She stared at him with her most mocking smile, and then she turned away and began to weep. He turned away, too. He didn't want to watch her cry this time. He only turned back toward her when he felt her take his hand.
"Hold me. Please."
He gently took her into his arms. "What's the matter'?" He stroked her hair. "Is it so awful to meet someone who doesn't want your body, who just likes you for yourself?"
"It's not that," she whispered. "That's wonderful."
"What is it, then?"
"The rain," she whispered.
He hadn't noticed that it had started to rain. Now he became aware of water dancing on the roof. When he turned to the windows, he saw droplets washing the glass. He turned back to Gelsey. She seemed to tremble.
"It's just a light shower," he said. "It won't last."
"That's when he'd do it," she whispered, "The park would close, he'd come home early, putter around, make a sandwich, drink a beer, maybe watch a sports event on TV. All the time he'd be giving me these looks.
I'd know what he was going to say even before he said it. He'd work up his nerve, then he'd smile. ', honey bunch-what do you say we go down there and, you know… play?"
She was shaking now. He held her tight. He wanted more than anything to help her through this crisis.
"I'll be okay. I always feel bad when it rains. Then I go down there and spend some time. Maybe I'm looking for the monster-or something.
Then I usually go into the city, hit a bar and… you know… He did know, of course. And now he also had a pretty fair idea of who that monster might have been.
Later, when the rain slacked off and Gelsey had pulled herself together, he asked if he could use her phone. She showed it to him in the sleeping area. Before he dialed, he wondered why Kane hadn't found her through the phone company. Even though she was unlisted, a former sheriff's deputy would know how to extract the number.
"Diana doesn't know my real name," she explained. "They all called me Gelsey. They think it's my first name, not my last."
Well, that was something; she might be troubled but she was smart. She left him alone to make his call. He could hear her in the loft, moving around.
Aaron snapped up the receiver on the first ring.
"Jesus, Frank!" he said. "I thought you were going to keep in touch."
"Sorry. I got involved."
"Is she anything like what we thought?" "No," Janek said. "Not at all."
"Well, it's good you called. A detective named Ortiz phoned from Cuba.
He was sorry you weren't here, said it's hard to put through a call.
He'll try again at five. Said it's important you two talk. Urgent, too.
He underlined that."
Luis… wonder what he wants?
Janek put down the phone and went back to the loft. Gelsey was standing at the wall, squinting at her unfinished drawing of the monster.
"Something's come up," he said. "I've got to go back to the city. I want you to come with me. You can stay with Sue Burke until we wrap this up."
She shook her head. "This is where I live, where I work."
"It's not safe. If Kane shows-" She peered at him. "Forget it. I'm not leaving." He could see she meant it. "What if Sue comes here and stays with you-would that be all right?" She shrugged. "I guess she can sleep on the couch."
"She'll be on duty. She won't need a place to sleep." Janek returned to the bedroom, told Aaron to dispatch Sue to Newark right away. Back in the loft he told Gelsey she'd be alone for about an hour. He described Sue, warned her not to let anyone else in.
She studied him. "You really care, don't you?" "Yeah, I care," he said.
"Why's that so hard to deal with?"
"I think Dr. Z cared, too."
"I'm sure he did," Janek said.
Gelsey stood on her roof watching him leave. Just before he got into his car, he stopped and glanced back.
"Thank you," he shouted.
"For what?"
"Hospitality. Showing me the maze."
"Oh, that!" Gelsey wanted to say something, but couldn't bring herself to mouth the words. Go ahead, she told herself Ask him. Ask!
"When am I going to see you again?" she called.
She liked his face when he smiled. "Tomorrow," he promised. "Soon enough?"
She gazed at him, then retreated back into her house.
Driving toward the city, Janek saw Manhattan magnificently displayed, its towers sharply etched against the storm clouds. Approaching the Holland Tunnel, he asked himself how he could broach to her his suspicion about her Minotaur.
That conversation, he thought, will hurt. She won't want to listen.
She'll cover her ears.
But he knew that if he was right, it would be vital that she hear. Help her rid herself of the Minotaur, he thought, and she just may have a chance.
Betray a Aaron, in an orange and purple Hawaiian shirt, stared at him. Ray, at his desk, leaned forward, waiting for him to speak. What's she like, they wanted to know-the strange mirror-girl" they had been tracking for so many days?
Janek had great faith in his people; he rarely held anything back. But now he hesitated. Gelsey had confided in him; he would not feel right if he abused her trust.
He diverted their attention by describing the maze. They listened, mesmerized. When he was finished, Ray said it sounded like something from outer space. Aaron had another thought: