Among Thieves by David Hosp

Author:David Hosp
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: FIC031000
ISBN: 9780446558020
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: 2010-01-11T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Two

Lissa left the Green Dragon ahead of the others and headed to Southie to pick Sally up from school. Finn and Kozlowski stayed for a little while to talk strategy; then Finn drove Kozlowski back to the office in Charlestown. The brief respite of seasonable weather had ended, and New England was exacting its revenge as the skies turned gray and troubled and the wind spat drizzle at Boston’s inhabitants. It was like this every year, and yet people seemed to forget. A few mild days in April tempted Bostonians into believing winter had been banished, but it always regrouped for a final assault. It was usually May before the weather was consistently pleasant.

Finn, a meteorological optimist, had put the top down on his battered MG, and when he and Kozlowski emerged from the bar, he struggled to pull the canvas covering back out. By the time it was back up, the interior was soaked.

Kozlowski stood outside the car, looking angrily from Finn to the passenger seat.

“Wipe it down,” Finn said. “There’s a towel in the back.”

Kozlowski reached into the back and grabbed the towel. “Wiping it down doesn’t do a goddamn thing,” he said. “The seat’s cracked. The water soaks into the cushion so it’s like sitting on a wet sponge. Why do you think the car smells like mildew all the time?”

“I thought that was you.”

“Asshole.”

“You wanna call a cab? I can meet you back at the office,” Finn asked.

“No, I don’t want to call a goddamned cab. I want to work with someone who drives a real goddamned car. Not some piece of crap clowns should be jumping out of.”

“So sit on the towel then. That’ll keep you dry.”

“I would, but then my head scrapes against the roof of the car.”

Finn looked again at Kozlowski. His expression had turned from anger to disgust to plain unhappiness. “You have seriously turned into a major whiner,” Finn said. “Are you going soft on me?”

Kozlowski’s look was sharp. “I’m not going soft, I just don’t want to sit in pants with a wet ass for the rest of the goddamned day.” He frowned again, then spread the towel over the seat and slid in gingerly, trying to hold some of his weight off the seat. Finn had to stifle his laughter. They drove like that back to the office with Kozlowski leaning on the door and holding himself up with the windshield. The rain pelted him through the window, drenching his head and shoulders.

It was after four o’clock when they arrived. Lissa and Sally were already there when Finn and Kozlowski walked through the door.

“What happened to you?” Lissa asked Kozlowski, noting his wet head.

“Don’t ask,” Kozlowski replied. He nodded to the girl and padded down the hall toward the bathroom to dry himself off.

Finn looked at Lissa. “Did you tell her?”

“Yeah,” she said. “I told her.”

“I’m in the room,” Sally said. They looked at her. “You were talking about me, right?”

Finn nodded. “Yeah,” he said. “Sorry, didn’t mean to ignore you, I just…”

“She told me,” Sally said.

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