Jack Ketchum by Peaceable Kingdom

Author:Peaceable Kingdom [Kingdom, Peaceable]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-11-27T05:00:00+00:00

The Work

“Funny place to meet,” he said. He sat across from her at the old formica table, sipping his coffee only rarely, waiting for her to get to it, wrapping an elastic band around his middle finger and forefinger and then releasing it, a nervous gesture, the only one he’d displayed so far, a tic. She could live with it.

“You wouldn’t be thinking of trying to take me down, would you?”

She laughed by way of answering him. “Where do most of your clients want to meet?”

“A bar. A restaurant. Neutral territory. Not their kitchen usually, and never in the kitchen of some house out in the woods all alone in the middle of nowhere. That’s a new one on me. Aren’t you worried I might have something other than business in mind? You’re an attractive woman. You obviously realize that. And you don’t know me at all, do you.”

She shook her head. “I’m not worried. Half an hour ago, before you arrived I was. I admit I was. Because you never know. But I’m a good judge of people. Comes with the territory. And I think you’re probably very professional about what you do. I thought that about five minutes after I first laid eyes on you.”

“I am. That’s true.”

“But to get back to your first question the fact is that with what I’m about to ask you to do, I’d be the one more likely to get taken down, as you say, than you. Hang on for just a second.”

She got up and walked to the middle of the room to throw two split logs in the big potbellied stove. It was only September 12th but already nights in the Maine woods were chilly though the days were bright and clear. She closed the grate. The stove immediately began to roar, the draw creating a furious wind tunnel inside, a small inferno. She’d always liked the sound.

She sat down. “That’s better.”

For a moment she just looked at him and sipped her own black coffee, watching him over the rim. She thought that Carey was attractive too in his own strange way though she couldn’t call him handsome. His hair was thin and his face too rough for her tastes. She could picture him with a toolbelt around his waist, working with his hands somehow—instead of in the tailored English suit he was wearing now. Strong, efficient. And composed. Very composed. All he did was sit there and wait her out while she took his measure. No pressure to continue. No impatience. As though he trusted that she’d get there when she was good and ready.

“Let me tell you something about myself, Mr. Carey,” she said.

“Richard. And I don’t usually want to know too much about my clients. Sometimes it gets in the way.”

She nodded. “I can understand that but in this case it’s important. Without knowing who I am I doubt you’d even take the job.”

“Really?” He smiled.

“Really. Trust me on this.”

Now it was his turn to look. She waited for his permission.

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