Darker Than Night by John Lutz

Author:John Lutz
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780786027125
Publisher: Kensington
Published: 2004-03-25T22:00:00+00:00

35

Quinn awoke to the scent of coffee and frying bacon.

He suddenly recalled last night—Pearl.

Now she was in his kitchen preparing breakfast. Where had this domestic Pearl come from? For that matter, the Pearl she’d displayed last night had been quite a surprise.

He climbed out of bed nude and trod heavily into the bathroom.

“Quinn?” Pearl’s voice from the kitchen stopped him. Must have heard the floor creak.

“Yeah?” His sleep-thickened voice came out as a growl. “Yes?” Better. Civilized.

“You have time to shower and shave before breakfast.”

“Uh-huh.” He continued on his way to the bathroom.

When he was clean and shaven, he slicked back his wet hair, then returned to the bedroom and rummaged through his dresser drawers until he found an old robe he hadn’t worn in over a year. The gentleman in his dressing gown. He put on the robe but couldn’t locate his slippers, so he padded barefoot into the kitchen.

Pearl was standing at the stove holding a spatula. She’d made a pass at combing her thick hair, but it was still flat where she’d slept on it. She was wearing the clothes she’d had on yesterday. They looked as if she’d been wearing them for a week. Her blouse had wrinkles that might never iron out. This was not a woman who looked as if she belonged in a kitchen, yet she had the table neatly set, crisp bacon already on plates, and eggs sizzling in a frying pan.

“I thought you might want to go out for breakfast,” he said.

The coffeemaker’s glass pot was full. Two clean cups sat nearby. He went over and poured himself a cup of the strong black brew. There was no cream in sight. How did she know I like my bacon crisp, my coffee black? She must have been observing all this time.

Pearl was smiling at him. “Eating at home’ll be better.”

Home? “What I thought,” Quinn said, “was we might have breakfast at the diner down the street, then take a walk. Maybe you could pick up some clothes at one of the shops near there.”

She raised her eyebrows, puzzled. “Why would I want to buy clothes?”

“Fedderman’ll be here sooner or later this morning. He’ll see you’re wearing the same clothes from yesterday. He’ll know you spent the night.”

Careful…don’t break what happened last night like the eggs. “Makes no difference to me. Sunny-side up?”

“Over well. It does make a difference to me.”

“If that’s how you feel about it…. Break the yellow?”

“No.”

She used the spatula to slide one egg onto a plate with the bacon, then deftly flipped the egg remaining in the skillet.

“I don’t think it’s such a good idea, Pearl, advertising that we slept together.”

She motioned with her head at the egg. “Hard enough?”

“Sure.”

“Fedderman left a message on my machine at home this morning. He said since I didn’t pick up, he assumes I left and took the subway here and we can meet later. He won’t be here for another hour. I’ll go out after breakfast and find something else to wear.

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