Page 101 of Poison Wood

He looks from her to me and back to her. Her politeness is unnerving.

Erin’s phone buzzes, and she looks down at it. “You’re in luck,” she says, looking back up. “We will be waiting to do this after all.” She turns to Carl. “We need to go. Now.”

She gathers her purse and thanks my father for his time, and I follow her and Carl to the elevator.

“What is going on?” I say.

Erin presses the down button. “Maybe we can talk at the hotel,” she says. “I need to get ready.”

“Ready for what?”

The elevator arrives, and she and Carl walk in. Erin turns to me and holds her hand out so the doors won’t close. “I’ve got the scoop on something.”

“What scoop?” I say, my heart racing.

Erin smiles. “The results are back on the skull.”

When the elevator doors start to close again, Erin pushes them back with a loud clang. She stares at me long enough to make it uncomfortable. She starts to say something, then stops. She removes her arm from the elevator doors, and as the doors shut, she smiles again and says, “See you at the hotel.”

I look at the silver doors for a moment as I process her words. Definitely an invitation. I’m not sure what’s more surprising, that soft-spoken Erin got the scoop on it or that she invited me to be a part of it. I certainly wouldn’t have invited her.

I walk back to my father’s hospital room, and Debby is on the sofa again, sipping on a can of Diet Coke.

“Did you run her off?” Debby says.

“No. She had to be somewhere.”

“You sure do come in hot, Rita,” she says between sips.

“I’m sorry. Have we met?” I say with enough sarcasm for even Debby to get it.

“Mm-hmm,” she says, giving me a look.

“All right,” my father says. “Rita, I didn’t think it’d be a problem to talk with her. She said you two work together.”

“We do. But you have to be careful with reporters,” I say.

“Yep. Uh-huh,” Debby says to my father. “Hon, those reporters can be trouble.” Then she gives me a smile.

It’s a small gesture, but I take it and smile back. Like it or not, Debby is here to stay. And the way she is looking at my father tells me she loves him. Maybe there’s even a part of her that loves me too. We just haven’t taken the time to figure it out. I haven’t taken the time.

I came charging into this room ready for a fight, ready to confront him about the secret he’s kept from me. But speaking to him while he is in a hospital gown again has taken the wind out of my sails. So instead of confronting him like I planned, I give him a hug and tell him I’m here if he needs me. But am I? So far it’s safe to say I haven’t been. I’ve been too caught up in the past to help in the present, allowing Heather and that skull to distract me. But, at this point, it feels like more than a distraction, more than an avoidance mechanism. It feels like a calling. Almost as if some magnetic beacon buried deep under that old school flipped on and started sucking me toward it. Maybe my connection to Poison Wood wasn’t as severed as I thought it was. Maybe one silky thread remained, tethering me to it. And now the school is tired of its secrets and spitting them back out for me to play with.

I whip into the valet at the Kingston Hotel and walk through the sliding glass doors to see Grant sitting in the corner, holding a coffee go-cup. He glances up and smiles at me.

I pull out my phone and text him.

Did Johnny return the car?

I walk around to the elevator, and my phone dings.

No. He’s still missing.

I step onto the elevator and press the button for the fourth floor.

I don’t like this. I don’t like any part of it. Johnny missing, Erin talking to my father, strangers running me off the road. On top of that, I’m now carrying around the knowledge my father is not afraid to lie to protect me.

The elevator door opens, and I step out into a hive of activity. The common room on the fourth floor has turned into a makeshift newsroom, and Erin is like a miniature conductor at the center. Her small frame and quiet voice are deceptive. I’ve never seen a woman who doesn’t have to yell to be heard. An intern is nodding as she gives the girl commands.