The Same End by Gregory Ashe

Author:Gregory Ashe [Ashe, Gregory]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gregory Ashe
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

26

Jem watched in the rearview mirror as the patrol car’s door opened. Haggerty, the trooper who had been in the canyon the night they’d found the body, got out. He had his hands on his belt as he approached Tean’s window. On his belt. Not on his gun, although that was a difference of about half an inch.

When Haggerty got to the window, Tean rolled it down. “Hello, Officer. Can I help you?”

“Were we speeding?” Jem leaned over Tean. “Six miles an hour in a five?”

Tean pushed him back into his seat.

Haggerty was young, handsome, his face sharp-edged and angular, and with a tight haircut. His eyes rested on Tean only for a moment before drifting to Jem, and Jem knew what that look meant. It had nothing to do with what Haggerty said next. “I understand you gentlemen have been asked to leave town.”

“That’s what we’re doing,” Jem said. “We’ve just got to pick up our dog, and we’re leaving.”

“Really? Because I just saw you come off a residential street.”

“What’s a Highway Patrol trooper doing in Moab on a Sunday? Shouldn’t you be at home, dreaming up new speed traps and jerking off over your ticket book?” Jem faked a moan. “Failure to signal.” Another moan. “Running a stop sign.” An explosive moan, his hand coming open on the last stroke. “Violating railroad rules.” He panted. “Was it as good for you as it was for me?”

“Will you cut it out?” Tean asked in a low voice.

“What were you gentlemen doing?”

“We’re private citizens. Are we under arrest? We’d like to go.”

“It’s a simple question, Dr. Leon.”

“Are we under arrest?”

“An honest man wouldn’t have any trouble telling me what he was doing up that street.”

Tean set his jaw; it was the same look he—and, for that matter, Scipio—wore when they played tug-of-war. “If we’re not under arrest, we’d like to leave.”

“I’ll figure it out myself,” Haggerty said. “It’ll take me five seconds to drive up that street and figure out what you were doing. You can make things better for yourself and earn a little goodwill by saving me the trouble.”

“We want to go.”

“The way I hear it, you’re going to need all the goodwill you can come up with.”

“I think I should call my lawyer.”

“You have a lawyer?” Jem asked.

Tean shot him a furious look, but all he said was, “I’ve only needed one since meeting you.”

“There’s no call for that,” Haggerty said. “I’d like to talk to Mr. Berger for a minute. Please step out of the car.” When Tean pulled on the latch, Haggerty braced the door with one hand and said, “Just Mr. Berger.”

“No,” Tean said.

“Stay in the car, Dr. Leon.”

“I will not—”

“It’s fine,” Jem said, squeezing Tean’s arm. He opened the door and got out. The sun and the heat were crushing; the smell of the Ford’s exhaust and the hot asphalt spun up on invisible currents. The two-story Big Horn Lodge glowed, the stucco the color of an old lightbulb. Sweat sprang out across Jem’s forehead, across his back.

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