MISSING

OUT OF SPADINA

Steve Olley

STEVE OLLEY hails from Zurich, Ontario. After spending a lot of his earlier life traveling in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, Steve Olley finally settled close to the shores of Lake Huron, where he lives with his daughter, Elizabeth, and their trusty dog Chelsea. Steve has had his work published in The Toronto Star, Futures Mystery Anthology Magazine, Coffee Cramp, and his private detective, Jack Best, appears reguarly in Mysterical-E.

“I don’t know who you guys think you’re dealing with.”

It was hard for the young black man to answer with Danny’s hand on his throat. His other hand had the young man’s arm pulled awkwardly up behind him.

The pimp tried to wriggle free, but Danny was too strong for him. Danny wore Levis, a black polar neck and a light sports jacket. His hair was kept short over a handsome but stubborn looking face. There was something workmanlike in the way he moved the man over to the open car door. There was no malice.

“Now consider this a gentle warning. Tell your boss to keep out of Spadina.”

He put the young man’s hand in the door opening, and then slammed the door shut. The guy screamed. Danny opened the door and the guy fell to the ground, nursing his broken fingers. Danny didn’t feel anything for the pimp, one way or the other. It was just his job.

Danny turned now to see what his partner in this warning was doing with the pimp’s prostitute. Wilkes had large bug eyes, greasy hair that was a mess of rat’s tails, and a dirty smudge of a mustache that tried to hide a hair lip, that stretched down over a mouthful of neglected teeth. Wilkes had the girl back against the wall, his knife pointing into her face while he fondled her. He sneered and snorted as she endured his groping.

Danny hated working with Wilkes.

“Come on, Wilkes.”

Wilkes ignored Danny. The prostitute must have been in her mid thirties; she was no stranger to the streets, but she was frightened. She knew what to look for in a man’s face to know when to be afraid, and with Wilkes she had every reason to fear.

“Wilkes, come on. Leave her alone.”

This time Danny’s words stirred Wilkes and he stopped his fondling. The girl relaxed and that was when Wilkes slashed the knife across her face. Then he let her go. He folded his knife and put it in his pocket and laughed at the woman bleeding at his feet. He walked over to Danny and they both got into the car.

“You didn’t need to do that. Just the pimp, that’s what Bill said.”

“What’s your problem, Danny, she’s just a hooker.”

Danny sighed and pulled the car out of the alley.

* * * * *

Nancy watched Bill as he spoke to the young teenage woman. He was tender with her, soothing. He showed her the room with the bed in it. The poor girl seemed much too young to Nancy. She said she was 19, but Nancy doubted it; 16 was probably closer to the truth.

The girl had been on the streets for a week; too afraid to go to the shelters to seek help there. And that’s when Bill always showed up, offering comfort, a warm bed, food, and something that would take all the hurt away. Of course there was only one catch, but they didn’t find that out till they became addicted.

There was something about this young girl that touched Nancy; an innocence, a certain look that she recognized, or remembered from the mirror from her first days at Bill’s.

She had come to Spadina ten years before, but things had changed since then. Her job now was to take care of the girls, keep them clean, and keep them in line. She was Bill’s girl now and no other man could have her. She was his possession, and her black eye was a mark of his ownership, her punishment for speaking out when common sense should have told her not to. But lately, despite all her efforts, Nancy couldn’t seem to stop herself.

The young girl looked across the room at her, all sunken eyes and tangled hair.

Elroy appeared at the entrance to the room. He was in his mid-twenties, blond haired, wiry, with a jagged scar that split his left eyebrow. Nancy felt revulsion at his presence; Elroy was a snake, a worm.

“Boss.”

Bill looked up and Elroy raised his eyebrows to indicate that he needed to talk to him. So the three of them left the girl to sleep, and went back down the hall, past all the other rooms, to the office.

“Nancy, get me a drink,” said Bill.

Nancy fixed Bill a whisky rocks and added a little ginger ale.

“What is it, Elroy,” said Bill.

“There’s a social worker snooping around, asking questions.”

“I thought we’d paid her off.”

“This is a new one.”

Nancy brought over Bill’s whiskey and a beer for Elroy. It was at this time that Danny and Wilkes got back.

“Any trouble?” asked Bill.

Danny didn’t answer; he saw Nancy’s eye and a look passed between them. Nancy gave a slight shake of the head, and so Danny didn’t say anything.

