The Shimmer by David Morrell Page B

see who had arrived. The van's headlights went off. Then interior lights came on as doors were opened. Page saw the silhouettes of a middle-aged man and woman getting out. They twisted their shoulders, stretching the kinks out after what had evidently been a long drive.
    "This better be worth it," the man said irritably. "We're a hundred and fifty miles out of our way."
    "You said you wanted to retire early and see the country," the woman replied.
    The man surveyed the dark, barren area around him.
    "And we're sure as hell in the country. That police car's probably here to keep people from getting robbed. Well, come on, let's get this over with."
    The couple shut their doors, extinguishing the van's interior lights.
    Their footsteps crunched on the gravel as they walked toward the observation platform.
    Following their example, Page continued in that direction. Costigan veered off to throw the crumpled paper bag with the remnants of their burgers and fries into a trash can, then followed him across the lot. Before they made it another ten feet, Page heard a second vehicle approaching, then a third. Both turned into the parking area, their headlights sweeping across the structure, but he didn't look back this time.
    He came around the sidewall and found an area about thirty feet long and ten feet deep. It had a wooden floor, a roof, and a built-in bench that went all the way along the back wall. Anyone sitting there would face the grassland that stretched beyond the fence.
    A solitary figure was in the middle, looking toward the dark horizon.
    A woman. She wore sneakers, jeans, and a sweater. She seemed oblivious to the shadows of the middle-aged man and woman, who went over to the fence and stared past it toward the night.
    Page concentrated on her, trying to understand.
    "I don't see a thing," the man complained.
    "Well, we just got here. You need to give it a chance."
    A family came around and stepped in front of the platform-parents with a young boy and girl tugging on their hands.
    "By the time we get to the motel, it'll be long past their bedtime,"
    the mother said.
    "Hey, as long as we're driving by, there's no harm in stopping. It's not as if it's taking us out of our way," the father replied.
    "But the temperature's going down. The kids'll probably catch cold."
    The woman on the bench seemed oblivious to the family as well.
    And oblivious to Page. She just kept looking toward the night.
    He smelled cigarette smoke and glanced over his shoulder toward where Costigan leaned his tall, thin body against a post that supported the platform's roof. The police chief had put on a cowboy hat and raised a glowing cigarette to his mouth. The woman didn't pay attention to that, either.
    Confused, Page looked in the direction that held her gaze. Above the horizon, he saw an amazing number of stars, with more appearing all the time as the last of the sunlight retreated. He studied the dark expanse of the grassland. Forty-five degrees to the right, he noticed the distant specks of headlights as a few vehicles approached Rostov from the Mexican border, which lay fifty miles away.
    So what the hell am I supposed to understand? Page wondered. He was beginning to feel like the victim of a scam, yet he couldn't imagine what it might be.
    At the fence, the middle-aged man spoke again, echoing his thoughts. "It's just like I told you. Nothing. Just some kind of tourist trap. I'm amazed they're not trying to sell us something."
    "Honestly," the woman replied, "I don't know where you're in such a hurry to go. Just give it a chance."
    Meanwhile, at another section of the fence, the two children tugged harder at their parents' hands.
    "Daddy, I don't see anything," the little girl said.
    "Here, I'll lift you up," the father said.
    "Me, too," the little boy insisted.
    "You'll have to wait your turn. I can't lift both of you at the same time."
    "I'll do it." The mother picked up the boy.
    "I still don't see anything," the little girl said. "Daddy,