I don't understand," I said. "I see things, strange things. They aren't really
there. The first time, I was in the park. Then another time I was in the car. Today it
happened in Mr. Dray's office. I opened my bag and I saw ..."
"What did you see?" my friend laughed.
"A head," I said. "A man's head. It had a mustache and brown hair. It was
only his head and there was a lot of blood."
"Who was he?"
"I don't know," I said.
"You're crazy," my friend said. "What did Mr. Dray think?"
"Oh, he was fine. I didn't tell him about the head. I sold him the locks."
"Excuse me," Hannah said. She left the table and walked away.
I followed her, but a waiter stopped me.
"I'm sorry, sir. There's a problem with your American Express card."
"My card's fine. Can you try again?"
"No, sir," the waiter said. "The company says that we have to destroy it."
"What? Listen, I have to talk to my wife. I'll be back in a minute."
I ran after Hannah. She wasn't happy.
"What's happening to you?" she asked. "You can laugh about these stories
with our friends, but they really aren't funny."
"I'm sorry, Hannah," I said.
"Something's wrong with you. I talked to Mary. Her uncle's a doctor at
Northwestern Hospital."
"I talked to five different doctors.You know that.They say I'm all right."
"Mary's uncle says there's somebody at a different hospital. He can help you."
"Hannah, I'm busy. I have to work. I have a job. Remember?"
"Then take a vacation," Hannah said angrily.
"But it doesn't happen very often."
"Cade, I'm afraid for you."
"Don't be afraid! I'm fine. Let's walk."
"And leave our friends?"
"They're OK."
We walked through the yard of the restaurant. Hannah was very beautiful in
her long blue dress. Her hair fell down her back.
"I love you," I said. "And I have something for you."
I gave her a locket. Inside, there was a photo of her and me and the words:
Always, Cade.
"It's beautiful," she said. "Thank you."
She put the locket around her neck.
"Do you remember that picture?" I asked. "It was a really cold
day."
"You put your arms around me and I was warm."
"You're my best friend, Hannah," I said. "Things are difficult
now but they were hard before. We were OK then and we'll be
OK now, too."
That night, in bed, Hannah said, "I love you, too."
I took her in my arms but something was wrong. I looked up.
At the bottom of the bed I saw him again—the man with the
mustache and the brown hair. "What's wrong?" Hannah asked. "Nothing,"
I said. "It's nothing."
Chapter 2 "Who wants to hurt me?"
The next day my boss, Mr. Birmingham, called me into his office. He was
angry and unhappy.
"Sit down, Cade," he said. "I want to talk to you."
I sat down in a chair near his desk.
"Somebody sent these papers to me," Birmingham said. He had a lot of
papers in his hand. I could see the words at the top of the first paper: From the
office of the Chicago Police.
Mr. Birmingham started to read.
'"Cade Foster is a thief. He is the best thief in the state. He is very smart
and very dangerous. The police in thirty-seven cities in the United States of
America are interested in this man.'"
"That happened when I was younger. I'm not a thief now," I told him. "I
stopped. I met Hannah and I got a job. Who sent those papers to you?"
"I can't tell you," Birmingham said. "But you can't work here.
I'm sorry, Cade. I like you, and your work's very good. But I don't want a
thief in my company. We sell locks! Our customers won't buy locks from thieves."
"Who sent those papers?" I asked again. "You have to tell me." "Leave this
office or I'll call the police," Birmingham said. I left the room.
I wanted some money, so I went to the bank.
"I want to take out three hundred dollars, please," I said to the girl in the
bank.
She went to her computer. A minute later, she came back again.
"I'm sorry, sir. I can't give you any money. I looked at the names of our
customers on the computer. There's no Cade Foster."
"But that's crazy!" I said. "This is my bank. My money's here."
"We don't have any of your money in this bank, sir," the girl said. "Please
leave."
"I have more than five thousand dollars in this bank," I said angrily.
"Leave the bank now, or I'll call the police," the girl said.
2