Absolute Zero by James Patterson

Author:James Patterson [Patterson, James]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Random House UK
Published: 2017-06-01T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 30

LOU WAS RIGHT about the storm.

Less than an hour after Thurston checks in he watches from his corner window as the edges of the town blur. After a while all he can see through the thickening blizzard is the neon glow from Frenchie’s down the street. Thurston puts on his boots, grabs his down jacket and a beanie and steps out into the motel corridor. Before he leaves he wedges a sliver of matchstick under one of the door hinges – an old trick, almost a reflex.

Outside, the temperature has dropped ten degrees. Thurston trudges across the parking lot and gets a burger at the otherwise deserted diner. When he leaves, the owner – a deadpan old boy with a lined face that puts Thurston in mind of a bulldog sucking a lemon – begins switching off the lights before the door closes.

Thurston takes a right. As he turns the corner into Main Street he cops a faceful of snow and flashes back to that night three weeks ago on his way to the V down the Hackney Road. Heading towards Frenchie’s, the memory is a reminder to him to watch his step and to remember why he’s here.

He opens the door to a warm blast of air and the sound of country music and conversation. A long bar is lined with customers, many of them watching the bank of six TVs, all showing sports.

‘Close the goddamn door, man,’ someone yells.

Lou wasn’t kidding about everyone in East Talbot turning up at Frenchie’s.

From what Thurston can see there are more people inside the bar than he’d have believed live in the town.

Thurston’s arrival doesn’t cause so much as a ripple. He was worried the place might stop dead at the sight of a stranger, and feels a little foolish when absolutely nothing happens.

There’s no space at the packed bar but Thurston finds a spot at a single table in a corner. He orders a beer from the waitress and sits back, glad to be in the warmth of a bar in full flow without any of the responsibilities of working. He takes a pull on his drink and thinks again about Sofi and Barb. It occurs to him that Janie and Lenin and some of the regulars might have heard he was responsible for the fire and the deaths, and hot anger at Miller flares up once more. He hopes Janie and Lenin won’t believe what they hear but he’s not certain. They—

‘You mind?’

Thurston looks up to see a good-looking blonde woman standing in front of him. She’s indicating the empty chair across from him. It takes a few seconds for him to place her before realising she’s the woman he saw talking to Lou at the motel. With her hair down and a touch of lipstick she looks different. What was her name? Jerry? Toni?

‘This ain’t a come-on or nothing,’ she says, ‘but I’m not about to spend the night standing up. I been doing that all day. No offence.

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