Chapter 12 12

All I could hear was the back porch, a ghostly gargling sound of rain running down the drainpipe. Joe suddenly felt his legs go weak, and his hands were leaning on the railing. A gust of wind and rain blew under the porch eaves and splashed in his face. Barbara pointed to the lower hillside and the woods in the southwest, "The crash site is in that direction." "how far?" Maisie stood at the open kitchen door and said, "About half a mile in a straight line, maybe a little further." In the woods on the outskirts of the prairie, the fires were quickly extinguished because of the wet summer that year.In the depths of the woods, the eyes had to barely adjust to the darkness, and it might be easier to follow the deer tracks.Rose probably took the kid—on her back most of the time—out of the woods.Although the straight-line distance is about half a mile, if you follow the trail of deer, it may be two to three times farther.

"A mile and a half," said Joe. "Impossible," said Barbara. "Very likely, she may have done it." "I'm not talking about excursions." Turning to Maisie, she said, "Mrs. Yoon, you've been a great help to us, really. But we've got some confidential business to discuss here for a minute." "Oh, of course, I know. You can talk about it here." Although Maisie was a little curious, she still politely withdrew. "Only a mile and a half," repeated Jo. "That's the horizontal distance," said Barbara, approaching him, putting a hand on Joe's shoulder. "It's only a mile and a half horizontally, but it's more than four miles vertically. The part I can't accept the most."

He was at war with himself, and he had to have faith or something if he really believed there were survivors.And Joe has nothing. Barbara's hand was still on Joe's shoulder. Although she was a little harsh on him, she cared for him like a new sister in her heart. "At first you made me believe that there was one survivor in this catastrophe, and now there's another one. I stand in this smoking ruin like I'm in a slaughterhouse, and I know anyone who wants to get out on two legs The probability here is one in a billion." "agree." "No—it's less than one billionth. It's almost an astronomical figure. It's too small to estimate."

"Ok." "So these two people have no chance of success at all. Not even the smallest chance." "There are still many things I haven't told you, and I don't plan to tell you right now. Because I don't know, it will be safer. But one thing... this Dorothy is a scientist. For many years, she has been engaged in a major Research work, funded by the government or the military, a very secret and fucking huge program." "What is it?" "I don't know, but before she boarded the plane in New York, she called a friend of hers who was a reporter in Los Angeles and told her to bring some trusted witnesses and arrange a meeting at the exit of the Los Angeles airport. She claimed that she brought Something that can change the world forever."

Barbara looked into his eyes, obviously trying to find out that his "changing the whole world" fantasy was just a joke.She is a woman who pays attention to rational and logical thinking, and only believes in facts and details. Experience tells her that the path traveled by the ruler crab is completed by countless small steps.For so many years, as an investigator, the cases she took over often presented her with millions of fragments and unsolvable mysteries, which were much more complicated than the homicide cases undertaken by the police.The mysteries of human behavior and mechanical failure cannot be unraveled by mere miracles, but by hard work.

Jo knew the meaning of her eyes, after all, journalists were not in the same line of work as she was. "What did you just say?" She urged him, "When the plane fell over, Du Luosi took out a squeezed plastic bottle from her purse, which contained a magical lotion that temporarily made the user invulnerable with a knife. Just like Xu sunscreen, apply it quickly on yourself?" Joe couldn't help laughing, for the first time in a long time. "No, of course not." "Then what is it?" "I don't know, something." "Sounds like nothing."

"Something." He insisted. The lightning is far away, the thunder is gradually subsiding, and the churning clouds have an iron-gray beauty.On the lower slopes in the distance, dense forests shrouded in enigmatic fog.The bushes hadn't been burned or wrecked the night Barbara arrived.The wind skirt dances with poplar wood, blows across the pasture, and the rain flutters, just like a skirt in a dance. Joe is hopeful again, and the news is indeed encouraging.Of course, that's why hope is so dangerous, it's so inspiring, intoxicatingly sweet, and then it goes too fast. But it was better than not having any hope in mind.

Joe's heart was full of surprise and anticipation, but also full of fear. "Something." He insisted. He pointed a wet hand at his jeans, wiped the water off his face with the sleeve of his jacket, turned to Barbara and said, "No matter what method you use, they got to the grassland safely, and walked A mile and a half to the pasture. A mile and a half and an hour and fifteen minutes. About exactly the time it takes to carry a child on your back, or hold her hand, at night for that long walk." "I hate being the needle that pops the balloon." "Then don't do that."

