his forehead: idiot! He really needed to stop getting stoned on the job. He reached up and carefully brushed her hair away from her face. The expression he found there was one of bemusement.
âYou donât have to be so careful. I donât bite.â
Theo smiled. âWell, actuallyâ¦â
âOh fuck you. You going to take me to County?â
âShould I?â
âIâll just be back in seventy-two and the milk in my refrigerator will be spoiled.â
âThen Iâd better take you home.â
He started the car and circled the block to head back to the Fly Rod Trailer Court. He would have taken a back way if he could, to save Molly some embarrassment, but the Fly Rod was right off Cypress, Pine Coveâs main street. As they passed the bank, people getting out of their cars turned to stare. Molly made faces at them out the window.
âThat doesnât help, Molly.â
âFuck âem. Fans just want a piece of me. I can give âem that. Iâve got my soul.â
âMighty generous of you.â
âIf you werenât a fan, I wouldnât let you do this.â
âWell, I am. Huge fan.â Actually, heâd never heard of her until the first time he was called to take her awayfrom H.P.âs Cafe, where she had attacked the espresso machine because it wouldnât quit staring at her.
âNo one understands. Everyone takes a piece of you, then thereâs nothing left for you. Even the meds take a piece of you. Do you have any idea what Iâm talking about here?â
Theo looked at her. âI have such a mind-numbing fear of the future that the only way I can function at all is with equal amounts of denial and drugs.â
âJeez, Theo, youâre really fucked up.â
âThanks.â
âYou canât go around saying crazy shit like that.â
âI donât normally. Itâs been a tough day so far.â
He turned into the Fly Rod Trailer Court: twenty run-down trailers perched on the bank of Santa Rosa Creek, which carried only a trickle of water after the long, dry summer. A grove of cypress trees hid the trailer park from the main street and the view of passing tourists. The chamber of commerce had made the owner of the park take down the sign at the entrance. The Fly Rod was a dirty little secret for Pine Cove, and they kept it well.
Theo stopped in front of Mollyâs trailer, a vintage fifties single-wide with small louvered windows and streaks of rust running from the roof. He got Molly out of the car and took off the handcuffs.
Theo said, âIâm going to see Val Riordan. You want me to have her call something in to the pharmacy for you?â
âNo, Iâve got my meds. I donât like âem, but I got âem.â She rubbed her wrists. âWhy you going to see Val? You going nuts?â
âProbably, but this is business. You going to be okay now?â
âI have to study my lines.â
âRight.â Theo started to go, then turned. âMolly, what were you doing at the Slug at eight in the morning?â
âHow should I know?â
âIf the guy at the Slug had been a local, Iâd be taking you to County right now, you know that?â
âI wasnât having a fit. He wanted a piece of me.â
âStay out of the Slug for a while. Stay home. Just groceries, okay?â
âYou wonât talk to the tabloids?â
He handed her a business card. âNext time someone tries to take a piece of you, call me. I always have the cell phone with me.â
She pulled up her sweater and tucked the card into the waistband of her tights, then, still holding up her sweater, she turned and walked to her trailer with a slow sway. Thirty or fifty, under the sweater she still had a figure. Theo watched her walk, forgetting for a minute who she was. Without looking back, she said, âWhat if itâs you, Theo? Who do I call