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"It's what you do," Susan said.
"I've always known it. And I've come to terms with it."
Pearl put her head on Vi
"But it scares me."
"Sure," I said.
"And I want you to be as careful as you can be… and not let them kill you."
"None of us want that to happen," I said.
Hawk seemed not to be listening which was an illusion. Hawk always knew everything that was going on around him. He was looking at the road, and then at the meadow, and down toward the woods, and back at the road.
Vi
"Swell," Vi
"Do you think that Lo
"He could be co
"Or it could be something else."
"Like?"
"Like he's ru
"But isn't trying to kill you the wrong way to do that?" Susan said.
"If he's covering up something, wouldn't that just cause more attention to be brought?"
"I've thought about that," I said.
"And I've got a couple of conclusions."
Vi
"Ever occur to you maybe I don't like dogs?" Vi
"It has," I said.
"Isn't she quick?" Susan said.
"Quick," Vi
Susan bent over and gave her a kiss on the muzzle.
"Good for you," she said to Pearl. Then she looked at me and said, "Conclusions?"
"The first time they made a run at me was in Port City, in a public place, middle of the day," I said.
"Like maybe they weren't sweating the Port City Police Department," Hawk said, his gaze moving comfortably over the landscape.
"And the second time," I said, "they were in Boston, and if they'd have succeeded, who would tie it to Port City?"
"And even if somebody did," Hawk said, "maybe they still not sweating Port City Police."
"Hawk has reached the same conclusions," I said to Susan.
"I still say if it were me, I'd just lie low and await developments."
"Sure," I said.
"But a guy like Lo
Susan nodded.
"So it makes sense from Lo
"But we still don't know whether he's involved in Craig's death."
"No, we don't."
"And we have no idea who was shadowing Jimmy?"
"No, we don't."
"And Jocelyn."
"About her I've got an idea."
Susan smiled at me.
"Oh, good," she said.
"Yes," I said.
"It's a start."
Pearl scrambled up on the bench seat between me and Susan and sat at table hopefully. Susan put her arm around her.
"You went to Harvard," I said.
"If I needed a translator, you think you could find one?"
"I imagine so," Susan said.
"I don't want a specialist in ritual folk poetry of the Tang Dynasty," I said.
"I need someone who can talk to street types."
"I sort of guessed that," Susan said.
"Wow," I said.
"You did go to Harvard."
Hawk speared two bread and butter pickles from the open jar, gave one to Pearl, and ate the other one. Pearl swallowed hers and waited. Nothing happened so she bounced up onto the table and put her nose in the jar. The mouth of the jar was too small and she couldn't get it all the way in, but she was able to put her tongue in and lap a little pickle juice. Vi
"Fucking dog's up on the fucking table eating the pickles," he said.
Susan smiled at him patiently.
"She likes pickles," Susan explained.
CHAPTER 25
Hawk and Vi
"What you listening to?" he said.
"Le
Hawk looked blank.
Vi
"You-oo-oo-oo made me leave my happy home…"
" "Lucky you can shoot," Hawk said and went back to his book.
Someone turned the knob on my office door. Hawk rolled left out of his chair, Vi
"Yeah?" I said.
"Spenser? Lee Farrell, is this a bad time?"
I put the gun away and nodded at Hawk to open the door. He did, and Lee walked in. He looked at Hawk and Vi
"Hawk," he said.
"Lee."
"Vi
"Lee Farrell."
Lee nodded at him.
Vi
"He's a cop," I said.
Vi
"You expecting trouble?"
"Just because the door's locked and I've got a couple guys with me."
"Guys? I know Hawk, and I've heard of Vi
I gri
"When you care enough to get the very best," I said.
"Yeah," Lee said.
He took a donut out of the box on my desk and ate some.
"I'm on my way to work," he said.
"I ran Craig Sampson's name through Triple I, and he's not there. So I queried the FBI and they have him."
"Why wasn't it in the Triple I index?"
"Nobody's perfect," Lee said.
"Is it his prints from the army? Or something else?"
"I don't know. I requested his file."
"And?"
"Their computer's backed up, they'll get to it."
"How soon?"