Riders on the Storm
- Автор: Горман Эд
- Серия: Sam McCain #10
- Год: 2014
- Язык: английский
- Год: Pegasus
- ISBN: 978-1-60598-625-8
- Жанр: Криминальные детективы
Электронная книга - «Riders on the Storm». Краткое содержание книги:
Greg liked that word. The self-contempt seemed to give him pleasure. I’d given him one of my lectures one day but he’d told me to fuck off and I had.
“Think I should call the paper about it? Expose him?”
Ted said, “I think he should, but then I know how Denise feels about it so I should keep my big mouth to myself.”
“Denise is against it?”
“You know her, Sam. She’s had kind of a tough time with the way I am.” In war times vets’ wives are always portrayed as the relentlessly optimistic vessels of support and good cheer for their husbands. But there are of course wives who have many of the same adjustment problems as their husbands. Denise Egan was one of them.
“I’m with Denise.”
My words surprised him. “Really? I know how much you hate O’Shay. This could really make trouble for him.”
“First of all, Greg, all he did was ask you if you’d appear with him. The thing about ‘gimps,’ as you like to call yourself, is in your mind as far as proving anything. He didn’t even hint at it. I doubt anybody in the press would even be interested in it. And second of all, think about Denise. Like Ted said, it’s easy for us to tell you what to do. And it’d be great if you could do some damage to O’Shay, but it wouldn’t be great for Denise. You know how much she hates talking to reporters. Now let’s talk about Will. How did he sound when you talked to him?”
“Believe it or not, he sounded like Will. He’s a little slower than usual — you know how he likes jokes — but he’s definitely Will again.” Then, “But he’s a little weird about Karen.” He glanced at Ted as he said this.
Ted said, “We started telling him how lucky he was to have Karen and all he said was that he hoped she’d understand someday. Then he changed the subject right away.”
“It kind of sounded like he’d said good-bye or something,” Ted said.
“Yeah, like he was moving on.”
“Maybe he’s not as back together as we think he is. Maybe he was just saying that he hopes that Karen understands all he’s put her through. He has to be feeling at least a little guilty about things.”
“That’s for sure,” Ted said. “All the shit my wife and kids’ve had to put up with while I adjusted to not having a right arm.”
“I’m the same with Denise and my kids. I feel guilty for not being able to walk. It’s irrational but I can’t help it. I see other dads playing ball with their kids—”
He started to choke up but stopped himself.
There was just no doubt about it.
War was fucking wonderful. Just think of all the parades. Just think of all the medals.
Just think of all the O’Shays.
23
He smiled as soon as he saw me.
He sat in the same chair he’d been in when I visited him before but now he was dressed in the kind of shirt and trousers he’d wear under his white medical jacket at the veterinary clinic. No Sears for him.
The room was filled with late afternoon sunshine and the heavy blue smoke of his cigarettes. “Well, look at you, Sam. If you were just a couple feet taller you’d look like an adult.”
Strained, but better than the eerie state of withdrawal he’d been in since the murder.
I sat on the edge of the bed. “Had lunch with Greg and Ted. Greg said you sounded a whole lot better.”
“Yeah, I do.”
The first minutes of conversation had come easily for him. But now the mouth pinched and the eyes narrowed and he sighed shakily. When he started to speak it was in the slow, precise way that Greg had described.
“I was sitting at home after the ER and I just kept thinking of how much I wanted to be part of the group again. I didn’t really get a chance to express myself at the party — at least as I remember it; I was sort of hammered — so I guess I got it in my head that if I could talk to Steve — just the two of us — he’d see why I’d joined that anti-war group. And then I’d tell him that I was dropping it. And then we’d be friends again. Not just Steve but everybody. Buddies. That’s all I could think of.
“So I called Cherie’s where Steve hangs out a lot to see if he was there. He was, so I drove out there. He didn’t want to have anything to do with me so I kept on knocking them down and finally I made it to my car somehow — it was practically parked in the woods — and I passed out. And when I woke up the parking lot was almost empty. I got out to take a leak — I was still pretty drunk — and that was when I saw Donovan on the ground. I was so wobbly I remember almost falling over him. Then somebody hit me from behind across the back of my head and it was maybe half an hour later before I came to.”
“Do you remember calling me from home earlier?”
“Yeah. I was having a really bad panic attack and I didn’t know what to do. I thought maybe you could help me. But as soon as I hung up I thought maybe the best thing to do would be to go out to Cherie’s and talk to Donovan. What a stupid idea that turned out to be. Man, I remember trying to drive home after I found the body. I was so terrified I couldn’t keep the car on the road. I even got so confused at one point I wondered if I really had killed him but couldn’t remember. It was like being in the psych hospital again. Days when I couldn’t think clearly. I pulled off the road to the place where the police found me. I know Foster still thinks I killed Donovan but I didn’t.”
“I know that, Will. And so does Karen.”
His cheeks tinged red suddenly. His eyes closed and he swayed forward, then checked himself. He had to clear his throat to speak. “I’m going to say something you won’t want to hear, Sam.”
I waited him out.
“I’ve given this a lot of thought. I know how much I owe Karen. And I don’t have to tell you how much I love our daughter. But the thing is—” He wrung his hands. His gaze fled to the window. “The thing is that I think I’ve had such a hard time adjusting after coming back home because the marriage isn’t right, Sam. And that’s not Karen’s fault and it’s not mine.”
I still said nothing.
A big dopey grin. “There’s this young woman I hired, Sam. And she’s been with me now for—”
Oh God. At least four married friends of mine had laid The List on me over the years. They wanted my approval, even permission in a strange way. I barely listened to Will’s List. I knew it by heart.
She’s just so much fun. My marriage hasn’t been fun like this in a long time.
She makes me feel younger. I even look younger when I’m shaving in the morning.
She has these ideas for my business. She’s my lover but she’s also like this brilliant thinker.
I know what it’ll be like for my little daughter — I know how selfish I’m being — but kids get over it eventually.
It’ll be tight for a while money-wise with the settlement and all — her fucking lawyer is an assassin — but I can ride that out, too.
And did I mention the sex? I swear to God I got it up three times the other night. I haven’t done that for years.
“I didn’t want it to happen. It’s just that April—”
“Her name is April?”
“What the hell, Sam. Is there something wrong with being called April? It’s a pretty name.”
“I was just surprised is all. April, I mean.”
“I know what you’re doing here.”
“Doing? What’re you talking about?”