"But there is one thing you have to think about." "I'm all ears." Barbara hesitated, then said, "To avoid arguments, let's say there are two survivors, and this woman was on the plane, and her name was Dorothy...but she told Maisie and Jeff that she It's called Lin Ruijuan." "so what?" "Why did she tell them Nina's real name if she didn't tell them her real name?" "Those who hunted Rose, they didn't want to chase Nina. They didn't care about Nina." "If they find out that Rose saved the girl in some way, and she is going to take this method to the Los Angeles airport to hold a press conference to announce it to the world. Then, should they also face the same situation as Rose? Danger."

"Maybe, I don't know, I don't care." "I mean—she should have named Nina something else." "It's not necessary." "She should," Barbara insisted. "What difference does that make?'" So Nina might be a pseudonym, too. " He felt as if he had been slapped, and he was silent. "Maybe the kid who came into the house that night was really named Sarah or Mary or Jennifer..." "No!" said Joe firmly. "Just like Lin Ruijuan is a pseudonym." "If that child is not Nina, it would be a coincidence that Rose fabricated my daughter's name out of thin air! Let's talk about your one-in-a-billion chance."

"I think there's more than one blond kid on that plane." "They're all called Nina? Come on, Barbara." "If there are survivors, and one of them is a little blond girl," Seshara said, "you must at least be prepared that she might not be Nina." "I know." But Joe cared a lot about how Barbara forced him to say "I know." "Are you ready?" "Of course there is." "Joe, I'm really worried for you." "Thanks," he said wryly. "You have a broken soul." "I'm fine." "You break down so easily." He shrugged. "No," she said, "look at yourself." "I'm better than ever." "She might not be Nina." "She's probably not Nina," he admitted, but resented Barbara's constant backlash.He also knew that she really cared, and gave him an inoculation to face the facts first, lest he would collapse when his hopes failed in the future. "I'm ready to face the fact that her name might not be Nina, okay? Do you feel better? If that's the case, I can control it." "You say so, but it's not true." He glanced at her, "It's true." "Maybe there is a little bit of heart, knowing that she may not be Nina. But your heart is pounding, running with the belief that she is Nina." He couldn't feel the frantic light in his eyes, looking forward to a miraculous reunion. But the sad look in her eyes made him so angry that he almost wanted to go up and beat her up. Maisie was making peanut butter dough when she watched from the window an emotional argument between two people on the porch.She didn't intentionally eavesdrop, but occasionally a few words would reach her ears.She was a Samaritan after all, and like Jesus, Andrew, Simon and Peter, August will be a month to honor her.She remains willing to provide her utmost assistance. "No, actually the girl never said her name. Rui Juan introduced her. The poor child didn't say more than two words. She was so tired, so sleepy, and maybe startled by the overturned car She's gone. But she's not hurt, mind you, there's no scars at all. Her little face is as white as wax, her eyelids are heavy, and she's in a daze. I'm worried about her, but Ruijuan says she's fine. After all, Ruijuan is a doctor , so I was a little relieved. The little girl stayed in the car and slept all the way to Pablo." Maisie kneaded a small piece of dough with her palms, placed it on the baking tray, and pressed it lightly with her thumbs to flatten it completely. "Ruijuan is visiting her family in Fountains, Colorado. Because Nina's parents went to their wedding anniversary, Ruijuan took her for the weekend. At least that's what I know." "It's unusual—I mean a black doctor and a white doctor are co-practicing here, and it's equally unusual to see a black woman with a white child around here. But I put It all looks like the world is finally a better place. There's a little more tolerance, a little more love." She folded the top opening of the bag in half and handed it to Barbara. "Thank you, Mayu." Maisie said to Joe, "I'm sorry, but I can't help you any more." "She has helped a lot," he said with a smile, "and this bag of snacks." She looked out the side window of