Capitol Punishment by Andrew Welsh-Huggins

Author:Andrew Welsh-Huggins [Welsh-Huggins, Andrew]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ohio University Press
Published: 2016-12-15T00:00:00+00:00

32

STERLING EXCUSED HIMSELF, SAYING HE had clients to meet. I ordered a second beer and thought about the problems I faced. My responsibility for Hershey’s death. Tillman’s pending indictment. Indictments, if you counted Midwest Testing and the grand jury. The person following me. Troy Wardley’s silence and self-isolation after his brother’s arrest. And of course, Anne and the “situation.”

The clouds started to gather again. Rationally, I knew I shouldn’t blame myself for what happened to Hershey. I’d been shanghaied, pure and simple. But conversely, what had I been doing at a bar before a job, anyway? Roy’s personal problems be damned—it was stupid and careless, and I knew it. Like so many other things I did from day to day. But unlike other screw-ups, I couldn’t take this one back. That led me to Anne, and the absurdity of not knowing something that simple chemistry could answer. Why was she being this way? Was it a test? To see if I’d scoot at the first sign of trouble? No, I thought, trying to calm down. She wasn’t like that. She had the most forgiving heart of anyone I knew, a miracle given what she’d been through. But still. My face getting hot, I decided to insist on a pregnancy kit. Wasn’t that the manly thing to do? The stand-up thing? I’d pay for it, of course. And—I paused—I’d accept the consequences. Whatever that meant.

Mind made up, I finished my beer in two long pulls, got out my phone, unlocked it, and started to dial Anne. As I did, a call came through from a blocked number.

“Yes,” I said, sharply.

“Andy Hayes?”

“That’s right.”

“The private investigator?”

“Yes. Who is this?”

“Tom Hubbard,” the governor of Ohio said.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.