Orient by Christopher Bollen

Author:Christopher Bollen
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3, mobi
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2015-05-04T23:00:00+00:00

On her way back to the house, Beth saw a gray sedan parked in the driveway, its metal doors corroded by snow and salt. As she opened the back door, she heard the doorbell ring. She hurried through the house and unlocked the dead bolts on the front door. By the time she got it open, Mike Gilburn was already retreating down the walk.

He turned in surprise and headed back toward her, scratching his beard. Even though they were about the same age, gray strands had already woven their way through his patchy brown hair. “The last time I came to your door like this I was picking you up,” he said, smiling. “Did I bring roses?”

“Carnations, I think,” Beth said, although she couldn’t remember any flowers, couldn’t remember one solid detail in the mental photo album of teenage dates that hadn’t resulted in heartbreak or sex. She thought she recalled a horror movie, maybe a few beers over a pinball machine.

“I wish I could say that’s why I’m here.” His sentence brought him to shuffle his heels. His face reddened. “Not to take you out. I hear you’re married. What I meant was, I wish this was a social call.”

When she’d called the detective on the day of Magdalena’s funeral, he had made her feel like the local busybody. How old did you have to be before you qualified for that title? At thirty-two, Beth might be the youngest busybody ever.

“It’s funny,” Mike said, tipping back on his heels. “Just last month I was thinking about giving up my place in Southold and moving back out here to a little Orient fixer-upper. I found one for sale not far from here. Sarakit Herrig was the agent for the house and she told me not to even bother bidding. Too many interested parties willing to go sky-high for a property on the Sound, she said. She told me I ought to hold on to what I have.” Mike seemed proud of his meager paycheck, buoyant in his hybrid sneaker/dress shoes. “That’s quite a business strategy Sarakit’s got going. Cut everyone out but the rich. I wanted to remind her that her husband taught me geography in school.”

“Things have changed out here,” Beth replied.

“Well, I just drove by it and it’s still sitting vacant. Maybe those sky-highers had second thoughts. Maybe now she’d accept money from a guy like me.”

Beth smiled impatiently. She was still bruised by the fact that he hadn’t listened to her. “What can I do for you, Mike?”

“I’m sorry I didn’t take your call as seriously as I should have.” His voice was the Long Island-ese of her childhood, clipped consonants, a saxophone of vowels. Bad for apologies. “You can’t blame me. The deceased you were worried about was very old, and we still have no reason to assume her death was suspicious.”

“I don’t blame you,” she said slowly, intentionally unhysterical. “I just wish you had listened. I think of you as a friend.”

“Of course,” Mike said in relief.

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.