the kitchen, just in time to see a stable in the drizzle.She said: "A good snack lifts my spirits and I wish I could have made more for Jeff today. He loves that mare." Jo glanced at the religious-themed calendar, "Maisie, how did you keep Confidence?In this world where there are so many dead people, planes fall down every day, and your beloved mare gets sick for no reason, how do you maintain your faith? " Facing this question, Maisie was not at all surprised or offended, "I don't know, it's really difficult sometimes, isn't it? I sometimes feel annoyed that we don't have children. I have a few times before Miscarriage record, so I gave up. Sometimes I want to scream at the sky, and I can't sleep at night. I think over and over again... well, life has its own fun, and it's just that we are going to a better It's just a stop in the middle of the place. If we're going to get eternal life there, why should we care what happens here." Joe originally expected to get an answer that was insightful, simple and wise, and convincing to him, but... He said: "That mare is something Jeff cares about, and so should you. Because it is very important to him. " He took another piece of dough and kneaded it into a small white moon.She smiled and said, "Oh, if I could understand, Jo, then I ain't me, I'm God." "Why do you think so?" "Don't you think it has a harder time than we do? It knows our latent nature, but has to look at our ever-present flaws. Watch us kill each other, hate, lie, envy, greed and never-ending insatiability. Wouldn't it be sad to see the ugliness of all human beings when all we see are ugly people doing whatever they want around us?" Maisie put the dough balls in the pan and pressed her thumbprints on them. The veterinarian's jeep was still parked in front of the Ford, and a German poodle was sleeping in the back.When Joe and Barbara climbed into the car and slammed the door shut, it raised its majestic head and watched them from the back of the jeep through the windshield. After Seshala started the car, the windshield was immediately covered with mist by the hot air they exhaled. "If she's Nina, your Nina," Barbara said as she waited for the air conditioner to clear the fog from the windows, "then where was she all year?" "With Dorothy somewhere?" "Why didn't she let your daughter see you? How could she be so cruel?" "Not cruel, you said the answer yourself on the back porch." "Why is it that the only thing you can hear is my nonsense?" "I don't know why, ever since Nina and Rose were rescued—because of Rose, now Rose's enemies are also looking for Nina. If Nina is sent back to me, she will definitely become a target. Rose Just protecting her." Condensation drops back to the edge of the windshield, and Barbara turns on the wipers. "Rose was just protecting her," he repeated, "and that's why I'm trying to learn as much as I can about Flight 353. And to live long enough to find out what unraveled the whole story." The shady way. When the people behind these bastards are brought to justice and sent to the gas chambers, then Rose will be safe, and Nina will be able...to come back to me." "If this Nina is your Nina," she reminded Jo. "Yes, if she is." They rounded the flower beds and drove up the drive. "Do you think we should ask Maisie to help us find the house where Rose and the little girl got off at Pablo that night?" "It's useless, there won't be anything there. They didn't go into the house at all. As soon as Maisie left, they left.Rose just used Maisie to drive her to the nearest big town, where she could change to other transportation, or call a trusted friend in Los Angeles or somewhere to pick her up.How old do you think Pablo is? " "About a hundred thousand people." "That's big enough, there are many ways to get in and out of that city, bus, train, taxi, even plane." As they turned up the gravel road, toward the tarmac, Joe saw three men in raincoats come out of a stable, Jeff, Ned, and the veterinarian, but there were no horses behind them. . They shivered in the rain, like a group of monks in process.They walked towards the house, only to see that their sunken shoulders were bearing not only the weight of the storm, but also the helplessness of failure.They're going to call the factory that disposes of dead animals, alas, a beloved horse, that's going to be transported