Fire Lake by Jonathan Valin

Author:Jonathan Valin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: AudioGO
Published: 2012-05-21T16:00:00+00:00

25

IT BEGAN to snow again as we walked up Fourth Street. At first there were just a few flakes, then it started coming down like a hard rain. For several minutes the snow fell so thickly that it was impossible to see. I pulled Karen into an alcove in front of a shop window, and we stood there for a while, watching the snow sweep in wind-driven sheets up the deserted street.

“Did Leanne tell you anything else?” I asked.

Karen shook her head. “She just wanted a moment to collect herself and to cry on my shoulder a little about Jon.”

“Not a happy marriage,” I said.

“No,” Karen said sadly. “It’s weird, but I kind of feel for her. Even though I don’t like her, I feel sorry for her.” She laughed mordantly. “Christ, she’s wearing pearls and I’m feeling bad! I don’t know why it is that Leanne can always manage to make me feel guilty.”

I laughed. “I felt sorry for him.”

“Don’t,” Karen said. “In spite of the way it looked in there, Jon’s nobody’s victim. He could always take care of himself. Even when he worked as a postman, he had a knack for turning a dollar. And it looks like he’s still doing a pretty good job of it. But Leanne...it seems like she’s been hanging by the same thread since the day I met her. It’s no surprise that it’s finally wearing through.” Karen sighed. “Oh, for God’s sake, what do I care? So she’s rich and unhappy. So what? She’s got her life. And I’ve got mine. Jon was right—none of it worked out the way anyone planned. The important thing is to keep moving forward, like the Marine Corps manual says.”

I smiled at her. “How do you know about the Marine Corps manual?”

“My brother, Tom, was a Marine,” she said with a touch of pride. “Tough Tom. Tough guy.”

Karen stared out at the snow. There was snow all over her jacket, in her hair, on her face. I brushed some of it off with my hand.

“Give me a kiss, huh?” she said, turning toward me. “I could use one.”

I kissed her.

When the storm let up for a moment, we walked quickly up to the parking lot where we’d left the Pinto. Once we got inside the car, I took the bottles of muscle relaxant and painkiller out of my pocket and swallowed a couple of pills—dry.

“You hurt?” Karen said, eyeing me with concern.

“I’m all right,” I told her.

She started up the car and pulled out of the lot onto Fourth.

“Do we have a plan?” she said.

I shrugged. “Go see Norvelle, I guess.”

“He isn’t likely to tell us anything we want to know, is he?” Karen said. “I mean, if he’s dealing drugs...”

“I’ll persuade him,” I said dryly. “The important thing is to find Lonnie and to find out what happened to the crack.”

I didn’t say it to Karen, but it was also important to find out who Norvelle’s connection was, assuming that Thomas was the one who put Lonnie in touch with the man.

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