Baltimore 03 - Did You Miss Me?
you were my age.’
‘When I was your age I was in boot camp,’ he said sourly. ‘My uniforms were spotless. The pleats in my shorts were sharper than a Ginsu knife.’
‘What’s a Ginsu knife?’
Clay rolled his eyes. ‘Forget it.’
Alec chuckled. ‘I know what a Ginsu is. I’m just yanking your chain. The inside-out trick works best when I’ve run out of clean clothes, and the only ones that don’t smell like ass have a ketchup stain. You know. In an emergency.’
‘And you wonder why you don’t have a girlfriend.’
Alec scowled at that. ‘I could throw plenty of rocks at your glass house, Mr Casanova. Oh, wait, you’re dateless too.’
‘I’m beginning to wish I’d brought Alyssa with me.’
‘I’m that bad?’ Alec asked, amusement back in his voice. ‘Okay, okay, I’m sorry for the dateless comment.’
Clay shifted, looking out the window. ‘Nah, it was fair. It’s true anyway.’
Alec sobered. ‘How was she? Detective Mazzetti?’
Clay had asked her parents for a few minutes alone with her after they’d finished talking in the ICU waiting area. He knew her parents hadn’t believed his claim that he and Stevie were just friends. They’d even seemed pleased by the notion that there was something between them. Clay had felt a twinge of hope . . . until he’d seen her.
‘She’s still unconscious.’ And so fragile. He’d never seen Stevie fragile before. He’d seen her angry and he’d seen her terrified. He’d even seen her cry, nine months ago. She’d just been confronted by the betrayal of one of her oldest friends and her heart was breaking. She’d wanted him to hold her, she’d wanted to walk into his arms. But Stevie didn’t let herself have what she wanted.
I should have held her anyway . But he’d given her space, hoping she’d come to him on her own. But as the months passed it became clear that wasn’t going to happen.
Stevie was Cordelia’s mom first. Then a cop. Being a woman came dead last, which meant her interest in Clay came last, too. He knew it, understood it. Didn’t like it worth shit. It sure didn’t change how he saw her – strong, confident, smart. One hell of a beautiful woman, one I’ve wanted from the moment I saw her .
But today, she’d been fragile.
‘She’s going to be okay, right?’ Alec asked.
‘The doctors told her parents she has a good chance.’ But Clay didn’t believe it. He’d seen more war wounds than he cared to remember. Men at death’s door had more color in their faces than she had. She’d lost so much blood.
He’d almost been too afraid to touch her, lying in that hospital bed, so pale. But he’d been more afraid he wouldn’t get another chance. So he’d touched her face, cupped her cheek. Kissed her forehead. Then her lips.
And then he’d pasted a smile on his face, gone back out to the waiting room, and lied to her parents. Told them he believed she’d pull through.
‘I’m sorry,’ Alec whispered.
Maybe Alec hadn’t heard him. ‘I said the doctors were optimistic.’
‘But you don’t believe it. And you care for her.’ Alec glanced at him sadly. ‘I may be horrible talking to girls, but I’m good at reading people. You should turn your shirt inside out now. We’re almost at Trooper Gargano’s house. You seemed preoccupied, so I picked for you. If you want to stop and buy a razor, this is the time to say so.’
Not trusting himself to speak, Clay shrugged out of his leather jacket, pulled the shirt over his head, then put it back on, surreptitiously wiping his eyes as he did so. He figured if nobody noticed the shirt seams under his jacket, they weren’t likely to notice the damp spots on his sleeve either.
‘I just want to get this over with,’ Clay said, then focused on talking to Trooper Gargano, the man whose stolen property was at the core of one very bad day.
Baltimore, Maryland, Tuesday, December 3, 6.50 P.M.
Joseph skidded to a stop at the front door of Richard Odum’s house. Bo had gotten there first and had stuck his head through the doorway, looking up.
‘Report!’ Bo shouted.
‘We’re fine.’ Innis appeared at the top of the stairs. ‘You can come up now. I want you to see what would have happened to you if you’d opened the nursery door.’
Joseph followed Bo up the stairs, then did a double take. ‘ Holy fuck . ’ The wall directly across from the nursery door now had a hole the size of a toaster oven.
‘It was rigged with a shotgun,’
Weitere Kostenlose Bücher