away and boiled into grease. Joe hoped that years and labor and miscarriages would not bring distance between Jeff and Maisie, that they would still sleep in each other's arms in the dead of night. In Fountain, Colorado, Barbara parked next to Joe's rented garage, two blocks from her house. "Well, I think we can only go so far." "Thank you, Barbara. You took a great risk—" "I don't want you to worry about that, you hear? That's my decision." "Without your kindness and courage, I would never have been able to get to the bottom of this. You opened a door for me today. " "But where does this door lead?" she said worriedly. "Maybe it's the door to Nina." Barbara looked tired and scared, and a little sad.She wiped her face with her hands and said, "Joe, you remember my words. No matter where you are going in the future, you must remember my words. I will tell you today, even those two people, I don't know why they can come from here. If you come out of the crash alive, one of them will definitely be your daughter Nina. Don't swing your sword at yourself, let alone be the one who cut off your own legs." Joe nodded. "Promise me," she said. "I promise you." "Joe, she's dead." "Maybe." "You have to be strong." "Wait and see." "Time to go," she said. Joe opened the car door and walked out into the rain. "Good luck," Barbara said. "thanks. He closes the car door and Barbara walks away. As he opened the door of his rental car, Joe heard the screech of a Ford half a street away.He looked up to see the Ford backing up in his direction, its red taillights blinking on the slick asphalt. Barbara got out of the car and ran toward him, wrapping her arms around Joe. "You're a lovely man, Joe Bent." Jo hugged her back, but said nothing.He remembered how badly he had tried to beat Barbara when she had forced him to give up the idea that Nina might be alive.Now he was ashamed of what he had thought then, a shame and an uneasiness - but he was also touched by her friendship.It made more sense than he'd imagined when he first rang her doorbell. "How did I get to know you so well in just a few hours?" she said, "I feel like you are my own son." Then she left him again.As she moved away, Joe watched the shrinking figure in the rearview mirror from inside the car until it disappeared. Joe drove back to Denver soaking wet, ignoring the speed limit, alternating between heating and air conditioning, trying to dry his clothes.A hope that he will soon find Nina makes his blood boil. Although he had made some promises to Barbara, one thing seemed absolutely true in this treacherous and changing world: Nina was alive, somewhere.She shone on his skin like a warm light, a spectrum undetectable to the naked eye, like infrared and ultraviolet.Although he couldn't see her, he could feel her shining in this world. It was quite different from those premonitions, this hope was in his hands, not just an empty fantasy. For more than a year, whenever he was occasionally excited, the guilt and grief that followed would immediately bring his emotions down to the bottom.Even if he finds Nina, he can't get Michelle and Chris back.They were gone and never came back. If he was too happy for Nina's survival, wouldn't he be too hard-hearted. He came to Colorado purely to find out the truth, but now the drive has shifted to finding his young daughter.It is conceivable that the frenzy in his heart at this moment is immeasurable.At Denver's international airport, Joe returned the car and retrieved his signed credit card statement.Fifty minutes before the scheduled departure time of his flight, he returned to the air terminal. He was so hungry that he went to Fan's the night before and ate two cheeseburgers and a chocolate bar, and then he ate nothing but two snacks at Maisie's. At the terminal, he found the nearest restaurant, ordered a sandwich and chips, and ordered a Heineken. He had never eaten such a delicious meal, and for the first time since last August, he ate it all up and ate it with such gusto.With more than twenty minutes before boarding, he suddenly turned to the men's bathroom, feeling like throwing up. After he went into the toilet and locked the door, the nausea passed.He didn't really vomit, he just leaned against the door and started crying. He hadn't cried in months, probably because he might see Nina again.Or maybe he's