Darkness peering by Alice Blanchard Page A

said as gently as he could so as not to alarm her.
    "I'm not gonna turn anybody in or anything ..."
    "That's fine." Nalen listened with every fiber of his being. "Go
ahead."
    "Am I being recorded?"
    "No, ma'am."
    "I don't wanna give you my name ..."
    "You can remain anonymous if you'd like. Just say what's on your
mind."
    "Okay." She hesitated. "This guy ... he's a good person underneath,
but sometimes he does stupid things ..."
    "I'm listening."
    "He picked her up ..."
    "Melissa D'Agostino?"
    "Yeah, he picked her up after school and we ... he drove her over to
Commerce City ..."
    "He who?"
    "Excuse me?"
    "Who picked her up and drove her to Commerce City?"
    "This guy I know."
    "What's his name?"
    "All he did was buy her an ice cream cone. That's all. He wouldn't
kill anybody. A few other guys came along for the ride ..."
    "Could you give me some names?"
    "We ... they were just goofing on her, that's all. Just goofing. They
bought her an ice cream cone. You know how people are. They didn't do
anything bad to her, I swear to God."

    "What's the name of this boy who drove her to Commerce City?"
    There was a long pause.
    "If you know something, miss, I sure as heck wish you'd share it with
me. You'd be doing the right thing."
    Her voice was barely audible now. "Ozzie Rudd."
    Goose bumps rose on his body like a sudden sprinkling of rain. "Ozzie
Rudd?"
    "I think," she said, "this was a mistake."
    "Wait--"
    The line went dead.
    NALEN SPED TOWARD ROOSEVELT HIGH, WHERE GILLIAN
    Dumont's mother said that Billy and Gillian had gone. It was nine
o'clock, the sky was overcast and the school seemed deserted. He
circled the parking lot, then got out and crossed the athletic field
toward the bleachers. Resting his palm against a diseased maple tree,
he scanned the back of the school building. A couple of second-floor
windows were decorated with construction-paper flowers, and he wondered
if that was Special Ed or the art department. The athletic field was
well lit, bleachers casting spidery shadows.
    Nalen's ears pricked as he heard distant melodic laughter. He cocked
his head. A girl was laughing. Breaking into a run, he charged around
the side of the building, beaming his flashlight. As he rounded the
corner, a girl screamed.
    Nalen bolted after the two figures. Two kids were running up the block
ahead of him. "Police, freeze!" He was nearly

    out of breath when he hooked the boy by the back of his T-shirt and
flung him to the ground, then jumped on top of him.
    Billy stared up at his father, terrified.
    The girl stopped running and stood about ten yards away. Her face was
small and pale, her eyes stoned-looking. "Don't hurt him!" She kept
brushing her long hair off her face.
    "What'd you run for?" Nalen screamed in Billy's face, yanking him to
his feet.
    "I'm sorry, Dad." Billy cowered.
    "Why the hell did you run away?" he demanded to know. Billy's eyes
were red-rimmed.
    "Dad, we didn't know it was you."
    Nalen grabbed him by the T-shirt and shook him hard. "Don't you ever
run from the police again, you hear me? You know better than that,
Billy!"
    "Ouch, you're hurting me!"
    Nalen released the boy, who stumbled backward.
    Gillian stood shivering in the damp night air. "We were smoking.
Cigarettes." She looked at Billy. "That's why we ran."
    "I don't think so." Patting Billy down, Nalen found a joint and a Bic
lighter in his pants pockets. "What the hell is this?"
    "Pot," Billy answered matter-of factly
    "That's mine." Gillian stepped forward. She was playing with a
necklace made of painted wooden beads. Her hair was almost white, the
kind of blond that wasn't ashamed to show off its roots. She bit her
lips sensually, as if she'd seen too many perfume ads on TV. "I asked
Billy to hold it for me. If you're gonna arrest someone arrest me."
    Nalen looked at her, then at his son. Tears welled in Billy's eyes and
his shoulders sagged beneath his too-big T-shirt. Nalen pocketed the
joint and grabbed Billy's arm,