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large as bomb craters.
The farther downslope we proceeded, the deeper the water got as
tributaries fed in from thoroughfares, all of it murky runoff from our fire.
By the time we d walked a block and a half, the heavy black water was
deep enough that we were in danger of being swept off our feet. We
picked our path carefully, hiking the center of the empty roadway, where
the flow was shallower.
 Looks like it s headed for the lake, Sears said.  We re flowing over
ten thousand gallons a minute, most of it straight out of that building. I
wonder if this is causing traffic problems on Westlake. What do you
think?
I said nothing.
The street was a ghost town, dark and empty, just us and the black
water. We used our lights to keep from stepping into holes.
I kept thinking that now that we were a few blocks from the fire, I
might make a run for it. Maybe if I got to the Pedersons place in West
Seattle before Iola and Bernard did, I could retrieve the bags and escape.
I had no idea what I would do with the bonds, for I had no intention of
spending stolen money, but I knew I couldn t leave twelve million dollars
in bearer bonds lying around.
It was the closest to hope I d been in hours. It wouldn t be as if I were
running from the police, because the police didn t know about me yet. I
wouldn t be running from anybody but Sweeney Sears, followed in a few
hours by the full force of the federal government, of course. The feds
144 E A R L E ME R S ON
would figure out right away that we had some or all of Ghanet s money.
Flight would keep me out of jail momentarily, and like every fugitive, I
had already begun planning my life minute by minute instead of week by
week or year by year. Postponement was not the same as exoneration, but
it was beginning to feel as if it was the only goal I had a shot at.
Knowing I wouldn t have more than a few minutes to stuff a sleeping
bag and a knapsack with essentials, I rehearsed what to pack when I got
home. It went without saying that my Subaru WRX would be useless.
They would put an APB out on the car first thing.
 Ten thousand gallons a minute, and every drop is headed for the
same place, said Sears.  We should have looked into this a long time ago.
What do you think, Gum? You want credit for averting a disaster?
 Will it get me a lighter sentence?
Again, Sears pretended he hadn t heard me.
Tronstad and Johnson were right. Sending the three of us to jail
meant nothing more to Sears than another line in his résumé; three more
rungs to scrape his boots on as he climbed up through the department in-
frastructure.
 You know, Gum, there was a period when I believed I could make
you into a good firefighter.
 Being a good firefighter isn t all there is to life.
My statement stopped him cold. He actually stopped walking. I knew
why. Being a good firefighter was all there was to his life.  Gum, he said
angrily,  if you re a good firefighter, you re also a good human being. The
two go hand in hand.
 So if you re not a good firefighter, you re not a good human being? I
know a lot of people who aren t capable of doing this job who are mar-
velous human beings.
 You re distorting my meaning.
 I know exactly what you mean. You really do think being a good fire-
fighter is the point of life. It makes you nervous, doesn t it? That I know
about you.
 I m just committed to my job. Listen, Gum. I know you re angry, but
you have to believe me when I say I feel bad about this.
 I don t have to believe shit.
T HE S MOK E R O OM 145
Sears looked at me hard.  What did Ted tell you anyway?
 He said you asked them who might want to come up to Twenty-
nine s to replace me.
 I admit I might have thought about some manpower switches. It
didn t have anything to do with you personally.
 Sorry to be such a disappointment.
He turned and once again began walking downslope toward Lake
Union. By now, even in the shallows, the rushing water was well past our
ankles. Had we stepped into the gutter, the stream would have eddied up
over the tops of our tall boots.
 Where the hell are they? Sears asked.  I told them not to scout too
far ahead . . . Jesus, you don t think they took a flyer, do you?
I looked him in the eye for the first time during our walk.  I have no
idea how bad they want to stay out of jail, sir.
 I can t believe I sent them down here alone. Oh, shit. That was a 
When he grabbed my arm to make certain I didn t escape, too, I jerked it [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]