his car after dismissing Gens driver. He looked at Genevieve and saw that she was blushing slightly. Whatever she said, it would be an excuse, he knew. She obviously felt guilty. But then her chin lifted.
Guilty and defiant, he amended. Ah, yes, that was Genevieve. Then again, that defiance was part of what had saved her life.
I was staying in and waiting, but then you called and said youd be late. And I told you Id find something to do to fill the time.
Good one, he said.
Hey, Joe, youre the one who said the whole Poe thing was a smoke screen.
He groaned. Whether it is or isnt, dont you think you should be a little bit careful for a while?
Its my mother Im worried about, she said. Shes the Raven, not me.
Still
She gazed at him sharply. What changed your mind? she asked.
He was driving, but the traffic was light enough that he was able to look over at her before turning his attention to avoiding a kid on a skateboard who had just swerved into the street.
Nothing has changed my mind, he said, knowing it was what he wanted to believe, rather than the truth. To accept the fact that he believed a two-bit hookeractresshad experienced a genuine psychic vision was more than he was ready to admit.
And yet it appeared, even to him, that it might be true.
After so many years prying into the lives of others, he had a good sense for whether people were lying or not. And Candy Cane, or Lori Star or whatever her real name was, hadnt been lying.
Not only that, she was scared.
So Genevieve asked, where are we going?
He cast a quick glance her way, a slight smile curving his lips. I thought we should take a self-guided Poe tour. Just a pleasant walk around a few places our long-gone poet might have haunted. What do you think?
She looked back at him, smiling quizzically herself. Youve acquired a new appreciation for the literary life and times of Edgar Allan Poe?
Dont be silly. Ive always been an aficionado, he assured her.
Ten minutes later, he found a garage where he could park for a few hours without spending half a months rent, and they started walking.
There was something special, almost magical, about Lower Manhattan, he thought. It had nothing to do with Wall Street and all the money that changed hands there, or even the vibrancy of the people who were always rushing around following their own agendas.
Maybe it was magical, he thought, because he had learned to see it through Leslies eyes.
New York wasnt just Wall Street and big bucks, or the egos of celebrities and business moguls. Nor was it any longer the huddled poverty of the thousands of immigrants who had made their way here, first via Ellis Island and now via Kennedy Airport.
It was both, and it was more.
He and Genevieve walked. They toured the area around Lower Broadway, pausing at Trinity Church, looking toward the empty place where the World Trade Towers had once stood, which gave them both pause.
Finally they moved on.
Are we actually on a thinking tour? she asked him, curious and amused.
Im sorry. Does it feel like Im just dragging you around aimlessly? he asked her.
Hey, I like to walk. Just so long as were not walking because you dont want me going home by myself, she said.
He couldnt help but ask, Is it so bad for someone to be worried about you?
She looked away. I dont want to spend my life being a burden, being someone others have to worry about all the time.
Hardly a burden, he said gruffly.
And so they kept going.
This has been my home my whole life, she said, and I still love being here. I love to go into Trinity and St. Pauls. I love to go in and look at George Washingtons pew, and wonder what it might have been like when we were a country fighting for its independence.
He flashed her a smile. Yeah, cool, huh?
And amazing.
They were near Hastings House, in fact, near the area where she had been held prisoner underground. He saw no deep-seated bitterness or fear in her eyes, and she had just told him that she had moved on, that she loved this part of town.
Was it true?
Whether it was or not, Lower Manhattan, the area around St. Marks, and his small cottage up in the Bronx, were places where Poe had spent time when he was in New York.
The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne the best I could, he quoted aloud.
Genevieve arched a brow at him. Is that word-for-word?
I think, he said with a shrug.
I think, he said with a shrug.