subconsciously afraid of never finding her, or losing her again, or maybe he's renewing his grief for Michelle and Chris, or maybe he knows too much behind the scenes of the plane accident, most of which are horrific. detail. Now that he was on the verge of riding a tiger, he could only regain control of himself; if he was constantly swinging between excitement and despair, he knew that it would be useless to find those two people.Joe, blushing but calm, boarded a plane to Los Angeles at the last moment. As the plane took off, Joe suddenly felt a hollow sound in his ears, a sound of footsteps coming down the stairs, and he clutched the handrail, falling forward as if he would look head first. When flying to Denver, he wasn't afraid at all.But at this moment, he was in fear.The reason when he went east was that he greeted death gladly.Because living longer than his family is a burden, death is a relief—but now, with the motivation to fly back west, he has countless reasons to live. Even when the plane had leveled off, he was restless.He couldn't stop thinking about one of the drivers saying to the other, "Are we recording?" Because Captain Bai Diluo couldn't get it out of Joe's mind, he simply took out the three folded papers from the inner pocket of his jacket.The so-called reviewing the old to learn the new, maybe he can discover some things that he had neglected before. One-third of the seats on the plane were empty, and Joe had the window seat, and the middle seat was unoccupied, so he could enjoy privacy. A flight attendant brought a pen and a notebook at his request.When he finished reading the transcript, he separated Captain Bai Diluo's conversation and copied it in a notepad.Separate from the situation where co-pilot Sun Weite gradually flustered, and delete the voice and footnotes described by Barbara, maybe you can find something different in the captain's words, otherwise it is difficult to concentrate. When Joe was finished, he put the manuscript back in his coat pocket and read the contents of the blotter. "One of them is called Dr. Bolouis." "One of them is called Dr. Lankes." "They did very bad things to me." "They spoiled me." "Stop them." "Are we recording?" "Tell them to stop hurting me." "Are we recording?" "Stop them, or I'll kill everybody, everybody, as soon as I get the chance... I'm going to do it, kill everybody, I'm happy." "It's so interesting." "Hehehe, we are on our way, Dr. Lan, Dr. Bao, we are on our way." "Hehehe, are we recording?" "Are we recording?" "Oh! Wow!" "Oh yeah!" "Now look." "Cool!" From this, Joe can't see anything new, but some things he noticed before are more obvious in this cropped content.Although the captain spoke in an adult tone, the tone was very childish, like "They did bad things to me." "They spoiled me." "Stop them." "Tell them to stop hurting me." These are not the phrases or sentences an adult would use to accuse his tormentor or to call for help. The longest line is threatening to kill everyone, especially the "I'm happy." This line is more like a child's frizz-especially the line that follows it with "This is so interesting." "Hehehe, We're on our way..." "Hehehe." "Oh! Wow!". "Oh yeah!" When Flight 747 was tumbling and falling, Bai Diluo's reaction was like a child's excitement when riding a roller coaster.According to Barbara, the captain's voice sounded fearless.Indeed, there was no terror in his tone. "Now look." This sentence was said three and a half seconds before the plane hit the ground.When Bai Diluo saw the night scene like a black rose gradually blooming in front of the windshield, he didn't seem to be very scared, but just surprised. "Cool!" Joe read the last sentence for a long time, and it was not until the feeling of chilling fear disappeared that he considered all possible meanings of it with a more objective attitude. "Cool!" Until the end, Bai Diluo's reaction was like a child playing in a playground. His attitude of disregarding the life and death of the passengers and crew was the same as that of an ignorant and stubborn child who tortured an insect with a match. It's really no different. "Cool!" Even a young and ignorant child, no matter how selfish or immature he may be, will still have times to be afraid.Even a suicidal person screams instinctively when he jumps off the edge of a building, doesn't