Page 58 (1/2)

"Who are you?" she de to conceal her fear, sure that visible terror would excite him He seemed to be balanced on a thin line "What do you ith ht: robber She had thought: rapist She had thought: psychopathic thrill killer But she had not for a ent Yet who else would be looking for Einstein? No one else even knew the dog existed

"What’re you talking about?" she said

He pushed the muzzle of the revolver deeper into her side, until it hurt

She thought of the baby groithin her "All right, okay, obviously you know about the dog, so there’s no point playing games"

"No point" He spoke so quietly that she could hardly hear him above the roar of the rain that druainst the windshield

He reached over and pulled down the hood of her jacket, opened the zipper, and slid his hand down her breasts, over her belly For a moment she was terrified that he was, after all, intent on rape

Instead, he said, "This Weingold is a gynecologist-obstetrician So what’s your problenant?" He almost spit out the words "social disease," as if ust

"You’re no governent" She spoke entirely from instinct

"I asked you a question, bitch," he said in a voice barely louder than a whisper He leaned close, digging the gun into her side again The air in the truck was hu sound of rain combined with the stuffiness to create a claustrophobic atmosphere that was nearly intolerable He said, "Which is it? You got herpes, syphilis, clap, so that pregnancy ain her a dispensation from the violence of which he see to have a baby I’ happened in his eyes A shifting Like movement in a subtle kaleidoscopic pattern that was coreen

Nora knew that ad she could have done, but she did not knohy

She thought about the 38 pistol in the glove corab the gun, and shoot hier of the revolver Still, she’d have to remain constantly on the lookout for an opportunity, for a laxness on his part, that would give her a chance to go for her oeapon

Suddenly he was cli to rape her in broad daylight, in the veiling curtains of rain but still daylight Then she realized he was just changing places with her, urging her behind the wheel while hethe muzzle of the revolver on her the whole time

"Drive," he said

"Where?"

"Back to your place"

"But-"

"Keep your mouth shut and drive"

Now she was at the opposite side of the cab froet to it, she would have to reach in front of him He would never be that lax

Deter fear, she now found that she had to rein in despair as well

She started the truck, drove out of the parking lot, and turned right in the street

The windshield wipers thumped nearly as loud as her heart She wasn’t sure howrain and how much of it was the roar of her own blood in her ears

Block by block, Nora searched for a cop-although she had no idea what she should do if she saw one She never had to figure it out because no cops were anywhere to be seen

Until they were out of Car wind not only drove rain against the windshield but also flung bristling bits of cypress and pine needles froe old trees that sheltered the town’s streets South along the coast, as they headed into steadily less populated areas, no trees overhung the road, but the wind off the ocean hit the pickup full force Nora frequently felt it pulling at the wheel And the rain, slashing straight at theh to leave dents in the sheet metal

After at least five minutes of silence, which seeer obey his order to keep heryour place for more than a day," he said in that cool, quiet voice that , I followed you, hoping you’d give "

"No, I mean, how did you knohere we lived?"

He s creep"

"Special circu Man in San Francisco Owedna"

"Who’s he?"

"You don’t know anything, do you?" he said "Except how to make babies, huh? You know about that, huh?"

The hard taunting note in his voice was not er, and htened

of the fierce tension that she sensed in him each time he approached the subject of sex that she did not dare reply to hi She kept her attention on the rain-washed highway, squinting through the smeary windshield

He said, "You’re very pretty If I was going to stick it into anyone, I’d stick it into you"

Nora bit her lip

"But even as pretty as you are," he said, "you’re like all the others, I’ll bet If I stuck it into you, then it’d rot and fall off because you’re diseased like all the others-aren’t you? Yeah You are Sex is death I’h proof is everywhere Sex is death But you’re very pretty

As she listened to hi a deep breath

Suddenly his taciturnity was gone He talked fast, still soft-voiced and unnervingly cal, but very fast: