Blind Descent

The comfortable quiet on the bench grew strained. Zeddie broke it first. "Dare I hope this is purely a social call?"

"I wish it were," A

"Are you going to accuse me of murder again?"

"More or less."

Zeddie snorted, but there was humor in the rude noise, and A

"Well, let's have it," Zeddie said. "Jealousy? A fortune in jewels? An inheritance: Frieda was my secret twin separated at birth?"

A

"Sondra's gone," Zeddie said with a frankness that caught A

"Gone?" A

"Peter got rid of her," Zeddie said, pride of ownership in her voice. "'Bout damn time."

She was too open, cheery. A

"Hah!"

"Okay. I like to pry. How about this: Why in God's name did Peter think it was such a terrific idea to go on an expedition with his wife and his girlfriend and his ex-girlfriend?"

"The ex is no big deal," Zeddie said. "That was years ago. Frieda and Peter were friends. Shoot, Frieda and I were friends. With the notable exception of the Boil, I've always liked Pete's taste in women."

A clutter of tourists, jangling cameras and A

The group was swallowed by the shadows, and Zeddie returned to the bench. "What do you want to bet that boy'll piss in the Urinal?"

Bowing to Zeddie's greater experience in things scatological, A

"Where were we?" Zeddie said, then, "Oh, right, you were interrogating me about the most intimate personal aspects of my life that are none of your business."

"That's it in a nutshell," A

"It does sound kinky when you put it like that. I was going through a bad time. Peter wanted to be with me. The sentiment was mutual. This survey came up. I wangled two places on it through Frieda. At the last minute Sondra dug in her heels. It was bring her or call the whole thing off. He brought her. Peter and I have known each other a long time, been through a lot together. We don't have to sleep in the same bed-though I've got to admit it's nice. Just being together, having a chance to talk, was enough."

"I take it Sondra didn't know about you two?"

"We were broken up when they got married."

"Why did he marry her, blackmail?"

"Rebound. I broke up with him. He's older than I am, established. I'm not ready to become Mrs. Doctor anybody. There are things I want to do. To make it stick, I made it brutal. Just fooling myself. I'm as addicted to Peter as he is to me. But I'm damned if I'll marry him. He was begi

"Does he want a divorce?"

"Yeah. It embarrasses the hell out of him. They haven't been married all that long. He did make a fool of himself. We all do now and again. But he wants out. She was just too much of a bitch."

A

Zeddie was kidding herself if she believed Sondra was not aware of her relationship with the doctor. In the begi

A

"… was too much of a bitch… was a boil…" Zeddie had used the past tense when speaking of the doctor's wife.

"Was a boil. You said 'was.'"

"Too crude for you?" Zeddie asked offhandedly. "Too bad. It's about the nicest thing I can think of to say about her."

"Was. Not is. Why the past tense?"

"Okay. Is."

Not a flicker of self-consciousness. A

"As long as she's not a boil on my personal butt, I couldn't care less. What're you, her press agent?"

"I only asked because Sondra never came out of Lechuguilla."

Zeddie snorted her truncated laugh. "Yes she did."

"Nope. Never came out, never rode down to town, never flew out of the Carlsbad Airport."

"You're kidding." Zeddie sounded hopeful.

"Not kidding."

"Jesus." Zeddie took off her flat hat so she could lean back against the stone. Stretching her heavy legs, she drummed her heels softly against the asphalt; an obstruction just waiting for a tourist to trip over it. A

"Sondra never came out?"

"Never did."

"Jesus," Zeddie repeated. "Is this the part where you accuse me of murder?"

"No," A

Zeddie didn't reply, and for the first time since they'd sat down together A

"Just some personal demons. I intend to keep them that way."

Warning was clear in her voice. A

"Darla," Zeddie said dully.

"She was killed in a climbing accident, wasn't she?"

Zeddie didn't say anything. Had they not been so close, A

"Ten years or thereabouts?" A

"Ten years this month."

The tenth a

Again the nod. Before A