BLIND TRIAL by Brian Deer (best books to read for beginners TXT) 📗

She stepped round her desk and closed her office door. “No, he hasn’t. That’s the weird thing about it. I called his hotel this morning, and they’re actually acting very peculiar.”

“In what way?”

“Well, the clerk made some comment about how the night staff said Hiroshi went out and didn’t come back. And then when I called the duty manager, he said it wasn’t the hotel’s policy to comment on such matters.”

“What matters?”

“That’s the peculiar thing. He wouldn’t say. He kept beating around the bushes. Now look, where did you say you parked your car last night? You don’t think he came up and saw your car, and put two and two together?”

“No way,” he whispered. “Three blocks down the hill, on a side street, round the corner. You tried his cell?”

“Of course. About ten times. All I get’s that ‘denwa bangou’ thing he does. Can you speak up?”

“Don’t worry. I’m pretty sure he’ll surface. Maybe he’s got a secret lover.”

“What do you mean, a secret mother?”

“Lover.”

“Don’t be insane. And can you speak up? So where are you now? Did you go? Are you going?”

“Good question.” Still whispering. “And am I in the shit? Doc Mayr here’s saying we’re going to Garberville, and she’ll get out and walk if she has to. And Mr. Hoffman’s saying we’re definitely not going, and how I’m to turn the car round, no matter what.”

“So, what are you doing?”

“Working something out to keep everyone happy. As always.”

“I don’t know why you’re even going in the first place. And I can’t see why she’d want to go at all.”

“Yeah, I know. She’s asleep. What I was thinking was, if I went about halfway and then turned round, then by the time we made it back into the city and got her to some meeting they want to have, it’ll be the middle of the afternoon. So, I’ll probably have to stay till tomorrow, whatever happens.”

“I can hardly hear you.”

“We can go out to dinner maybe. And maybe they’ll let me take the weekend off out here. I’ve got an open ticket back. You know, first class.”

“You need to speak up.”

“I’m just killing time, okay? Look, what you doing tonight? If I can work something out? If I can keep them all happy, maybe we could hook up and, you know, go someplace cool.”

With every passing minute, this sounded more unlikely. “But there’s Hiroshi, and what’s happened with him. And I’m getting worried. I haven’t heard from him since yesterday morning.”

“Probably got cold feet.”

“Don’t be insane. No, it’s about respect. He came out here to ask me something incredibly special to him, which he did. He’s a very close friend. And it’s a huge decision I have to make. It might affect our whole lives. I can’t say I’m too busy even to see him.”

SOMETHING CHANGED, drawing Trudy awake. Sounds and motions felt different. The tone of the Sentra’s engine had dropped considerably. A force pulled her this way and that. Also, a slope: the car was rising. A turn signal clicked. They were slowing.

Her eyelids flickered: 12:36. “Where are we? What are we doing?”

“Oh, hi, you awake, then? We’re, well, coming off for gas. And you know what? I think maybe the car’s on the fritz.”

She maneuvered herself upright, adjusted her seat, and elbowed the pillows at her back. The Sentra sounded fine. Rented cars rarely failed. “Where’s this? Where are we now?”

“Town called Ukiah. Gone a hundred miles.”

At least he’d followed her instructions.

They turned west on a street called Talmage Road, then north to the main drag, South State Street. Then they passed a restaurant, the Garden Cafe, thirty yards from the Regency Inn.

Ben stopped outside and pointed to a Chevron gas station across the street, broiling in the midday heat. “Want to grab a coffee, let me shoot over there, fill the tank, and check the car over?”

“That’s a good idea. I could do with some relief. I was thinking it’s about that time.” She opened the door into ninety-five degrees, and nearly tripped on a flight of brick steps.

Inside, the cafe was cool and dim, with old lumber in beams and furniture. Trudy ordered a large latte macchiato and a baby kale salad. Ben left to look at the car.

Fifteen minutes later, he burst through the door and dropped into a chair. His face glistened. “Sorry to say this, ma’am, but I think we got problems. The car keeps cutting out. It was doing this before, while you were asleep. Now it’s worse.”

That was all they needed: a defective vehicle. She’d known a few of those in her time. She abandoned the salad, Ben paid the bill, and they hurried across State to where he’d parked.

The Sentra was scorching, the seats oven hot. Her pillows felt ready to burn.

He pressed the ignition: a dull click, then nothing. “What’s up, I wonder?” He tried again. “Seems like something’s wrong with something crucial.”

“That’s all we need.”

“What you think?”

“You’ve got the power on, haven’t you?” She opened and shut a window. “Not a flat battery.”

“Know nothing about cars. Nothing at all.”

“Now’s the time to learn then. Lights working?”

They were.

He opened the glove box. “Dollar’s bound to have a rescue service. But I’m wondering, you think it’s jammed? You think maybe I should rock it?”

Trudy yanked the door handle and climbed out. “Be a wire, or the solenoid, or the starter motor, if they still have them, I should think. Open her up.”

“Better call the rental company.” He tugged a folder from the glove box. “Better get an expert. Be on the safe side.”

“Come on now, open her up. And come out here and lift it. Let’s take a look at this thing.”

She surveyed the engine: how they’d changed since her youth when she used to help her father on the ferry. If she’d fixed one engine, she’d fixed fifty engines. She pointed into the compartment. “Look there.”

“Look where? What where?”

“Over there. See the relay?”

“What? That thing there, you mean?”

“You got it, right there. Relay’s