Adam parked his car in the macadam lot of the Hendrix Institute. He walked alone under the sodium arc lights. Inside, he tried to remain matter-of-fact with the desk nurse. He didn’t want to betray his urgency. He had foreseen no reason to contact Violet after their last weekend together, and now found that he couldn’t locate her. Apparently, she didn’t want to be located.
“I’m really sorry, Mr. Lee.”
“Perhaps she quit.”
“It’s possible, but I’ve been here seven years and I’ve never heard of her. I make out the schedules.”
“And Violet is a somewhat unusual name. You’d remember a name like Violet.”
“Yes, I’d remember. I’m sorry.”
Cigar smoke, thick and acrid, floated from the open window of Leo’s pickup truck. He watched Adam leave the building and drive away.
The next day, Adam met Monty for lunch. They took their sandwiches from the greasy-haired man behind the deli counter. All the tables were jammed full with the lunch hour crowd. The two brothers stood at the counter and ate. Monty wolfed his down and talked around the food in his mouth.
“He’s a loser. He just wants to make himself look good.”
“He keeps calling me. He came to my office.”
“He’s a kiss-ass. When I couldn’t get down there that night, he says, ‘Oh, Mr. Lee, I’d be happy to go make sure your brother’s all right.’ Now he’s just trying to impress his boss, whom, by the way, I’ve fucked.”
Adam wrapped his half-eaten sandwich in a napkin and tossed it in the trash.
“He says I need an alibi for that weekend. That there are inconsistencies.”
“Inconsistencies? Inconsistencies? That fat bald fuck. Look, I’ll call up Paula, maybe let her suck my dick, give her a good fuck. She’ll tell the loser, this Leo, to drown his sorrows in a glass of. .. Slim Fast, and leave you the fuck alone. Trust me. I’ll take care of you.”
Monty popped the last of the sandwich into his mouth, finishing it in one huge bite.