HUM by Dan Hawley (book club reads .TXT) 📗

Jason wished Detective Whatever would get to the point.

“Turns out one of the fellows that passed through the checkpoint was the husband of the deceased. We have a warrant out for his arrest.”

“A warrant?” Jason asked. “You mean you haven’t arrested him yet? Why not!?” Detective Topp gave him a look that indicated he didn’t like it when people raised their voices at him. Jason quickly calmed himself.

“Sorry, I just don’t understand.”

“Well, you see, it’s hard to arrest a man you can’t find. It took a little time to identify the woman, and once we did, I went over to her house to speak with the husband. He wasn’t there obviously, and once I saw his name on the list of stopped motorists at the checkpoint, I called in for a warrant.”

“He knew you’d be looking for him,” Jason said.

“He likely rushed home knowing he had a bit of a head start, grabbed whatever he could, and took off,” Detective Topp said with a nod. “Have you seen this man?”

The detective reached inside his jacket pocket and pulled out a picture. Jason and Sam leaned in to get a better look. The face on the photo didn’t look much like a murderer: a plain-looking guy with light, curly hair and a well-trimmed beard. Jason admonished himself for admiring a murderer’s facial hair. “No,” Jason said.

Samantha shook her head.

“Didn’t see him running away? You said in your statement to police that you found the body only a minute or two after the scream.”

“To be honest, I didn’t know what to think when I got there,” Jason said, trying to piece it together in his mind. “I couldn’t believe it. I’d never seen anything like that, and the first thing I thought was that a bear or mountain lion did it. I looked around real good, but I didn’t see anything. The bastard must have run off quickly.”

Detective Topp seemed satisfied with the answer.

“Well,” he said, “We consider this man to be armed and dangerous, and even if you didn’t see him, he might have seen you. Best to stay inside and keep an eye out when you do leave the apartment. Keep this picture, and here’s my card. Call me if you see him or anything suspicious.”

Detective Topp handed Jason the items and put on his hat. Samantha took a step towards the cop. “Should we be worried?” she asked, frowning with concern.

“I would say the chances that he saw you are low. I’d say the chance he would come looking for you is also low. He’s probably on his way to Canada, looking for a way to get in. Just a precaution until we get him. Keep an eye out.”

With that, the detective tipped his hat and left, the door clicking shut behind him.

Jason looked at Samantha. Not knowing what else to do, Samantha went over to the stove, turned it on, and finished cooking lunch.

“Are you going to call your dad today?” Samantha asked. She set a plate of food down in front of Jason and one at her setting.

“What? And tell him we witnessed a brutal murder, and the guy is still out there and maybe coming for us next?”

“Ok, dramatic,” Sam said.

She grabbed a bottle of white from the fridge before settling into her place.

“Wine with lunch?” Jason said.

She popped open the woody cork and filled her glass halfway.

“Considering the situation, why not?” She shrugged.

“True enough; hit me.”

Jason’s portion finished the bottle, and Sam put it down with a clunk.

“Cheers!” she said as she lifted her glass towards Jason.

“Cheers,” he echoed, grabbing his glass and touching it to hers with a ding.

“I’ll have to call. Tonight I guess; not looking forward to that.”

“Why not?” Samantha asked.

“I’d rather just not talk about it anymore. Every time I retell the damn story, it’s like reliving it again. I’m trying to kill the bloody images from my brain, not picture them even more.”

Samantha nodded in agreement and took a sip of wine.

* * *

“There’s another one of those protests today,” Sam said.

After lunch, she had made her way to the couch and turned on the news. Samantha and Jason weren’t nightly news watchers back home; they would perhaps watch occasionally to see what was happening in the world. Recently, it seemed the only thing happening in the world was the pandemic, but the couple still tuned in to see the latest at least once a day.

Jason was busy cleaning up the kitchen and doing the dishes.

“What’s that?” he called over the noise of the faucet.

“Another anti-mask protest at City Hall today,” Sam repeated. “God forbid you wear a mask to try to stop the spread of this thing.”

Jason rinsed the last piece of dinnerware and set it down in the drying rack. He shut off the chrome tap and picked up a dishcloth to dry his hands.

“Lots of people are upset right now. A lot of people are out of work and starting to get desperate. They think the virus is a hoax.”

Jason hung the towel over the oven door and walked over to the couch. He sat down beside Samantha and put his hand gently on her back. He started tracing large and small circles with his fingers through the fabric, knowing the simple action would comfort her.

“That’s so dumb,” she said. “I don’t understand what the government would gain by making this up.”

“I dunno, babe,” Jason said, still scratching Sam’s back. “Some people think everything is an elaborate plan to control them or take away their rights and freedoms.”

As they spoke, their eyes never left the screen. Samantha had muted the volume earlier, but they didn’t need to hear it. The message had been the same for months; people are dying. All the pertinent numbers scrolled continuously along the bottom of the screen anyway.

That is what everyone was watching. How many people infected; how many dead. The numbers climbed by steady jumps at what used to be a shocking rate