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
Электронная книга - «The Boxer and the Spy». Краткое содержание книги:
Abby slapped his forearm.
“Stop that,” she said.
He grinned at her.
“Well,” he said. “One thing, when we were peeking in, while you were hiding your eyes and saying ‘eek,’ I was taking a look, and I don’t know all that much about it, but she didn’t act like she was doing anything she didn’t want to do... you know?”
“Yuck,” Abby said.
“But you do know what I mean?”
Abby blushed slightly.
“Yes,” she said. “So you don’t believe her either?”
Terry held his coffee mug in both hands and sipped from it while he looked at her over the rim of the mug.
“Here’s what I think,” he said. “I think Bullard is involved in making money out of the house-building project. I believe he takes steroids, and I bet he gives some to Kip Carter. Mr. Trent’s probably involved too. And maybe something happened to Jason because he found out about this. He was in the tech arts program, you know.”
“But if Jason found out anything, would he tell Mr. Bullard?”
“He might have told Mr. Malcolm, or asked him about it, or something,” Terry said. “And Malcolm told Bullard.”
“Are you saying that Mr. Bullard killed Jason?” Abby said.
“I don’t know. We got this bunch of illegal stuff going on and right in the middle of it Jason dies, and when we start asking about it, Bullard and Kip Carter are on us like a heavy storm.”
“Why not Mr. Malcolm?”
“Possible, I suppose. But he hasn’t been bothering us like Bullard... and not for nothing, but if someone got killed and the two suspects were Mr. Malcolm and Mr. Bullard, who would you guess?”
“Yes,” Abby said. “You’re right. Mr. Bullard.”
“Sure,” Terry said.
“So how much do you think Mrs. Trent was involved?” Abby said.
“She’s in it up to her, ah, blue butterfly,” Terry said.
They both laughed.
“And the rest of it, how she loves her husband, and she didn’t know they were forging her name, and Bullard forced her to...” Abby made a face and shivered.
“Crappola,” Terry said. “That’s the best she could come up with at the moment. By the time it reaches the press, if it ever does, imagine how bad everyone will feel for her.”
“I wonder what she’d say if she found out I didn’t take a picture with my cell phone?” Abby said.
“We never said you did,” Terry said.
“Not exactly.”
“So I think she’s in it all the way, that she probably had the affair with Bullard first, and they thought up this scheme, and she dragged her husband into it, and...” Terry finished his sentence by turning both palms up.
“Yeah, she’s a terrible woman,” Abby said. “I agree with you.”
“So where do we go from here?”
“We got enough to probably ruin her chance to be governor and get Mr. Bullard fired,” Abby said.
Terry nodded.
“But we started this to find out what happened to Jason,” he said.
“And we still don’t know,” Abby said.
“No.”
“And Kip Carter?” Abby asked.
“He’s unfinished business,” Terry said.
“Because?”
“He threatened you,” Terry said.
“It doesn’t bother me,” Abby said. “Why should it bother you?”
“It bothers me,” Terry said.
“So what do we do next?” Abby said.
“I don’t know,” Terry said. “But it’s not over yet. We still have to find out what happened to Jason.”
“And then it’s over?” Abby said.
“Almost,” Terry said.
Abby looked at him silently. He patted her arm.
“Maybe somebody else will do something else,” Abby said.
“We stirred things up enough,” Terry said. “Something ought to happen.”
Skycam VII
Kip Carter was the best running back that had ever played in this town. Himself, Kip Carter. He knew that. He was probably the best running back in the state. And he had size. At eighteen he was 6’1” and weighed 205. He knew he could play in the Big Ten. He might even get pro size as he matured, with maybe a little help from the juice. Kip Carter was going to be somebody. Hell, he was somebody now! Every guy in school was afraid of him. Even the older townie guys didn’t give him any trouble... Terry Novak had to be scared of Kip Carter. So why did he keep doing stuff that Kip Carter had told him not to do? And the little alley cat girlfriend—she had actually hit him, Kip Carter, and cut his lip.
He watched the gang of kids, Novak’s groupies, head down the street with Novak toward the cafe. He watched as Mrs. Trent came out of the office where Novak and his girlfriend had just been. Mr. Bullard wouldn’t like them talking to Mrs. Trent. It was not always exactly clear to him what Mr. Bullard was doing, but he knew it had something to do with Mrs. Trent, and he knew that Bullard didn’t want Novak and the girl nosing around in it. He was a little scared of Mr. Bullard. His authority. His size. His rage. But Bullard was his ticket to ride. He’d got him the scholarship to Illinois. He was the source for the ’roids, which had moved him to another level, like Bullard had said it would. And if Kip Carter had a hero, it would be Mr. Bullard.
Mr. Bullard would want to know about this. He’d want to nip it in the bud. Maybe he should take some independent action. Maybe he could nip it, whatever it was, in the bud, before Mr. Bullard even heard about it.
Bullard had told him not to do anything unless Bullard said so. But he didn’t get to be Kip Carter by always doing what he was told, even by Mr. Bullard. He knew that Terry’s gang of kids was down there. Most of them were girls or nerds. But Tank worried him a little. And Carly. He wanted some backup of his own. He made a couple of calls on his cell. Then he stepped out of the movie theater entry and walked down Main Street toward the café.
Chapter 41
Tank came into the café and said to Terry, “Kip Carter is outside with about four other guys. He wants to see you.”
“No,” Abby said.
Terry didn’t say anything.
“We’ll back you,” Tank said. “Me and Carly, and I bet Steve would jump in.”
“No,” Abby said again.
Terry nodded slowly.
“Yes,” he said.
“It’s about me,” Abby said. “Isn’t it?”
“Yes,” Terry said, “but it’s about me too.”
“I know who he has with him without looking,” Abby said. “Tookie, Ray...”
“Yeah,” Tank said.
“They are big mean guys, Terry,” she said. “You don’t need to do this. You don’t need to defend my honor or whatever it is.”
“It’s my honor too,” Terry said.
She felt desperate.
“Think, what would George say?”
“I think George would understand,” Terry said.
He stood up. She stood with him. He patted her on the upper arm for a moment, then he turned and went out the front door of the café. Tank followed him. Abby stood frozen for a minute. Then she went after them, out the front door of the café, and, on the dead run, past them, and across Main Street toward the building where George had his gym.
Abby was right, Kip Carter’s side was all football team. The kids had formed a big circle. Terry’s side of the circle was more diversified. In the center of the circle was Kip Carter in a tank top and jeans. To Terry he looked like something out of WWE SmackDown! Terry walked into the middle of the circle and stood facing Kip Carter.
“I told you what would happen, you kept causing trouble,” Kip Carter said.