A Flaw in the Design by Nathan Oates

Author:Nathan Oates [Oates, Nathan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2023-03-21T00:00:00+00:00

15

Molly was downstairs on the phone with her mother, and Gil was in the bedroom, about to start on the stolen pages, when he saw, out the window, Matthew’s dark shape moving across the yard. The shape stopped, his face illuminated by his phone, then he was gone. This was it. A chance. An opening. Gil could just stay up here, pretend he hadn’t seen, or he could act. For Sharon. For his family.

Putting the stapled pages under his pillow, Gil hurried downstairs. Molly was there, in the kitchen, but she was listening to her mother, adding an occasional “Okay” and “Uh-huh.” He hadn’t gotten a chance to tell her about the detective yet. Chloe had needed help with her math homework, which Molly had done while starting on the dishes. Chloe was there, glowering into her hated textbook, twisting a strand of hair tight around her index finger. He jammed his feet into his unlaced boots, grabbed a jacket, and slowly opened the door. The cold was urgent and his hands were numb by the time he got his jacket zipped, moving around the side of the house, away from the motion sensor lights in the driveway. At the corner of the house he stopped, listened, and caught snippets of Matthew’s voice. Keeping away from the squares of yellow falling from the windows, he moved toward the trees and stopped as the branches brushed his jacket.

“I told you. No, I told you. What the fuck are you talking about?”

The boy was nearly shouting and Gil took the chance to move closer, wincing at the squeaks of his boots in the snow.

“That’s my fault? I’m supposed to be in charge of that moron? What does that have to do with me? Did I tell him to do that? Did I? It’s a simple fucking question, so why don’t you just answer it? Did I go down there and tell him to shoot his stupid fucking mouth off? Did I? Right. That’s right. So don’t threaten me.”

In the bay window across the yard Molly came into view, talking into her headphones, and the boy turned to watch. She laughed, then leaned toward the window, as if she’d spotted something. Matthew. Or—god, shit, no—maybe Gil.

“Look, I’m done with this, you hear me? I did what we agreed. My end is over. The rest of this shit, it’s your problem.” After a pause he added, “Man, fuck him, okay? That dumb bitch can rot for all I care.” Another pause and then he said, softer, “Dude, fuck this, I have to go,” and in the phone’s sudden light Gil could see Matthew clearly for a second: his deep scowl, eyes tightened, scanning the dark. He turned the phone toward Gil, the blue glow catching the shapes between them—fallen branches sticking up through the snow, the sagging pine branches. If he turned on the flashlight he’d see his uncle, creeping about in the dark. Spying on him. But Matthew slipped the phone into his pocket and crunched out across the yard.

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