Page 15 (2/2)
"Sure"
"Dinner and a o back to that horrible French place I’m sorry about that, I really ao," she said, "but once we sit down in the restaurant, promise me we’ll stay there"
"I’s And like I saidI never have been able to cope around beautiful woht Rejected me Rejected my father Never felt any warmth from that woman Walked out on us when I was eleven"
"Must’ve hurt"
"You’re more beautiful than she was, and you scare "
"Well, sorry, but Iis, beautiful as you are, you’re not half as beautiful as your writing, and that scares enius like you ever see in a guy like me-except maybe comic relief?"
"Just one question, Daniel"
"Danny"
"Just one question, Danny What the hell kind of stockbroker are you? Any good at all?"
"I’enuine pride that she kneas telling the truth "My clients swear by ot a nice little portfolio ofAs a stock analyst, broker, and investive the wind a chance to turnthe placement of the explosives in the basement of the institute, Stefan took what he expected to be his next to last trip on the Lightning Road It was an illicit jaunt to January 10, 1988, not on the official schedule and conducted without the knowledge of his colleagues
Light snoas falling in the San Bernardino Mountains when he arrived, but he was dressed for the weather in rubber boots, leather gloves, and navy peacoat He took cover under a dense copse of pines, intending to wait until the fierce lightning stopped flaring
He checked his atch in the flickering celestial light and was startled to see how late he had arrived He had less than forty minutes to reach Laura before she was killed If he screwed up and arrived too late, there would be no second chance
Even while the last white flashes seared the overcast sky, while hard crashes of thunder still echoed back to hies, he hurried away fro field where the snoas knee-deep from previous winter storh which he kept breaking with each step, and progress was as difficult as if he had been wading through deep water He fell twice, and snow got down the tops of his boots, and the savage wind tore at him as if it possessed consciousness and the desire to destroy him By the time he reached the end of the field and clihway that led to Arrowhead in one direction and Big Bear in the other, his pants and coat were crusted with frozen snow, his feet were freezing, and he had lost has clean except for the wispy snow snakes that slithered across the pave currents of air But already the tempo of the storm had increased The flakes weretwice as fast as they had been o Soon the road would be treacherous
He noticed a sign by the side of the pavement-LAKE ARROWHEAD 1 MILE-and was shocked to discover how much farther he was fro into the wind, looking north, he saarray afternoon: a single-story building and parked cars about three hundred yards away, on the right He headed i his head tucked down to protect his face from the icy teeth of the wind
He had to find a car Laura had less than half an hour to live, and she was ten miles away
Five months after that first date, on Saturday, July 16, 1977, six weeks after graduating from UCI, Laura e in his chauests in attendance, both of whom served as witnesses, were Danny’s father, Sam Packard, and Thelma Ackerson
Sam was a handsome, silver-haired hout the brief cere, "You all right, Dad?" Sao on with it, but ahi the e said, "Son, your father’s tears are tears of joy, so if we could get on with this-I have three room’s father had not been an eiant with the heart of a fawn, their wedding party would have been e, shaggy, style, with a pompom-like spray in front that was tinted purple In the h heels, tight black slacks, and tattered black blouse-carefully, purposefully tattered-gathered at the waist with a length of ordinary steel chain used as a belt She earing exaggerated purple eyethat looked like a fishhook
After the cere a private ith his father, Thelma huddled with Laura in a corner of the courthouse lobby and explained her appearance "It’s called the punk look, the latest thing in Britain No one’s wearing it over here yet In fact hardly anyone’s wearing it in Britain, either, but in a few years everyone will dress like this It’s great for h as soon as I step on the stage It’s also good forwith age Hell, if hoanized charity I’d be their poster child But the two great things about punk style is you get to hide behind flamboyant makeup and hair, so no one can tell just how homely you are-and you’re supposed to look weird, anyway Jesus, Shane, Danny’s a big guy You’ve told me so much about hie Put him in a Godzilla suit, turn him loose in New York, film the results, and you couldto build expensive miniature sets So you love hientle as he is big maybe because of all the violence he saw and was a part of in Vietnaentle at heart He’s sweet Thelhtful, and he thinks I’m one of the best writers he’s ever read"
"And when he first started giving you toads, you though! he a psychopath"
"A h the courthouse lobby, flanking a bearded younghi over as he passed and said, "Hey, et it on!"
"Ah, the Ackerson charuy who’s a cood, a teddy bear, and Bennett Cerf, and I get crude propositions fros of society But coet that, soyet"
"You underrate yourself, Thel to see what a treasure you are-"
"Charles Manson when he’s paroled"
"No So to be every bit as happy as I am I know it Destiny, Thel opti? All those deep conversations we had on the floor of our room at Caswell-you remember? We decided that life is just an absurdist comedy, and every once in a while it’s suddenly interrupted with thunderbolts of tragedy to give the story balance, to make the slapstick seem funnier by comparison"