“No problem,” said Wilkes. “Except Old Danny here has a go at me for cutting up the whore.”

“Because we didn’t go there to do that,” said Danny.

“What’s up Dan,” said Bill, “getting squeamish?”

“No,” said Danny. “It just wasn’t what we were there for. It’s not good business, you know that Bill. Wilkes is a liability. One day we’ll all pay for his stupidity.”

“Hey,” shouted Wilkes.

Danny ignored him.

“I am not a liability, you’re the liability.”

“Okay,” said Bill, standing up and walking over to the window, pulling down the sleeves of his jacket. He looked out over the city and ran his hand over his slicked back hair.

“We got a new girl,’ said Elroy, itching to tell Wilkes. “Right choice she is.”

“Is she?” said a grinning Wilkes.

“She seems too young to me,” said Nancy.

“Who asked for your opinion?” said Bill.

“It’s just that if we’ve got a new social worker snooping around, why take unnecessary risks.”

“I said shut it,” said Bill; “unless you want another black eye.”

Nancy glared at him.

“Go and check on the girls, before you make me mad.”

He watched Nancy leave the room, and shook his head as she closed the door behind her.

“Maybe she’s right,” said Danny.

“Not you too, Dan?” said Bill.

Danny shrugged his shoulders.

“Don’t worry about it. We’ll get this social worker wised up before the girl’s ready.”

Danny nodded, but he wasn’t happy. The girls looked younger every day.

Bill turned his attention back to the others.

“Listen, Elroy.” Elroy looked up like an obedient dog. “Keep an eye on this social worker, but from a distance, for now. See what she gets up to. I’ll make some enquiries. Maybe we can dig up some dirt on her.

“Wilkes you’re on duty in the club, but keep your hands off the girls. Danny you go home and get some sleep, I’ll call you later.”

As Danny left with the others, he saw Nancy. She was in the new girl’s room. The girl was curled into a ball on the floor, shivering. Nancy knelt beside her, a hand rubbing the girl’s back. She looked up as Danny passed; there were tears in her eyes.

* * * * *

Danny drove back to his apartment. The lights of the downtown covered the wet streets with a colored glow.

There was something in Nancy’s look that troubled him. He’d seen it before in someone else’s eyes; a look of resigned defiance; a look that indicated that—no matter what the consequences—action needed to be taken. A line had been drawn in the sand and it had been crossed. This time it was Nancy, but Danny’s memory was of another woman and that line in the sand had been crossed by Danny. And no matter what Danny had tried to do, it had all been too late; he’d lost her, lost everything – they’d taken it all away from him. He’d left and come to the big city and met Bill and found a place where his anger could be put to use. But that was five years ago, and the anger had faded a long time ago. All that was left now was habit, but it had been getting harder every day. Nancy was there to remind him of what he had become, to remind herself what she had become. But tonight, there was something in Nancy’s eyes that had stirred in him all those thoughts of regret; but it was too late now to go back to what he had been. There comes a point in your life when there is no turning back.

Danny was right. Nancy knew that she couldn’t go on with this anymore. Her line in the sand had been crossed. Like Danny she knew there was nothing she could do for herself; it was too late for that, but perhaps by doing something for someone else she could lessen the pain.

* * * * *

“I don’t know how you do it, Debbie, I mean, my god, the stories one hears.”

Debbie smiled at her friend. Philippa was a junior accountant for a big auditing firm in the towers downtown. They were sat in a small restaurant close to Downtown and Spadina. Debbie toyed with her pasta and looked at Philippa and her boyfriend, Kenneth, an advertising executive.

“I guess I’ve always wanted to be a social worker for as long as I can remember. I couldn’t imagine devoting my life to anything else.”

“But the stories you hear. Are they true?”

Debbie smiled but didn’t answer.

“You’ve been a social worker for five years, haven’t you?” asked Kenneth.

Debbie nodded.

“Surely there are other areas of the city where you could work, that wouldn’t be as dangerous as Spadina?”

“But I think I can make more of a difference here,” said Debbie. “The need is greatest here.”

“Isn’t there a high burn out rate?”
“That’s true in all areas,” said Debbie.

“Haven’t you wanted to do something a little easier that probably pays more money?” said Kenneth.

“Yes, Debbie,” said Philippa, “then you wouldn’t need to live down here.”

“It’s not too bad. I have a nice apartment.”

