The Boxer and the Spy
- Автор: Паркер Роберт Браун
- Год: 2008
- Язык: английский
- Год: Philomel Books
- ISBN: 978-0-399-24775-0
- Жанр: Другие детективы
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“We’re the only ones that know it and are willing to do something about it,” Abby said.
“And we’re kids,” Terry said.
“I guess,” Abby said. “Sort of.”
They were quiet again. The sun was warm. The ocean smelled fresh. One of the gulls hopped close and cocked its head and stared at them with its blank black eyes.
“If we’re together when we’re grown,” Terry said, “I will never have an affair.”
“Except with me,” Abby said.
“That wouldn’t be an affair,” Terry said.
“You never know,” Abby said.
Chapter 28
Terry stood in the dark with Abby among some evergreen shrubs in back of the Trent house.
“Carly says Bullard arrived here at seven,” Abby said. “That was his car around the corner, right?”
“Yep,” Terry said.
“Why would he park there if he wasn’t trying to sneak?”
“Don’t know,” Terry said.
“Are you scared?” Abby said.
“No.”
“Nervous?”
“No,” Terry said. “I’m trying to think.”
“Oh,” Abby said. “So maybe I should shut up.”
“Uh-huh,” Terry said.
They stood in the dark looking at the house.
“I feel like a peeping Tom,” Terry said.
“I know,” Abby said. “It’s kind of exciting, though.”
“No lights on upstairs,” Terry said.
“If they’re having an affair,” Abby said, “they wouldn’t go right upstairs, for heaven’s sake.”
“What would they do?”
“Have cocktails or something, in the living room.”
“You think?” Terry said.
“That’s where the lights are on,” Abby said.
“How do you know it’s the living room?”
“‘Cause I know,” Abby said. “Want to peek in?”
“I guess,” Terry said.
They walked carefully in the shadow of the shrubs to the back window, where the light was on, and looked in.
“Ohmigod,” Abby whispered.
She stepped quickly away from the window.
“They’re...” she said. “Are they...?”
“They are,” Terry whispered.
“For god’s sake stop looking,” Abby said.
“Why?”
“It’s too embarrassing,” Abby whispered. “What if they catch us?”
“I think we caught them,” Terry said.
“I mean it, Terry,” Abby said. “I want to go.”
She pulled at his arm.
“Wow!” Terry said. “Look at that.”
“No,” Abby said.
She pulled harder at his arm.
“I want to go,” Abby said.
“Okay,” Terry said.
They walked silently away through the dark shrubs to the street. As they walked beneath the streetlights, it seemed very bright to them.
“Mr. Bullard and Mrs. Trent,” Terry said.
“I know,” Abby said.
“I wonder what it means?” Terry said.
“She’s the head of the town selectmen,” Abby said.
“And they’re connected,” Terry said.
“So to speak,” Abby said.
Terry grinned at her.
“Give you any ideas?” he said.
“You and I will never do anything that looks anything like that,” she said.
“I think that’s what it looks like,” Terry said.
“Well, we don’t look like that.”
“I guess not,” Terry said.
They continued on, in and out of the light circles spread by the streetlamps.
“Plus,” Terry said. “I woulda taken my socks off.”
“Ohhh,” Abby said.
She punched him in the arm, not hard... and began to giggle.
Chapter 29
“If that ever gets out, Mrs. Trent won’t be governor,” Terry said.
“I know, but what does that have to do with Jason?” Abby said.
“Maybe nothing,” Terry said. “Wouldn’t help Bullard’s career, either, if this got around.”
They were sitting on the Wall. Across the street, on the town common, two squirrels chased each other around a tree trunk.
“What should we do?” Abby said.
“I think we should focus on him and her for a while,” Terry said.
“Because they’re having an affair?”
“Yeah. If they’re doing that, what else might they be doing?”
“He’s married,” Abby said. “Right?”
“Yeah. I saw her once at school, I forget what she was doing there.”
“What’s she like?” Abby said.
“Mrs. Bullard? She looks like someone who would marry Mr. Bullard.”
“Oh dear,” Abby said. “Are we going to tell anybody?”
“Oh it’s too good to keep quiet,” Terry said.
“No,” Abby said. “We shouldn’t tell.”
“No?”
“Because it’s too good to keep quiet. We tell Tank or Suzi or somebody and it’ll be all over town.”
“And that’s bad?”
“It’s bad if they haven’t done anything else bad,” Abby said. “I mean maybe they’re both unhappily married, you know, and they’ve found each other. I mean maybe they’re in love.”
Terry nodded for a time.
“Yeah,” he said. “We can always use it if we need to.”
“You’re not very romantic,” Abby said.
“Am too,” Terry said.
“Not about Mr. Bullard and Mrs. Trent.”
“No,” Terry said. “Not about them.”
“Would you have stayed and watched if I hadn’t been there?” Abby said.
“Sure.”
“Why?”
“It was sex,” Terry said. “And I’m a guy. I wanted to watch her.”
“That’s it?”
“Sure,” Terry said. “You weren’t interested?”
“I’m interested in sex, I guess,” Abby said. “But not like that. I want, you know, I want some feeling in it, something romantic. I’m a girl.”
“They might have had feeling in it,” Terry said.
“But I didn’t,” Abby said.
“Not all girls are like that.”
“No,” Abby said. “I know. Suzi’s already hooking up. Lotta girls.”
“But not you,” Terry said.
“I won’t hook up just to hook up,” Abby said.
“Because you need to be in love?”
“I guess,” Abby said. “I need to feel something. It needs to matter.”
“More than just the fun of it?”
“Yes,” Abby said. “If it were only about fun, for me, it wouldn’t be fun. Does that make any sense?”
“Not the kind of sense I wish it did,” Terry said.
“I know.”
“You feel something for me?” Terry said.
“Yes.”
“I matter,” Terry said.
Abby nodded.
“Yes,” she said.
“But?”
“Not yet,” Abby said.
“Not yet?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know,” Abby said. “I just know that you and I are about more than just fun.”
“Yes,” Terry said. “I know that too.”
“We’re not very old, we have time,” Abby said.
“We’re old enough to know something about each other,” Terry said.
“Yes.”
“We are sure about each other,” Terry said.
“Yes, we are.”
They looked at each other and then Terry smiled.
“So, sooner or later?” he said.
Abby smiled at him and put her hand on his forearm.
“Sooner or later,” Abby said.
Chapter 30
"Okay,” George said. "You’re fighting two guys.”
They were at the heavy bag.