American Dreams by John Jakes

Author:John Jakes [Jakes, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Historical
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 1999-07-01T04:00:00+00:00

At police headquarters, Harry stayed with her while detectives questioned her. Fritzi identified the dead man for them. When she was told that he was all but unrecognizable, vomit rose in her throat.

Pulled out of bed, B.B. arrived wearing an overcoat over his pajama bottoms. He quickly corroborated Fritzi’s story of threats and harassment from the patents detective. She was released a little before one in the morning, without being charged.

B.B. drove her to her flat on Twenty-second with Harry riding along. “Poor defenseless gel,” B.B. kept saying. “What quick thinking. You too, mister.”

Harry saw her up to her door, gravely shook her hand, urged her to telephone if he could do anything at all. She knew he couldn’t. She was responsible for a man’s death. Her parents had taught her reverence for human life, even in its most despicable forms. The effects of what she’d done would be with her for days, years—maybe forever.

But she thanked him, then hurried inside, hoping she’d feel safer, calmer, in her own bedroom.

She didn’t. She lay awake, arms crossed protectively on her breast, eyes wide, seeing those few seconds in the station again and again. An inch one way or another and she’d have been under the train instead of Pearly. He would never threaten her any longer. She felt different about California now. She urgently wanted to flee there, start anew, put the terrible night behind her—

As if she ever could.

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