“I still don’t understand you,” said Philippa.

“It’s what I know I have to do.”

“Well rather you than me. I think I’d rather stick to the suburbs.”

The waiter came with the bill and Kenneth paid, despite Debbie’s protests. As they put on their coats, Debbie thought about their conversation. She knew it would be easier and safer not to have taken this job, but she knew she could make a difference here; she was determined to. In her mind there was no question of walking away. She could never live with herself if she did nothing.

When they left the restaurant, Kenneth and Philippa said their goodbyes and then they climbed into a cab and headed off. Debbie was left by herself to walk the six blocks to her apartment. Within a block or two the area began to change. There was more graffiti and a lot of the stores were empty, dusty dark windows, some of them boarded up.

After she crossed the road and walked another block, Debbie knew she was being followed. She came to a brightly lit shop window; she stopped and glanced casually back. A young woman with a black eye passed by and looked at her and motioned her on.

Debbie had been expecting it to be a man, the same man she’d seen earlier, but the idea that it had been a woman threw her off. She walked on and found the woman around the corner waiting.

* * * * *

It was the new girl, Olivia, who had convinced Nancy. Nancy had reached the end; she could not, would not, let Olivia’s life become like hers. What she managed to glean from the girl was that she was from a small town called Wakefield. Nancy knew that whatever she had runaway from, surely could not be as bad as what would become of her if she stayed here.

After talking with the social worker, Nancy’s head was buzzing. She was much too nervous to go home. She walked out of Spadina, and into the Downtown area, past restaurants and bars where regular people led their regular lives. Nancy knew that she was exiled from that world; there was no way back for her, but for Olivia there was still a chance.

Nancy was disappointed with the social worker. Nancy thought they would swoop down that night, but of course nothing worked like that. The slow gears of justice had to move methodically, if indeed justice were to be served. The social worker, Debbie, had wanted names and addresses, and Nancy wrote it all down in the social workers notebook and gave it back to her. Debbie wanted her assurance that Nancy would give evidence if called upon; Nancy had agreed to it all. She’d been surprised just how easy it had been for her to give up Bill’s name. But when she realized that things were not going to happen overnight, she got mad with the social worker, telling her that she didn’t understand that if they left it too long then it would be too late.

Nancy left the downtown and walked back to Spadina, back to the badly lit streets, where the only real economy was the trading of sin and the purchase of addiction. Back to the only real home Nancy knew. Had she made a mistake? She knew that if she had waited, she would not have had the guts to go to the social worker. It would have been so much easier to do nothing, but instead she had acted, she had betrayed them all. She did not know what was harder to live with, watching Olivia be corrupted, or knowing that by her actions she had endangered everything.

All Nancy felt at that moment though, as the night grew long, was that she was tired. She headed back to her apartment, to the only peace she could ever hope to find, in the pillows of her bed, with the covers pulled up and her head full of pleasant dreams from another life of childhood so very, very long ago.

When Nancy turned the corner of her street she saw Bill’s car and Elroy and Wilkes waiting around outside her apartment building, and her worst suspicions gripped her heart with fear.

She could have turned and ran; she could have gone to Debbie; but then who would have protected her girls? Who would have been there for Olivia?

Elroy jerked his head, indicating that Bill was up there waiting for her; and by the look on Elroy’s face she knew they knew.

She found Bill sitting in the living room. The lights were off in the room, but a light from the kitchen reached out and brought a dull illumination to the room.

“It’s you, Bill,” Nancy said nervously. “I wasn’t expecting you. Let me get you something to eat.”

“I don’t want nothing.” Bill sat there his hard face stony in the dim light.

“Then let me put on the lamp,” she moved towards it.

“Leave it,” said Bill, his voice was cold. “There’s enough light for what I’ve got to do.”

“Bill, why do you look at me like that?”

Bill stood up and came towards her. He was breathing heavily. He grabbed Nancy by the head and throat and dragged her into the middle of the room.

“Bill – Bill! Speak to me! Tell me what I’ve done.”

“You know what you’ve done. You were watched tonight. Elroy was watching the social worker.”

“Bill, no, you mustn’t.”

“Elroy said you gave her something. What did you give her?”

“Nothing, Bill. Honest. We just met by accident, that’s all it was, Bill; an accident. Elroy got it wrong. I didn’t give her anything. Honest, Bill – Bill!”