he?But the captain, no matter what the transition he was in, was so unconcerned, even amused by it.It was as if he knew he would not be physically threatened. "Cool!" Captain Bai Diluo, a family man, a faithful husband, and a devout Mormon.He is calm, friendly, kind, compassionate, successful in his career, happy and healthy, and has no cancer himself. What is wrong with this picture? "Cool!" A nameless fire suddenly arose in Qiao's heart, and it wasn't aimed at Bai Diluo, he was obviously also a victim—although he didn't see it at first.This accumulated anger dating back to childhood and adolescence is like superheated steam in a boiler, unable to find a valve to release the pressure, and it is about to explode. He stuffed the notepad into his jacket pocket and clenched his fists, trying to find something to beat until it broke and his knuckles were bloody. This blind rage always reminded Joe of his father. Geofran is not a person who is easily angered. On the contrary, he never raises his voice and speaks. He always treats people with a humorous, optimistic and appreciative attitude. He was a good man, too good for words, and a very eccentric optimist for what happened to him. But Joe resented him all his life. He could no longer remember his father having two legs.When he was less than three years old, a nineteen-year-old drunk drove a van and hit the side of his father's car, and he lost his left leg ever since. Fran and Joe's mother, Donna, got married on the back of two paychecks and work clothes.To save money, their cars are only insured with mandatory liability insurance. Drunk drivers have no property, nor can they get disability benefits from any insurance company.The left leg was amputated from the knee to the middle of the hip, and there was no effective prosthetic surgery at that time.Also, any functional prosthetic is very expensive.Fran quickly learned to move with agility on one leg and a cane.He also joked about running a marathon.Joe was never ashamed of his father's unusual appearance.In his mind, his father is not a one-legged man with shaky and weird moves, but a master bedside story teller, a facilitator of various games, a patient global coach, Joe's first fight, It was in the first grade at the age of six, and a kid named Ores laughed at Fran for being a "stupid cripple."Although Reese was much taller than Joe, his superior size was no match for the angry Joe, so he got the shit out of him.Joe even tried to gouge out Ores' right eye, to show him what it's like to have two and you have only one.But the teacher pulled them away before Joe could poke him blind. He wasn't annoyed at all afterwards, and he still is.He is not proud of it, but has always acted like this. Donna knew that her husband would be upset if he knew his son was in trouble for him.So she punished Joe in private, and the two of them kept the secret together. That was the beginning of Joe's life of silent anger and periodic violence. As he grew up, he went around looking for fights, but Joe picked the time and place for fights to ensure that his father would not see them. Fran was originally a roof repair worker, but he couldn't climb the stairs with one leg, and it was inconvenient to work, so he had no choice but to accept government relief.But then he switched to carpentry and stopped receiving the handout.He made jewelry basins, lamp holders, and other objects inlaid with imported woods into intricate patterns.He found a merchant willing to sell his work, and within a short time he paid off all his debts. Donna, who worked as a seamstress at a tailor and dry cleaner, came home steam-frizzed and smelled of petroleum spirit and other solvents.To this day, whenever Joe enters a dry cleaner, the first breath he breathes reminds him of his mother's hair and hazel eyes.As a child, he thought his mother's eyes were originally dark brown, faded by steam and chemicals. Three years after losing his leg, Fran's joints and wrists began to ache.The diagnosis was rheumatoid arthritis.The disease is very painful and it can spread throughout the body very quickly.Fran was in pain all over his neck, his shoulders, his hip, and his remaining leg. After finishing his carpentry business, he began to accept government assistance, but it was always meager and he had to endure the humiliation of the bureaucrats.The