The Servants of Twilight

Few people had that effect on her. Damned few. Especially men. In the past, when she had relied upon men, her faith had not always-or even usually-been well placed. However, instinct told her that Charlie Harrison was different from most other men and that she would not regret placing her trust in him.

Charlie looked up from the paper Rankin had given him." The True Word, huh? Anything on it in our files?"

"Nothing."

Charlie looked at Christine." You ever hear of them?"

"No."

"You ever have any brochures or stationery or anything printed for that gourmet shop of yours?"

" Sure. But that's not the printer we use."

"Okay," Charlie said, "we'll have to find out who owns the company, try to get a list of their employees, start checking everyone out."

"Can do," Henry Rankin said.

To Christine, Charlie said, "You might have to talk with your mother about this, Ms. Scavello."

"I'd rather not," she said." Not unless it becomes absolutely necessary"

"Well….. all right. But it probably will become necessary.

For now….. you might as well go on to work. It'll take us awhile to dig into this."

"What about Joey?"

"He can stay here with me this afternoon," Charlie said." I want to see what'll happen if you leave without the boy. Will the guy in the van follow you-or will he wait for Joey to come out? Which of you is he most interested in?"

He'll wait for Joey, Christine thought grimly. Because it" s Joey he wants to kill.

Sherry Ordway, the receptionist at Klemet-Harrison, wondered if she and Ted, her husband, had made a mistake. Six years ago, after three years of marriage, they had decided they didn't really want children, and Ted had had a vasectomy. With no children, they could afford a better house and better furniture and a nicer car, and they were free to travel, and the evenings were always peaceful and perfect for curling up with a book-or with each other. Most of their friends were tied down with families, and every time Sherry and Ted saw someone else's child being rude or downright malevolent, they congratulated themselves on the wisdom of avoiding parenthood. They relished their freedom, and Sherry never regretted remaining childless. Until now. As she answered the telephone and typed letters and did filing, she watched Joey Scavello, and she began to wish Oust a little) that he was hers.

He was such a good kid. He sat in one of the armchairs in the waiting area, dwarfed by it, his feet off the floor. He spoke when spoken to, but he didn't interrupt anyone or call attention to himself. He leafed through some of the magazines, looking at pictures, and he hummed softly to himself, and he was just about the cutest thing she'd ever seen.

She had just finished typing a letter and had been surreptitiously watching the boy as, with much frowning and tonguebiting, he checked the knots in the laces of his sneakers and retied one of them. She was about to ask him if he would like another of her butterscotch Life Savers when the telephone rang.

" Klemet-Harrison," Sherry said.

A woman said, "Is Joey Scavello there? He's just a little boy, six years old. You can't miss him if he's there; he's such a charmer."

Surprised that anyone would be calling the boy, Sherry hesitated.

"This is his grandmother," the woman said." Christine told me she was bringing Joey to your office."

"Oh. His grandmother. Why, yes, of course, they're here right now.

Mrs. Scavello is in Mr. Harrison's office at the moment.

She's not available, but I'm sure-"

"Well, it's Joey I really want to talk to. Is he in with Mr. Harrison, too?"

"No. He's right here with me."

"Do you think I could speak to him for a moment?" the woman said." If it's not too much trouble."

"Oh, it's no trouble-"

"I won't tie up your line for long."

"Sure. Just a minute," Sherry said. She held the phone away from her face and said, "Joey? It's for you. Your grandmother."

" Grandma?" he said, and seemed to be amazed.

He came to the desk. Sherry gave him the phone, and he said hello, but didn't say anything else. He went stiff, his small hand clenching the handset so tightly that his knuckles looked as if they would pierce the skin that sheathed them. He stood there, wide-eyed, listening. The blood drained out of his face. His eyes filled with tears. Suddenly, with a gasp and shudder, he slammed the phone down.

Sherry jumped in surprise." Joey? What's wrong?"

His mouth became soft and tremulous.

"Joey? “

"It was… h-her.

"Your grandmother."

"No. The w-witch."

"Witch?"

"She said… she's gonna… c-c-cut my heart out."

Charlie sent Joey into his office with Christine, closed the door after them, and remained in the lounge to question Sherry.

She looked distraught." I shouldn't have let her talk to him.

I didn't realize-"

"It wasn't your fault," Henry Rankin said.

"Of course it wasn't," Charlie told her.

"What sort of woman-"

"That's what we're trying to find out," Charlie said." I want you to think about the call and answer a few questions."

"There wasn't much said."

"She claimed to be his grandmother?"

"Yes."