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“I’m giving it some serious thought. You?”
“I don’t know.” Ace glanced over his shoulder. “Film crew, remember? I hate to make a scene-you know, disrupt the reception. But the camera boys thought it might be nice to have some footage of me showing up at a family celebration for one of the other pros. You know, showing that no matter how successful I’ve become, I still have time for the… uh… the…”
Little people? Co
“The better things in life. Family. Friends. And they thought if I came, it might help make the event special. For Freddy and his daughter.”
Sort of like the arrival of a visiting dignitary, Co
He was distracted by the all too familiar sound of drunken grumbling on the opposite side of the bar. In this mostly quiet room, the raspy words were like a gong sounding at daybreak. Barry Be
“It iss’t so much whadde did,” Barry said, slurring his words with impunity. “It’ss the way he did it.”
Co
“Sure,” Barry continued, even louder than before, “they say allss fair’n love and war. But some thingsiss right, and some thingsiss wrong.”
Co
“Mind you, I don’t care ’nymore,” Barry said with a hiccup. “I’m over it. Totally over it. But iss hard to have much respect for a man with no honor.”
“Barry,” Co
“I gotta right to speak my piece,” Barry said. Unfortunately, it seemed the booze made him both feisty and stupid. “There’s this li’l thing called the First Amendment, see? You can’t censor me.”
“I can censor you with my fist,” Co
“Hey, calm down,” Ace said, laying a hand on Co
“Oh, stop playing the peacemaker,” Co
“It wass’t her fault,” Barry answered. His eyes wavered so Co
“Bought her? Man, you are truly looped.”
“He did. With lossa jewelry and fancy cars and a lotta other crap I couldn’t begin to afford. He didn’t play fair. He jus’ bought her-like he did everything else.”
Co
The postings.
Spenser cleared his throat. “First of all, I want to thank each and every one of you for your participation in our tournament. By your noble efforts and stalwart athleticism, you have once again maintained the high standards of excellence that the Masters-”
“Jesus God,” someone in the back of the room groaned. “Just tell us if we made the cut!”
Even Spenser had to smile this time. “As you wish. I’ll post the results next to the bar. For those who will proceed, tee times begin tomorrow morning at nine. And to all of you, my heartfelt congratulations. You’re all wi
Co
As soon as Spenser had the results thumb-tacked to the bulletin board, the crowd surged forward en masse, pressing forward to see where they stood. Co
Oh, the hell with it. Co
His heart sank. What chance did he possibly have? His eyes raced down the list. Happily, it was alphabetized and the distance to the Cs was not great. Calley, Carter, Cresswell…
Cross. Co
He’d made it. He’d made it! Just barely, but praise God he’d made the cut.
Co
Co
He stumbled into the corridor, so relieved he barely knew what he was doing. He almost collided with Jodie before he’d even realized she was there.
“I’m guessing,” Jodie said, “from that pathetic grin on your face that you made the cut.”
“Yes.” Co
“Right. John always felt the same way.” She smiled, and Co
“Which reminds me,” Jodie said. “I thought of it.”
Co
“I thought of it. What I was trying to remember. What John said on his way out of the cabin. Just before he was killed.”
Co
“Well, you have to understand up front-I don’t know what the context was. I’m not sure there was one, actually, except maybe in John’s brain. But I do remember what he said. I would’ve asked him about it. If I’d ever gotten the chance.”
“Jodie, tell already. What did he say?”
She drew in her breath. “ Fiji.”
“Pardo
“You heard me. Fiji.”
“As in… the islands?”
“Beats hell out of me. But that’s definitely what he said. Fiji.”
Fiji? Fiji? Co
“Wait a minute,” Co
“That was before my time,” Jodie explained. “Before John married me. But he went on an island cruise. I don’t know if he went to the Fijis or not.”
Co
“Jodie, are you sure he said Fiji? Could it have been something that just sounded like Fiji? Like maybe… squeegee? Or Ouija?”
“I suppose it’s possible.”
“Or maybe he was saying several words, but saying them so fast they kind of ran together.”
“Maybe. He didn’t realize I was listening.”
“Or maybe not words. Maybe… letters.” If someone said the letters F-E-G very quickly, wouldn’t it come out sounding something like… Fiji? “I don’t know what to make of this, Jodie.”
“It may not mean anything,” Jodie admitted. “Who knows-maybe he was just humming the words to a song or something. It’s just that-well, I wanted to ask him about it. And I never-I never-“ Her voice trailed off.