Body Guard by Rex Burns

Author:Rex Burns [Burns, Rex]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-4532-4799-0
Publisher: MysteriousPress.com / Open Road
Published: 2012-10-15T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 16

LATER, BUNCH STOPPED at the health club for an hour’s sweat and strain before driving south to Humphries’ home. The exercise shook out the stiffness and boredom of surveillance, and the gyrating, Lycra-clad bodies of after-work secretaries and lady executives brightened his outlook on the world. Funny, though, how—despite pleasing the eye—none of them drew him with the hunger and excitement Susan had. And the few women he’d dated in the couple years since her death had been nice people, good times, and fond memories. But even the warmest moments of lovemaking had not touched that center where, gradually, the hole of emptiness had closed with a scab of acceptance.

He shifted down and angled the Bronco onto the long dirt road leading to the house.

No complaints—he and Susan had some time together. That was a hell of a lot more than a lot of other people ever had. But before knowing Susan, Bunch would have enjoyed a woman and, when the enjoyment ran thin, kissed her off with the usually justified belief that she knew it was coming anyway and was just as tired of him. Now he kissed them off with a sense of waste. Waste of himself, waste of them. Funny … Maybe what Dev told him had some truth: he was getting so goddamn sensitive. Bean sprouts for breakfast. Glass of Perrier and a slice of lemon for lunch. Followed by a thrilling evening at the Women’s Institute for Unisex Bonding. Bullshit. In time, someone else would come along. It wouldn’t be Susan—there had been only one of her—but, in her own way, it could be someone as good. And this time, by God, he would know what to look for. Meantime, as the wailing, nasal song said, “It wasn’t love, but it wasn’t bad.” And that one brunette jogging around the track—the one with long legs and the smooth, strong stride of a natural runner—had given him the big eye. He’d seen her before, and he just might make it a point to see her again.

As Bunch turned out the headlights, Humphries peered through the curtained windows, a target shooter’s silhouette. God preserve the innocent from their own foolishness. If there was a God and if He gave a damn about preserving anything. Bunch took a deep breath and stood for a few moments, looking. Over the range of mountains, the western sky still held the pale green of long mountain twilight. But in the east, where the yellow of autumnal prairie grass rippled like the hide of some tawny animal, the rim of earth had already rolled beneath the chill of coming night. Scattered distant lights marked the occasional houses and ranches that dotted the broad valley and plains. Carried on the warmer breeze that began to sigh up from the valley came the low of a homeward bound cow. It was nice, Bunch thought. Maybe one day he’d have enough money to live in the country. But right now he couldn’t afford it, and he didn’t really want to anyway.

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