“But that’s nuts,” I said. “You know that, right? How nuts that is?”

Peter nodded with an almost comic enthusiasm. “You don’t have to explain it to me,” he said.

“But I mean…,” I said, hesitating.

“Look, Jeanine. It’s our only option. I’ll put him in the Camaro’s trunk. You follow me in the Camaro back to my house. I’ll take it from there. I’m working the graveyard shift. No one will even know I’m gone.”

“This is crazy,” I said, looking around.

“We’re out of time,” Peter said. “If a car comes by, I won’t have a choice. I’m trying to do you a favor, but if you’re not up to it, I completely understand. I’m not real jazzed about the possibility of going to jail myself. It’s entirely up to you.”

I stood there looking at him as he checked his watch. He blinked as he stared back, waiting calmly for my answer. Even with his big hands resting on his bulky gear-laden hips, he suddenly seemed friendly, a nice teddy bear of a guy, a drinking buddy, a big brother sticking his neck out for me, trying to do me a solid.

Had my father ever done something like this for someone? I wondered. Maybe he had, I thought.

I closed my eyes. There it was before me. The rest of my life. Jail or freedom. Right or wrong.

I thought about looking over again at the man I’d struck, but in the end I decided not to.

I opened my eyes.

In the silence, Peter clicked the cuffs together. Like the final tick of a scale coming to rest. Like the click of the bathroom door with Alex and Maureen behind it, I thought.

Then finally, I nodded.

“OK, then. Hurry up now,” Peter said. “Back up the car, pop the trunk, and follow me.”

Book Two. ENDLESS SUMMER

Chapter 12

IT MUST HAVE BEEN around noon when I woke up, but I didn’t open my eyes right away.