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most was Wally s Tavern. And if he wanted information, or
rather to find some dirt, Wally s was where he could find it.
He flung the last dart, slipped on his jacket and headed out
the door, not even bothering to look at his last bull s-eye hit.
23
EchoEnergy
Sabrina snapped off her car s air-conditioning, if only for a
few minutes before the windshield fogged up again. The rain
had stopped. The storms had moved through, leaving behind
a freshly scrubbed blue sky and a short break from the last
several days of torturous heat and humidity. It was Florida
brochure-beautiful and yet Sabrina couldn t stop shivering.
Back at her office she had changed out of her wet
clothes into a pair of running shorts, running shoes and a
baggy T-shirt she kept in her locker. One of EchoEnergy s
employee benefits was the use of a state-of-the-art fitness
center with indoor track and an Olympic-sized pool. But
Sabrina always felt there was something counterproductive
about running indoors, breathing regurgitated air.
Even with the sunlight Sabrina felt on edge. Dwight
Lansik was missing. She was sure of it. Reactor #5 seemed
to be processing Grade 2 garbage without anyone in the lab
knowing about it. Maybe Lansik had approved it, but
Sabrina doubted he would agree to bypass the flushing
106 ALEX KAVA
tank. If all that wasn t bad enough, the thunderstorms and
Robocop security guard had frayed the last of her nerves.
Ironically, the fiasco had kept her mind off her father.
She managed the pitted two-lane highway with ease, no
tanker trucks to battle on the weekends. She rolled down
the car windows when the windshield started to fog again.
Then she breathed in the fresh air, crisp with pine and wet
dirt. Despite the deluge, the air was now lighter, no longer
the hot, thick blanket that wrapped around you like a wet
Turkish towel.
Sabrina had chosen to stay at the university for her
undergraduate and graduate studies when her mother, who
grew up in Philadelphia, suggested she give the East Coast
a chance. She barely left the city except for one or two
yearly conferences where she saw more of the luxury
hotels than the designated host cities. She couldn t
remember the last time she had taken a vacation, at least
not one that didn t include a conference, a workshop, a
presentation or a guest-teaching session.
She didn t mind. Her main goal for the last ten years had
been to make tenure. It had superseded everything else in
her life, including, some might say, a life outside her career.
Even Daniel claimed she treated him at times like a distrac-
tion or obligation. He hated coming in second behind her
career, sometimes third behind her family. Her only defense
was that she just wasn t good at relationships. People, in
general, were illogical, prone to mistakes, too unpre-
dictable. She was used to dealing in resolutions and equa-
tions that, despite the complex factors involved, could
always be solved with logic and patience.
The truth was she never once not even a little bit felt
the kind of passion that she watched and observed in her
WHITEWASH 107
parents relationship. Maybe she simply didn t want to
settle for anything less. And maybe that was why her
family still came before Daniel.
When Sabrina decided she needed to leave Chicago to
be closer to her father she didn t even discuss it with
Daniel. She simply told him her decision. He assured her
it wouldn t change things between them. Likewise, even
her dean insisted she take a sabbatical from the university
rather than resign her post.
How much time do you need? both men had asked her
separately, both with genuine concern.
Six months. She wouldn t need more than six months,
a year at the most. Her father s condition remained un-
changed, perhaps a slight decline if anything. In another
month her year would be up and she d need to ask for more
time from her dean. She already knew she wouldn t be
asking for more time with Daniel. Now it was just a matter
of how to tell him. What initially seemed to be a temporary
glitch in her disciplined, orderly life had become a limbo
in too many ways.
Sabrina thought of her brother, Eric. She approached
I-10 and noticed the sign: Pensacola, 190 miles. Why
would her father hallucinate a visit from Eric? Wishful
thinking seemed possible, but why such an elaborate story?
She hadn t seen Eric since their mother s accident. As
far as she knew, her father hadn t seen Eric, either. Funny
how the same event could change people in such different
ways. One day you re arguing over turkey or ham for the
traditional Christmas feast. The next day you re taking
sides over whether your mother s battered remains should
be cremated or buried.
It had been an accident. Slippery Chicago streets. A car
108 ALEX KAVA
spinning out of control and slamming into their mother s
car. When her father called and said, Your mother s been
in an accident, Sabrina had grabbed a pen and notepad
from her office desk ready to scratch down the details and
which hospital. Nothing had prepared her for her father s
follow-up. She s gone.
Sabrina still remembered her hand with the pen
hovering over the notepad. Her breathing stopped. Every
buzz and hum around her came to a sudden halt, replaced
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