Страница 43 из 70
At the lodge, she picked a table near a window. Sunlight flooded across the white cloth, splashed into the empty chair. A
Hawk was late. A
At ten of one the Loon, piloted by Tattinger, motored up to the near dock. Through the window, she saw Hawk jump off the boat, wave a thanks, and sprint up the quay. The sun caught his curls where the breeze ruffled them. Cold-blooded killer or not, A
“Sorry I’m late. Couldn’t cadge a lift,” he said, smiling, folding himself into the chair opposite, whisking up the paper napkin and cracking it open as if it were made of linen. “Will you order for both of us?” Hawk was gri
“Two egg salads, two coffees. No dessert.” Handcuffs were dessert, A
“To what do I owe this honor? Is it to be: ‘About last night… I think the world of you but…’? No? Let me guess. You’re married.”
“Sort of,” A
“Ohmygod!” One word gusted out on a laugh. “Sort of? Sort of?”
“I’m married. He’s dead. Till death do us part,” A
“Only sometimes it doesn’t. Dead men are tricky. Memories are tough to beat. They only improve with age.”
“Dead people,” A
Hawk sobered. Like a light going out, the hazel eyes dimmed, the full lips stilled and thi
The waitress came then with two egg salads on white bread, bread-and-butter pickles on the side. Neither was tempted. Coffee came and got a slightly better reception. Hawk sipped. A
“I went to see De
Hawk thought over his reply. Took a drink of the coffee. “De
Not a yes, not a no. Like a character in a Greek tragedy, A
“When did he die?” Hawk asked abruptly. “Exactly?”
“The autopsy will tell us-today, maybe tomorrow. Why?”
Hawk didn’t answer. It was as if he hadn’t heard. He pushed a bit of egg salad around his plate with the edge of a chip but didn’t look as if he was inclined to eat it.
“I saw De
“Why should we? De
“How did you know? At the time you were filling tanks the body had not yet been discovered. And there was a bruise on the body. A mark like one that would be left by a dive harness. My guess is De
“Ah. Gotcha! That it?”
A
“It’s crossed my mind,” she said, “that De
Hawk looked up from his plate. His eyes were hard. “The Third Sister has got a load of debt that should sink her. Collateral so we could buy gear for the squirrels. Do you think I’d kill De
“Maybe not for the Third Sister, but for your sister? For Holly.”
Hawk looked blank. “Holly loved De
“And then there was Jo?”
“No. Nothing like that. Holly couldn’t love De
“I find that hard to believe,” A
Instantly Hawk understood what the apparently coincidental arrival of the Bureau man meant.
“No,” he said hurriedly. “No.”
“Holly’s not gay,” A
“Gay!” Hawk laughed. “No.” The restaurant door opened. A
“There’s never been any man for Holly but me. Never any woman in my world but Holly.”
The truth jarred more deeply than A
“No half-wit children,” Hawk said bitterly.
“Why did you go to bed with me?”
“You for me; the three clotheshorse clients for Holly. De
“De
“We found him,” Hawk said. “Two days before you did. Floating near the ship. His gear was on him, there was air in his tank. Maybe ecstasy of the deep. Stupidity. Accident. It doesn’t matter-not even if it was murder. We gave him the burial he wanted in the grave he would have chosen. We owed him at least that.”
“Howdy, howdy, howdy.” Frederick Stanton had arrived at their table. Somewhere along the way he had picked up a coffeepot, and proceeded to refill their cups. “Nothing for me, thanks,” he said when an irritated waitress steamed over to retrieve her pot.
A
Watching the boats come and go in the harbor, she stared out of the window. Nothing broke the silence but Hawk’s muffled chewing. Stanton had grown so good at waiting A
Twins and lovers. De
Stanton caught her eye. She smiled. “Sorry to drag you all the way down here. I just wondered if the autopsy report had come back.”
The FBI man’s look of expectancy evaporated. “Ah. Well. Meet me in Ralph’s office.” Looking crestfallen, a disappointed child, he rose from the table.