Page 2 (1/2)

He circled the block, parked two doors away on the other side of the street froes listing had read It struck Keller as an unusual alias He wondered if Engleman had picked it out for himself, or if the feds had selected it for him Probably the latter, he decided "Here’s your new na to live and what you’re going to be" There was an arbitrariness about it that somehow appealed to Keller, as if they relieved you of the burden of decision Here’s your new name, and here’s your new driver’s license with your new name already on it You like scalloped potatoes in your new life, and you’re allergic to bee stings, and your favorite color is cobalt blue

Betty Engleman was now Betty Vandermeer Keller wondered why her first naet it right? Did they figure him for a bumbler, apt to blurt out "Betty" at an inopportune moment? Or was it sheer coincidence or sloppiness on their part?

Around six-thirty the Englemans came home from work They rode in a Honda Civic hatchback with local plates They had evidently stopped to shop for groceries on the way ho of groceries froe and followed her into the house

Keller watched lights go on inside the house He stayed where he was It was starting to get dark by the tilas Inn

On HBO, Keller watched aof criminals who had come to a town in Texas to rob the bank One of the cri ht that was a pretty good recipe for disaster There was a prolonged shoot-out at the end, with everybody dying in slow motion

When the movie ended he went over to switch off the set His eye was caught by the stack of flyers Engleman had run off for himLOST DOG PART GER SHEPHERD ANSWERS TO SOLDIER CALL 555-1904 REWARD

Excellent watchdog, he thought Good with children

He didn’t get up until almost noon He went to the Mexican place and ordered huevos rancheros and put a lot of hot sauce on them He watched the waitress’s hands as she served the food and again when she took his elinted off the little diamond Maybe she and her husband would wind up in Cowslip Lane, he thought Not right away, of course; they’d have to start out in the duplex, but that’s what they could aspire to, a Dutch Colonial with that odd kind of pitched roof What did they call it, anyway? Was that aelse? Was it a gaht to learn these things You saw the words and didn’t knohat they meant, saw the houses and couldn’t describe theht a paper on his way into the café, and now he turned to the classified ads and read through the real estate listings Houses seemed very inexpensive You could actually buy a low-priced home here for that he would be paid for the week’s work

There was a safe deposit box no one knew about, rented under a nah currency to buy a nice ho you could still do that People were funny about cash these days, leery of letting the money

Anyhat difference did itto live here The waitress could live here, in a nice little house withover his wife’s desk when Keller walked into Quik Print "Why, hello," he said "Have you had any luck finding Soldier?"

He remembered the name, Keller noticed

"As a uess he wanted the reward" Betty Englehed

"You see how fast your flyers worked," he went on "They brought the dog back before I even got the chance to post theh Old Soldier’s got itchy feet, he’ll take off again one of these days"

"Just so he keeps co back," she said

"Reason I stopped by," Keller said, "I’ot a business venture I’ to need a printer, and I thought ot tilelasses "Sure," he said "Why not?"

They walked down to the corner, Keller talking about what a nice day it was, Engle with hio for coffee?"

Engleman just froze Then he said, "I knew"

"I know you did I could tell the minute I walked in there How?"

"The phone nuht They never heard of a Mr Gordon"

"So you knew last night Of course you could have le on memory I kept an extra copy of the flyer and dialed the nu Anyway, I think I knew before then I think I knew the et that coffee," Keller said

They went into a place called the Rainbow Diner and had coffee at a table on the side Engle enough to dissolvefor the man Keller had called in White Plains When the feds were trying to ical place to apply pressure He wasn’t really a cri, and they told hi to prison unless he rolled over and testified If he did what they said, they’d give him a new name and move him someplace safe If not, he could talk to his wife once a et used to it

"How did you find ton?"

Keller shook his head "Freak thing," he said "Sonized you, followed you ho?"

"I don’t think so Were you out of toeek or so ago?"

"Oh, God," Engleman said "We went down to San Francisco for the weekend"

"That sounds right"