He hit her hard with his fist and she fell down on the floor. There was an anger in him that reason could not quench. She was on the floor; blood came from her lip into her mouth. It was then that she saw the baseball bat.

“Bill! Please believe me. Bill, I love you Bill!”

She held on to him, tried to stop his arms from reaching for the bat.

He picked it up and raised it above his head. Nancy screamed. Outside on the street Elroy and Wilkes heard her scream and they flinched. But nobody came to help; everyone pretended they did not hear her scream. Bill hit her with the bat, again and again, till his anger began to subside.

Nancy did not move, did not moan, did not flinch. The blood flowed from her wounds. Bill’s breathing was fast and furious. He staggered backward to the wall, and then saw what he had done. He sat back down in the chair trying to control his breathing. It was hard to look at her, so he lifted his head. The long night was drawing to a close, and through the window, to the east, Bill saw a faint glow in the darkness.

He sat for a moment, unable to stir, listening to see if he could hear movements coming from the other apartments, but there was nothing. He slowly became aware of his situation. He had to hide this, he knew that now. But Elroy and Wilkes were too stupid to do it properly. He called Danny.

* * * * *

Danny stirred from sleep. He knew there was something wrong from Bill’s voice.

“Dan, get over to Nancy’s. I need you. Dan, clean it up for me. Don’t leave no evidence now.”

When Danny got there, Wilkes and Elroy were getting Bill into the car. There was blood on Bill’s clothes.

“What happened?” asked Danny.

“It’s Nancy,” said Elroy. “Clean it up.”

“Bill! What have you done?”

Bill didn’t say anything. He was looking at his hands, a bewildered look in his eyes.

“Just get it cleaned up,” shouted Wilkes, and then they drove off.

Danny raced up the stairs to Nancy’s apartment. The door was unlocked. Danny went in and closed the door behind him.

Nancy was lying on the floor in a pool of her own blood. He went over to her, to feel for a pulse to make sure she was dead, and Nancy opened her eyes. She smiled when she saw that it was Danny kneeling beside her.

“Danny,” she said. She was near death. “It was Bill. I went to the social worker. They’ve gone to get her. Help her. Cathcart Building, apartment 332.”

“Don’t talk, Nancy, I’ll get an ambulance.”

“It’s too late for me, Danny, but not for the new girl. Get her out, Danny. Take her home. She lives in Wakefield.”

“Nancy.”

“It’s all bad, Danny. It’s all too bad. Do the right thing, Danny. I know it’s in you.”

“I will.”

“Danny! Where are you Danny?”

“I’m with you, Nancy.”

“I’m cold, Danny.”

Then Nancy died.

As he knelt there with her blood leaching into his pants, an awareness came to Danny; a clear vision of the truth, about the past, about the present, and what his role in the near future had to be. Things had gone wrong for him a long time ago, but now he knew that it didn’t have to be that way. Nancy had shown him that; poor weak Nancy who did the right thing, despite the consequences. Now it was time for him to do the right thing; if he ever wanted to find peace.

He laid a blanket over her, and then quietly left the apartment. Down on the street the cool air felt good, clean. He got into his car and drove over to the Cathcart Building. The streetlights did not seem so bright now that the sky was beginning to fill with light. Everything was clear to Danny now. He knew what he had to do.

He ran up the stairs of the apartment building and then crept along the hall to apartment 332. He listened at the door. He could hear Wilkes being his usual loathsome self. He heard the social worker whimpering. Danny couldn’t hear Elroy. He was probably taking care of Bill; getting him cleaned up or sorting out an alibi. Danny took out his gun and readied himself.

He leapt at the door and into the room. They were sitting on a couch. Wilkes had his knife at the woman’s throat while he molested her.

“Drop the knife,” shouted Danny.

“What’s the idea!” squealed Wilkes.

“I said drop the knife!”

“What, are you going to shoot me, Danny?”

“In three seconds unless you drop that knife and get down on the floor.”

“Danny!”

“Do it Wilkes!”

Wilkes dropped the knife and lay down on the floor. “You’ll regret this Danny. You just signed your own death warrant.”

“Shut it, or I’ll put one in your head right now!”

Wilkes grunted, but said nothing more.

Danny went over to the social worker.

“Are you alright? I just came from Nancy’s apartment. They killed her for talking to you. Wilkes was sent here to search for any incriminating evidence. I guess he had other things on his mind.”

