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Page 37.
Chapter 30.
 Jeff drove to the editorial offices of World Anaconda, his thoughts in a whirl. As the wipers beat back and forth in a gentle rain, as the VW inched through traffic in Raritania's congested streets, Jeff did a reality check. Here we are, mortals all, trying to make sense of this world. We're born, we live, we have no answers, we die. What do we really KNOW? A person living a hundred years ago could not have imagined jet liners, telephones, moon landings, pocket calculators, electrical never mind nuclear energy. Am I now confronted with the possibility that a man from the 1930's really has travelled forward in time?
In his office, he called McCarthy. McCarthy sounded harried. "We're watching the mailbox store around the clock. No sign of our guy. I'm surprised, Maxxon; I thought he was desperate; I thought he'd have contacted you by now, trying to get that damn book published."
"Listen," Jeff said, "I drove out to Mercury Street and looked around."
"I figured you would," McCarthy said tiredly.
"I climbed up into the clock works. Pretty weird up there."
"I got news for you, before you waste any more breath. I had a K-9 team go through there with police dogs. No sign of our missing nut."
"You're right on top of it all, McCarthy. Tell me, do you believe this stuff about a man hopping forward in time?"
McCarthy said, after a pause, "No, I honestly don't." He said this in a kind of low voice. "To tell you the truth, the whole matter gives me the creeps. I still think it's some nut passing himself off as long-lost Louis, if you know what I mean. What I wonder is-- does Mr. Beering really believe it? He seems to be in tight with this Max Dusenbery nut, who gives me the creeps anyway. What do you think, Maxxon?"
It was Jeff's turn to pause. "I'm a rational man, McCarthy. I spent years getting my mind sharpened to do logical, analytical, scholarly work. I keep an open mind, and I hedge my bets. I guess my answer to you is, I haven't made up my mind yet." He considered mentioning his hallucinations of pink air and old music, and thought better of it.
McCarthy chuckled. "Come on, buddy. I figure it's some geek giving us all a run for our money, and it will just turn out to be nothing more than that. We need to collar the guy, and then you'll see it's nothing much."
Jeff said: "You're probably right, of course."
"Sure," McCarthy said. "By the way, just so you feel okay, I had two guys with binoculars and sniper rifles in the abandoned building across the street, the whole time you were dicking around that tunnel."
"So you knew," Jeff said, remembering the creepy feeling that someone was watching him. He remembered the falling rock. "Did you have someone near the tunnel?"
"Well, no," McCarthy said.
Jeff said heatedly: "Look, my ass is out there on a limb. You make sure you keep me covered, okay?"
"Of course."
Jeff hung up, thinking that coverage was coverage, but there was always some opening for Louis to slip in. Clearly, this supposed guy from back when was clever. Oh Lord, Jeff thought, why don't I just cut out? Say goodbye to the whole thing? Leave town and find a saner scenario? Then he remembered Lexa's kiss, and he realized that he was committed to helping stop Louis Beering. It was no longer a matter of a job, or a book. It was about Lexa, and somehow she was special. Am I being impulsive again? he wondered.
As Jeff sat in the sterile office, pondering, the phone rang, and he answered absently. It was Lexa, and his heart did a dive. "Jeff?"
"Yes," he said.
"It's me, Lexa. I'm out of the hospital, and I've been with my mother in my grandfather's house because we're afraid to go home."
"I don't blame you," Jeff said, wondering if she were still upset about that kiss the other night.
"Actually," she said, "I'm at our favorite place. You know."
"You're kidding."
"No I'm not. She's been driving me nuts, and I just had to get out. Why don't you hurry on over."
"What about--?" He was thinking of her fiancée and her grandfather, all in one ominous bundle.
"PLEASE come see me here?"
Fifteen minutes later, Jeff was in a booth with her in Aerodynamic Donuts Since 1936. She had waited for him, huddled in a wet raincoat, looking kind of stiff with her neck brace and bandage. Fortunately the lovely face had not been marred; despite a shiner as black and blue as a gourmet oyster.
Jeff slid in beside her and took her hands in his. "Are you feeling okay?"
She looked brave and strong, with a touch of flip humor. "As well as can be expected. How about you?"
He stared. "Honestly? Right about now, I don't know."
She made a wry mouth. "I'm sorry. I know what I've been putting you through."
"You do?"
She nodded and declined her eyes. She said in the softest of voices: "I was crazy about you from the moment I laid eyes on you."
Jeff swallowed hard, his insides giving a lurch. "You what?"
She looked up with big, pained eyes. "I've been very confused, Jeff. I hope you'll forgive me."
"Sure, I understand." He hurt about her, inside.
She bit her lip. "I don't think you do. Remember the other night, when I pulled Grandfather into the cubicle and talked to him?"
He remembered: A pantomime: Her shadow, reclining; her finger stabbing repeatedly at Albert Beering; and the latter standing like a rock, taking it.
"I told him I'm through with Arthur."
Her words rained around him, and his hopes and thoughts and feelings went up and down like an elevator gone crazy.
"I didn't mention you at all." She looked more pained.
"For heaven's sake, Lexa, what are you saying?" He took her hands in his, trying to look into her soul.
She looked away. "I can't be in love with you. I can't be. It must be infatuation."
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