Moving Serafina

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314 AftershedressedonWednesday morning, Jovita stood at her window and as usual checked the street below. When she had looked out early yesterday morning, Locket and Clay were just emerging from Clay’s truck. Both looked ragged and worn and she wondered where they had been all night. Locket went straight to his patrol car and drove off toward Presidio. Clay then came up the stairs and she heard him close the door on his apartment across the hall, but that was it. She assumed he was sleeping all day Tuesday because she had not seen him. “What’re you guys up to?” she muttered at the window and noted that Clay’s truck sat parked where it had been all day on Tuesday and Locket’s patrol car was still gone. She walked to her door to go downstairs but stopped when she heard Clay quietly close his door and move down the hallway. “What’re you two guys up to?” she repeated. When she heard Clay descend the stairs, she peeked out her door and then came out and also went down. Clay was standing in the kitchen when Jovita walked in. Bea made no move to offer Jovita her usual morning strip of bacon. She stood tense next to Clay who had his hat in his hands and seemed as worn and C H A P T E R 33 MOVING SERAFINA 315 frazzled as Jovita had seen him the morning before. “You look like hell,” Jovita said. She poured a cup of coffee and handed it to Clay and then one for herself and turned to Bea. “You had coffee yet, Bea?” “Yes,” Bea said and then, “He wants to talk.” “Lost track of you, Clay,” Jovita said. “Lots going on this week I guess. First notice came out in Monday’s paper. Got that done at least and the other one’s due out today. That’ll make it . . .” “I went over to Gus’s on Monday,” Clay interrupted. “Locket and me. They called off the search and I thought Gus needed to know.” “I heard,” Jovita said. “That was probably a good idea, letting Locket know where she was. Hey, why don’t we just go into the restaurant and get comfortable?” “Well, all this is kinda private,” Clay said. “I wouldn’t want someone . . .” Jovita turned to look out of the kitchen door into the restaurant. “Not a soul out there yet,” she said. “Is that private enough?” Clay nodded. “Bea needs to hear this too.” “You two want breakfast?” Bea said. “Not yet,” Jovita said. “Sounds like this might take some time.” Bea and Clay followed Jovita out into the restaurant. Jovita then crossed to the restaurant entry, closed the doors and flipped over the sign to CLOSED and then came back to her table where the other two had already sat. “Go on, Clay,” Jovita said. “Well first, Perfidia seems fine,” Clay said and he saw neither one of the women believed a word of this. Bob Cherry 316 “Okay, maybe she’s not doing so well now.” Clay told them about Locket finding the other couple and how their story had not matched what Perfidia had been saying. “Anyway, they told Lock she had slipped in the dark on the rocks while she was crossing the river in the canyon and when she come out on this side . . .” Clay stopped and looked out the restaurant window. “Well?” Bea pressed. “Well, I guess she’d lost hold of her baby there in the dark and the guy said when she come up outta the river, she’d lost her shoes and . . .” “And the baby too?” Jovita whispered. Clay nodded but he said nothing. “The baby?” Bea said. She shook her head and repeated, “Her baby?” “Yeah,” Clay said quietly. “That’s what he said.” There was a long silence. Tears welled in Bea’s eyes and Jovita turned away. Clay lowered his head. When she turned back, Jovita said, “She denied all this, didn’t she?” “At first,” Clay said. “Well, she didn’t exactly say anything, but she just seemed . . . not with us, you know what I mean? She never said a word the whole time Locket told about all this, didn’t even shake her head. She was sitting on the floor next to Gus there and I didn’t know if she was even hearing Locket.” “Then...