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he
asked. “On your visit to Olympia?”
    “No, I wouldn’t mind at all,”
Steven replied. “You’ve been extremely helpful so far. It would be nice to have
you along.”
    “I have to admit I’m intrigued,”
Daniel said. “I’d like to hear what he has to say.”
    “Sure, you can stay at my place
tonight,” Steven said, “and we’ll drive to Olympia first thing in the morning.
Should we just continue on and I’ll bring you back out to get your car?”
    “Oh no,” Daniel said, “that’s way
out of your way. I’ll pick my car up now and follow you. That way you won’t
have to drive back out here.”
    Steven drove Daniel to the auto
repair shop and dropped him off. Soon they were back on the interstate,
convoying to Seattle.
    As he drove, observing Daniel’s
car in the rear view mirror, Steven was grateful Daniel was available and
willing to help. He felt a little lost without Roy around. He’d come to rely on
his father far more than he realized. What a change, he thought. I
hardly ever see him for most of my life, now I miss the bugger when he’s gone
for a week.
    He tried to remember what day Roy
said he’d be back. He said he’d be gone a week, Steven thought. It’s
been about that. Maybe he’s back today?
    Certainly Roy would have a
perspective on this. Roy always had a perspective. He could be cranky and
crass, but his heart was in the right place and he’d been there to help Steven
when he needed him most. Steven had come to rely on him.
    What happens when he passes on? Steven thought, then immediately felt guilty for considering the idea. I
shouldn’t be thinking about that. Drop the subject.
    They arrived in Seattle around
midnight.
    “Let’s turn in,” Steven said, “I
want to be on the road to Olympia by 6 tomorrow.”
    “Sleep with that object close,”
Daniel said. “Don’t leave it on your nightstand where our visitor might be able
to take it from you.”
    “I think I have a solution,”
Steven said. He went to the bathroom and removed some ankle tape, then he bound
the rectangle Daniel had given him around his arm. The elastic of the tape kept
it firmly in place. He showed Daniel his arm.
    “Perfect,” Daniel said. “And you
have the protection I gave you?”
    “Yes,” Steven said, “I’ll down it
just before I get into bed.”
    “All right. Wake me up if he shows
up.”
    “Will do. Goodnight.”
    Steven tried to sleep, but he was
still a little wired from the drive and the protection surging through his body
didn’t make it any easier. He wished he had Roy’s book so he could read more
until he felt sleepy. It didn’t feel right to remove the book from Roy’s house
without his permission.
    He slipped into bed and turned off
the light. He felt around his neck. He could still feel the pain from his
encounter with the glass man the night before. He hoped Daniel’s object would
help if the man appeared tonight. Anticipation of the meeting was another thing
keeping him awake. He tried several sleep techniques he’d learned over the
years but none of them were working.
    He turned over in bed, looking up
at the ceiling. Faint moonlight coming in through his bedroom window lit the
wall to his right. The shadow of the glass man was upon it; he turned to his
left and the figure was at his bedside. Steven instinctively raised his arm,
bandaged with the object inside, to his neck.
    The glass man stood as a statue,
like before. Steven slipped into the flow.
    “It’s almost time,” the man said.
    Steven was surprised to hear the
voice. The glass must be thinning, he thought. Time for what?
    “Time to pay you back,” the man
said.
    I haven’t done anything to you, Steven thought.
    “I paid with eighty years,” the
man said. “You’re going to pay with your life.”
    The glass moved, but this time
Steven could observe the movement. The glass man moved his hand inches from Steven’s
face, then stopped. The man’s brow furrowed, frustrated. “What?” he