church has also helped a lot, but there are too many monks and too little food.Fran and Donna are devout Catholics, and Joe often goes to church with them to attend mass.But he just wasn't religious. Fran was handicapped by the loss of a leg, plus rheumatism.Two years later, he was finally in a wheelchair. By age thirteen, Joe's day job consisted of changing his father's clothes.bath. From the very beginning, Joe never refused the work entrusted to him, and he was also deeply surprised that he had such a tender side in his heart. After a while, Fran felt extremely self-conscious about having to rely on his son for his own privacy.But overcoming the difficulties of bathing, eating, and going to the toilet with his son has deepened the bond between father and son and brought them closer than ever. When Joe was sixteen, Fran suffered from fibrous joint sclerotherapy, which resulted in huge rheumatoid tumors in several joints, including a golf ball-sized tumor on his right wrist.The tumor on the left elbow was as big as a softball. Joe's father is truly gratified by his son's accomplishments, with Joe earning the honors student title despite working at McDonald's and being a star player at quarterback on the high school football team.Fran never put pressure on his own child or asked him to get ahead, it was "love" that drove Joe to strive for the top. That summer, Joe joined the YMCA boxing team.The coach thinks highly of him and says he has talent.But in his first two actual fights, he was pulled off the ring because of continuous heavy blows to an opponent who was paralyzed on the rope and had no resistance.For others, boxing is a form of entertainment and self-defense, but for Joe, it is a brutal form of psychotherapy.He didn't want to hurt anyone, but he did, and he was banned from the game as a result. Fran's chronic pericarditis eventually led to heart failure.He died suddenly, two days before Joe's eighteenth birthday. The week after the funeral mass, Joe came to the church at midnight, the church was empty, he drank a lot of wine, and sprayed all the crosses with black paint.Toppled the marble statue of the Virgin and broke the burgundy glass of two dozen votive candle holders.He might have done more damage had he not been quickly overcome by a futile thought.He cannot teach God how to be merciful, nor can he express his own pain.He is willing to use all his strength to break through the gap between this life and the afterlife—if there is an afterlife. He slumped down on the seat, covering his face and weeping. Jo had not sat down for a minute when it occurred to her that weeping in church was an admission of weakness.Ironically, he thinks it's important that his tears not be misinterpreted as acceptance of the fact that the world is ruled by cruelty. He leaves the classroom and no one knows about his vandalism.He didn't feel guilty about what he had done, but he wasn't proud either. For a while, he almost went crazy.When he went to college, it suited him surprisingly well, because more than half of the students were also crazy. His mother died three years later, at the age of forty-seven, from lung cancer that had spread to the lymphatic system.Like his father, she had never smoked, perhaps because of the vapors of petroleum spirit or other solvents in the dry cleaners, or because of the fatigue, sadness and loneliness that made her so impatient to follow him. On the night of her death, Jo sat on the edge of the bed, held her hand, put a cold bandage on her brow, and dripped ice water into her parched mouth. She narrated intermittently about how Fran took her to the Cavaliers in Columbus for dinner. In this case, Joe was only two years old at the time. There was a big band there with eighteen top-notch musicians playing beautiful dance music, not the kind of rock music where you just stand there shaking and shaking.She and Fran learned the foxtrot and the cha-cha by themselves, but they danced really well, they knew each other's moves, and they had a good laugh.And balloons, oh, hundreds of balloons in a net hanging from the ceiling.In the center of each table, there is a white plastic swan with a candle on it, surrounded by red chrysanthemums.The snack was a swan made of sugar with ice cream in it, and that night was swan night.Fran hugged her softly and whispered in her ear