The social worker was still numb from fear, but her eyes suddenly widened in terror, and Danny realized too late that Wilkes had not come alone. Elroy smashed the butt of his gun into Danny’s head. He fell forwards dazed, dropping his gun. Wilkes scurried up off the floor and grabbed his knife.

“Seems Danny’s changed sides,” said Wilkes. “Did you find anything?”

“Nothing, so let’s get out of here.”

“First things first,” said Wilkes. He went back to the woman.

“We haven’t got time for that now,” said Elroy. “Who knows if Danny didn’t call the cops.”

“This’ll only take a minute,” said Wilkes.

“For god’s sake!” Elroy was annoyed and turned to Wilkes. “Can’t you focus for one minute?”

As soon as Elroy turned towards Wilkes, Danny jumped up and grabbed Elroy’s gun. Wilkes jumped on the ground, grabbed Danny’s gun and fired. The bullet hit Danny in the side. He fired back and the bullet entered Wilkes’ chest and stopped his heart. Elroy jumped up and ran out of the apartment.

Debbie couldn’t stop trembling.

“It’s okay,” said Danny, “it’s over now.”

Danny knelt down beside Wilkes to make sure he was dead. He was. He took a throw of the couch and laid it over the body.

“Who are you?” said the social worker.

“My name’s Danny, I’m a friend of Nancy.”

“Nancy’s dead?”

“Yeah.”

“Did they do it?”

“No, their boss, Bill. Nancy was supposed to be his girl.”

“What about what Nancy told me? She gave me names and addresses. Look it’s all here in my notebook.”

She took out a notebook from the inside pocket of her coat that was hanging on the back of the door. Elroy probably hadn’t noticed it when he first came in through the door. Danny took the book and looked at the names and addresses written inside. He recognized Nancy’s handwriting. All the names were there, all that is except his.

“It’s all true,” said Danny.

“I’m calling the police.”

“I’ve got to go. Will you be okay?”

“Yes, but you’ve been hit.”

Danny looked down and saw that the side of his shirt was covered with blood.

“Do you have anything I can use to stop the bleeding?”

“Yes, but you need to get to a hospital.”

Debbie went and fetched a first aid kit. She wiped away the blood, wrapped a bandage around him.

“There’s no exit wound,” she said. She looked very concerned.

Danny put on the clean T-shirt that she had given him, put on his jacket and then headed out the door.

* * * * *

As he bent to climb into his car, the pain stabbed at him, and for a second his head was dizzy, but then it began to pass. He drove out from the Cathcart Building, and back along the main drag through Spadina. The sun was coming up into a cold looking sky. Streetcars rumbled over the tracks, grinding forwards through the rust and the grit.

As Danny drove he tried to think what Bill would do once he’d regained his senses. Bill would soon know that he hadn’t managed to silence the social worker and that the jig was up. He’d take the money and run. But Danny knew that Bill wouldn’t leave behind his most valuable possessions. He’d sell the girls, and he knew plenty of willing buyers. The brothels in Chinatown would take them up in a snap. But Bill would have to be quick; otherwise the police would swoop and they’d lose everything.

When Danny arrived at the back of the club, the bus was already being loaded with some of the girls. Danny got out of his car and pulled out his gun and shot a bullet into the front tire of the bus. Elroy came running around the side, but when he saw Danny he backed away. Danny ran forwards and grabbed the unarmed Elroy.

“Where’s Bill?”

“He’s inside.”

“I want the new girl.’

“She’s already on the bus.”

“Get her.”

Elroy went onto the bus and came back with the girl, Olivia. She was high and didn’t have a clue what was going on.

“Put her in my car.”

Elroy put the girl on the backseat and she lay down and went to sleep.

“Now take me to Bill.”

Elroy led Danny back into the club. He knocked on Bill’s office door, entered and then slammed the door back into Danny’s face.

“Bill watch out!” he yelled.

Danny kicked open the door. Bill fired two shots. They both missed. Danny fired his own gun and Bill fell back. The shot had gone through Bill’s thigh. He was losing blood fast.

In the distance Danny could hear sirens.

“Come here,” he shouted at Elroy. “Make sure he doesn’t bleed to death.” He knew Bill wasn’t going anywhere and Elroy was too afraid to leave him.

“Dan,” Bill spoke to him. “Why?”

“For Nancy, Bill; for Nancy and all the other innocent lives you corrupted.”

