Free Touch (1987) by Elmore Leonard Page B

as Juvenal moved in front of him and she could no longer see Arnold's face . . . stopped that suddenly and seemed to let his breath out in a moan as Juvenal sat on the edge of the bed and took Arnold's head and shoulders into his arms.
    God---
    Lynn could feel the chills-and-thrills on the back of her neck and down her arms, giant goosebumps. But aware and thinking at the same time, seeing her chance.
    There was no sound as she turned and hurried back through the hallway to Juvenal's office, hesitated with her hand on the door, left it open--what difference did it make?--picked up the phone and dialed Bill Hill's number.
    * * *
    "I'm getting out of here tonight. Pick me up."
    "Wait a minute," Bill Hill said. "What's wrong?"
    "Nothing's wrong. I want to get out of here."
    "You talked to him already?"
    "I talked to him and he's real. I don't know what he is, but he's real. He knows things. I've done my job and now I want to leave."
    "Wait, okay?" Bill Hill said. "You see him heal somebody?"
    "Not exactly, but I think I know why he's here. Pick me up in front. What'll it take you, about a half hour?"
    "Little more'n that, I got to get dressed," Bill Hill said. "Tell me what happened."
    "Nothing happened. Well, it did, but not something you'd say is proof he heals people." She paused a moment. "I told him why I'm here."
    "You told him--"
    "He knew anyway, I could tell. He knew I wasn't an alcoholic."
    "Didn't you act it out any?"
    "I tried but . . . it's different. They don't act like drunks. Listen, he's not the only one. Everybody here knows something I don't. I don't fit in."
    "Tell me what he said to you."
    "He said lots of things. I mean in a way he did. But you look at it another way, he didn't say anything."
    "Well, can you talk to him some more?"
    "For what?" Lynn said. "What do you want me to do with him?"
    "Just tell me what his game is, okay? What's he doing there, hiding or what?"
    "It isn't something--" Lynn paused. "Look, I can usually relate to just about anybody, no matter what kind of trip they're on. You just sort of get involved and find out where their head is. But Juvenal isn't on any kind of trip that I know of. He isn't off somewhere or playing a role, trying to impress you, he's right here. But there's something . . . not strange, different about him."
    "Different how?"
    "It's like he's so natural he's different."
    "Natural, huh?" Bill Hill didn't sound too enthused.
    "He doesn't lay anything on you, any funny words or mystic-sounding bullshit you think about later, 'What was he talking about?' That's what I'm trying to say, he absolutely doesn't bullshit you or try to make you think he knows something you don't even though he does. Earlier today I thought he was putting a guy on, a real weird guy, a religious freak, but now I think about it--no, he was being straight with the guy. He knew I knew the guy was a little weird, maybe the way I rolled my eyes or something, but he accepted the guy. I mean this guy came across as a really serious asshole of the worst kind. You could see Juvenal didn't agree with the guy, but he seemed to be interested in him as a person and kidded with him. That's another thing; he doesn't seem to take serious things serious."
    "He doesn't, huh?"
    "Only one time Juvie tried to bullshit the guy a little, you could see he didn't know how--"
    "About what?"
    "Listen, I've got to get off the phone. Pick me up in forty minutes, okay? And get a bottle of Spumante--"

    Chapter 9
    LYNN WAITED about ten minutes. When Juvenal didn't come back she got up and walked down the hall again, past the empty chair.
    There was the sound of someone snoring now, a soft, faint sound; it made her aware of how quiet it was on the floor. People sleeping . . . people down on the second floor having coffee, watching television . . . she wondered if she should say good-bye to Edith and some of the others. If she did, she would have to make up a story, a crisis at home, or she couldn't take the program or she