that she was the prettiest girl in the house and she didn't know how much he loved her.The revolving headlights in the ballroom radiate colorful light, balloons fall from the sky, and red and white ones fly all over the sky. The sugar swan tasted like almonds, and she was twenty-nine that night.In these last moments of her life, she remembered nothing but this sweetest memory. Joe buried his mother in the same church that he had demolished three years earlier.The cross has been fitted with a new statue of the Virgin, gazing at him behind rows of votive lights.Later, he gets into a fight at a bar and vents his grief completely.His nose was broken, but the guy on the other side was worse.他继续疯了一段时间，直到遇见蜜雪儿。他俩第一次约会，当乔送她回公寓时，蜜雪儿告诉他，说他有一种狂野的气质。乔认为这是对他的一种恭维。 但蜜雪儿说，只有白痴、荷尔蒙失调的青春期男孩、或是动物园里的猩猩，才会智障到以此为荣。 自此之后，她教导乔每一件事，改变了他的未来。在他们结婚前六天的晚上，乔独自一人来到埋葬他双亲的教堂。 他估算着一年前他所造成的损失，然后塞了一叠百元大钞，放进那可怜的奉献箱。他作此奉献，既不是觉得愧疚，也不是重新获得信心。他如此做完全是为了蜜雪儿，虽然她不知道他以前的捣蛋行为，也不知道这一次的偿还行为。 自此以后，他的生活重新开始。 直到一年以前，随着坠机事件而结束。 如果妮娜又重现人世，等待乔找到她，带她回家……抱着寻获妮娜的希望像一帖止痛的香膏，乔已能按捺住火气。 要想找到妮娜，他就必须能完全地控制自己。 他对自己曾经一度那么快就完全背离蜜雪儿对他的所有教导感到汗颜。随着三五三号班机的坠落，他也跟着堕落。 而现在妮娜给了他充分的理由与机会，让他重新恢复到未发生坠机事件之前的那个男人，让他不愧为她的父亲。 在这趟飞行旅程的最后一个小时，乔开始阅读他从邮报电脑里列印出来，关于铁克诺公司四篇文章其中的两篇。突然，乔看到一篇文章，令他当场吃了一惊。铁克诺百分之三十九的股份是由尼洛公司所持有的。那是一家瑞士公司，营业的项目相当广泛。有药物研究、医药出版事业，一般出版事业。电影及广播等。 尼洛公司主要是在传播事业发展，尼洛和他的儿子安卓投资创建了家族企业，资产据说超过四十亿美金。尼洛不是瑞士人，当然，他是美国人。他在海外经营了很长的一段时间。大约在二十多年前，他创办了洛杉机邮报，直到现在，他还是老板。 尼洛的投资很广泛，所以他拥有邮报以及铁克诺公司的股份股权并不足为奇，也许纯粹是巧合。他拥有邮报全部的经营权，而且不像一般置身事外的老板，关心的只是利润。 经由他的儿子，尼洛掌挖了报纸的编辑取向和新闻政策。但对于铁克诺公司，他可能介入没那么深。虽然持有大部份的股权，但他并没有亲自操控。充其量，只不过是一个股票投资者而已。在这种情形下，尼洛个人实在没必要去了解杜萝丝和她的助理人员，暗地里所从事的机密研究。他也没必要为三五三号班机的坠毁负任何责任。 乔回想起前一天下午遇见邮报商业专栏作家薛弗丹的情形。老薛尖酸刻薄地把铁克诺的主管们描述成，“都是一些傲慢自大，恶名昭彰的家伙。老认为自己是这一行里的土皇帝。其实比我们也好不到哪去。他们也回答'我们要服从他'。” 回味最后那句谈话的内容，乔才想到，老薛一定认为乔知道尼洛持有铁克诺的股份。这专栏作家也暗示，尼洛插手铁克诺事务的程度，不下于他在邮报的所作所为。 乔的脑海里同时闪过一件事，那就是在戴家厨房里，丽莎提到杜萝丝和铁克诺的关系时，她说：“你、我和萝丝都扯上边了，世界真小，不是吗？” 那时他以为丽莎是说三五三号班机事件，是他们生命圆弧上的转折点。也许她真正的意思是说，他们正巧都为同一人工作。 乔从未见过尼洛，那几年他似乎隐居起来了。当然，乔见过他的照片。六十几岁的亿万富翁，银发、圆脸、笑容满面。他看起来，就像厨师用糖衣在上面画了一张祖父脸的松饼，一点也不像杀手的样子。他是知名的慈善家，不可能在自己的企业里雇用刺客和冷血杀手。 人类不同于苹果和柳橙，果皮芬芳的，不代表果肉可口。 事实就是这样，乔和蜜雪儿和那些现在准备杀杜萝丝的人，竟然都有着同一个老板。而那些人用了迄今未明的手段毁掉了一架飞机。长久以来支持他养家活口的钱，也同样支付给了那些凶手。觉悟到这一点，他的反应是极端的错综复杂，他没办法立刻解开这个死结。太黑暗了，他无法看清事情的全貌。 乔虽然一直凝视着窗外，他并没有注意到沙漠围绕着乡村，乡村围绕着城市。等他惊觉时，飞机已在洛杉研机场降落了。乔看了一下手表，估算了一下到西屋咖啡店的距离，他预计会比和黛咪约会的时间提前半小时到。好极了，在赴约之前，他需要足够的时间在对街观察约会地点。 黛咪应该是很可靠的，她是萝丝的朋友，他是从萝丝在邮报留给他的讯息才找到她的电话号码。但此刻他不相信任何人。 毕竟，就算杜萝丝的动机纯正，就算她把妮娜留在身边，是为了防止他们杀害或绑架她。但她无论如何都使他们父女被硬生生地拆散了一年，更糟的是，她居然让他认为妮娜已死了。为了某些他还不太确定的理由，萝丝说不定还会永远不把女儿还给他。 当乔起身朝出口走去时，他看到一个穿白长裤、白衬衫，头戴一顶白色巴拿马帽子的男子，从机舱报前面的座位站起来，回头望了乔一眼。这家伙大约五十岁，矮小而强壮，一头浓密的白色长发再加上那顶帽子，貌似一位老牌的摇滚歌手。 他不陌生。乔愈来愈肯定曾经见过他。但不是在电视或是舞台上，而是最近在某个重要场合见过。那人的眼光与乔稍一接触，便移往别处。他进入甬道，向前移动。跟乔一样，他也没带什么随身行李，似乎只是一日游的过客。 他和乔之间，隔了八到十个乘客。乔担心在还未想出何时见过此人之前就失去猎物的踪影。但他又不能推挤他前面的乘客，否则必会打草惊蛇的。 当乔试着以帽子当作回忆的重点时，他脑里一片空白。 但当他想把那人的帽子去掉，而将焦点集中在那一头白色长发时，他想到那群穿蓝袍、剃光头的黑教徒。这个荒谬的联想让他很困惑。然后他想到昨晚在沙滩上，这群异教徒围绕着的营火。他曾将装有戴查理血迹的餐巾纸的麦当劳纸袋，丢进火堆里。想到另一堆火被～群身穿泳装的舞者所围绕。 第三堆火围聚集着一群冲浪的年轻人。还有一堆火是围坐着十几个聚精会神的听众，正在听一个矮矮壮壮，有着一张大脸和一头白色长发的人讲鬼故事。 这人，就是那个说故事的人。这一点，乔很肯定。他也知道昨晚不期而遇之后，今天又能在此相逢，这种机会可说是微乎其微。这一切都是这世界上最大的阴谋紧密安排下的结果。 当他星期六早晨，在圣塔莫妮卡海滩识破他们之前，想必他们一定已监视他好几个礼拜了，甚至好几个月了。等着萝丝和他接头。在那段时间里，他们摸清了他所有的行踪。 当他摆平布立克，侵入他们车里，并且飞奔离开墓园之后，他们就失去他的踪影。乔在他车上发现了讯号发射器，把它丢在错车而过的园丁卡车上，他们就把他追丢了。在邮报，他们差一点就递到了他，但乔早他们一步开溜。 所以他们在公寓、咖啡厅、海滩，四处布下眼线，等着他露面。那群听故事的人都是普通民众，而说故事的却不是。他们再次在海滩盯上了他，乔知道他们踉监的过程：他们在海滩盯上了他，跟着他到了便利商店。他在那里打电话给丹佛的欧马里，及科罗拉多喷泉市的芭芭拉。然后再跟踪他到汽车旅馆。 他们可以在那里乘乔熟睡或醒来之时，神不知鬼不觉地把他一枪解决掉，然后布置成是嗑过药过量，或是自杀的样子。 在墓园的时候，他们曾迫切地想将乔毙了，但后来又不急着杀死他，因为他也许会带领他们找到萝丝。 显然他们在这一段跟丢了的时间里，并不知道他去过戴查理家和其他地方。如果他们知道乔见到发生在戴氏夫妇及丽莎身上的事，即使他不明其所以——他们也会立刻处决他。 他们乘着晚上，将追踪器装在他车上。黎明之前跟踪他到洛杉矾机场。一路上和他保持相当距离，以免被发现。然后跟踪到丹佛，甚至更远。 God!是什么东西惊吓了树林里的鹿？ 乔觉得自己既愚蠢又大意，虽然他并非真的如此不堪。 在这场游戏中，他不能期望自己会玩得和他们一样好，他以前从没玩过，可是他们每天都在玩这一套。 他已慢慢进入状况了。 说故事的人已到达出口的门，转眼不见了人影。乔担心会失去他的猎物，但更重要的是他们仍以为乔没发觉被跟踪。 芭芭拉目前处境极度危险，第一件事，他要找个电话警告她。 装作厌烦又不得不耐心等候的样子，乔随着其他乘客亦步亦趋地向前移动。到了脐带似的空桥走廊时，他才不着痕迹的快步超越其他人。他一直不知道自己其实是屏息疾走着，直到看见他的猎物出现在他前面，这才呼出一口大气。 宽广的航空站内，人潮熙熙攘攘。门口的座份上，坐满了等候搭机的旅客。有些在窃窃私语、有些在高声谈笑，有些在争论不休，有些在深思冥想。 抵达的旅客则从另一扇门蜂拥而出，有单身汉、夫妻、全家福、黑人、白人。亚洲人、拉丁人，眼睛乌溜溜的美女，军服毕挺的军人，孩子们嘻嘻哈哈地笑着、叫着，两位坐着轮椅的八十岁老太太，静静地闭目养神。两个阿拉伯王子，前有保镖开道，后有随从跟班，晒得通红的游客，身上散发着防晒油的味道，脸色苍白的游客，则带回旅游地的满天阴霾。 就像暴风圈中一艘出奇平静的小船，那个戴着巴拿马帽子的男人，在这多元的人海中。正悠游地航行着。就乔的观点来说，他们可能全是穿着舞台服，其实每一个人都是铁克诺，或是不知名机构所派出的特务，用隐藏在手提包里的相机，偷拍他的照片。每一个手提箱及袋子里，都有隐藏式麦克风来通知他们该放他走，或当场枪毙。 这一辈子，他从未身在人群里，如此孤独过。 乔为可能会发生的事感到恐惧——甚至现在就会发生——发生在芭芭拉的身上。他试着盯紧那个说故事的人，一方面找公共电话。