Bill said nothing, and Danny realized that he did not know Bill’s story. What had led him to this life? But it didn’t matter now. It was all too late; too late for all of them. But the girl; Nancy had realized that if there was to be any way to redemption, then it had to be through the girl.

The sirens were getting closer. Danny went back to the car. Olivia was asleep in the back. He knew that if he left her for the police she’d be safe, but then everyone would know where she’d been, and no matter what she did with her life, she’d always be labeled. If Danny took her back himself then no one would ever know, and Olivia would get a second chance, and surely that was the whole point to all this. He climbed in and drove away. Further down the street the police cars passed him as they headed for the club. He took the expressway out of town, then northwards and the long drive to Wakefield.

* * * * *

They had been driving for about an hour when the girl woke up. The light hurt her eyes. The fields were white with snow. The trees looked black and stark. She looked at Danny.

“Who are you? Where are we going?”
“My name’s Danny. I’m a friend of Nancy’s.”

“Where are you taking me?”

“Wakefield.”

“No, I can’t go back there.”

“Why?”
“You wouldn’t understand. I can’t go back there.”

“Why? Were they physical with you?”

“No.”

“Then why did you runaway?”

“I’m not a kid anymore. I can do what I please.”

“How old are you?”

“Nineteen.”

“You’re not nineteen.”

“Eighteen.”

“Tell me the truth. I’ll find out anyway.”

The girl, Olivia, looked out the window, and then in a quiet voice said, “I’m fifteen.”

“Why did you run away?”

“My mom has a new boyfriend. She didn’t want me around.”

“What about your dad?”

“He’s not around anymore.”

“So your mom told you to leave?”

“No, he told me. He said she didn’t want me around; that I was old enough to look after myself.”

“Did you speak to your mom before you left?”

“No.”

“What’s the telephone number?”

“I’m not telling you. I don’t want to go there. Take me back to the city.”

“Why?”

“I want to go back. Nancy will understand. She’s good to me.”

“Do you understand what that place was.”

“Nancy said she’d look after me.”

“She did and that’s why I’m taking you back.”

“Where’s Nancy?”

“She’s dead.”

“What!”

“Bill killed her.”

Olivia went quiet and then started to shiver. Danny gave her his coat. She pulled it over herself, and went back to sleep.

* * * * *

Danny reckoned they were about an hour or less from Wakefield. His belly felt wet and when he looked down he saw that his T-shirt was covered with blood. He felt weak. His fingers tingled and the pain in his side was getting worse.

Olivia stirred and when she woke up she said, “Hey there’s blood on this coat.”

“Don’t worry,” he said.

“You’re bleeding.”

“Yeah.’

Olivia shivered again. “I want to go home,” she said.

“What’s the number?”

She told him and he keyed it in. A woman answered and Danny handed the phone to Olivia.

“Mom.”

It seems as soon as Olivia’s mom found out what her boyfriend had said, she kicked him out, and she’d been looking for Olivia ever since. After Olivia hung up, she sat there looking out the window, watching the cars pass and the sun coming up through the trees.

The pain was getting worse, and Danny couldn’t help but wince.

“Are you alright?” asked Olivia.

“I’m fine. I’ll go to a hospital after I drop you off.”

The sign for Wakefield came up and Danny watched Olivia’s face in the rear view mirror. Her face was relaxed, she was coming home. Olivia gave him directions till they pulled up outside a small house close to the centre of the town.

“Thank you, Danny.”

“You’re a good girl, Olivia, remember that.”

“I wish I could thank Nancy.”

“When things get tough, remember her, she’ll help you.”

Tears came into her eyes and she wiped them away with her sleeve. She took a deep breath, looked once more at Danny, nodded and then climbed out of the car. He watched her walk up the driveway, she may only have been fifteen but she had aged quickly these last few weeks; too quickly. Before she got to the door a woman came out. Olivia looked up and the two of them ran to each other and hugged. Danny watched and he thought about Nancy, and knew that she would be pleased.

The pain was not so bad now. His body felt numb and he felt very calm. He drove down the street a little way, till quite inexplicably the sunlight changed the color of the snow to a deep red, and even though it was very cold, Danny felt comfortably warm, as if he were laying down in a hot bath. He pulled the car over and turned off the engine and lay back in his seat, enjoying, after so long, the peace that now passed into his body.

END