Pushing Water by Dana King

Author:Dana King
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Down & Out Books

CHAPTER 29

Jacques watched Mary Pugliese rinse her last cup of coffee before leaving for work, put it on the dish drainer. She’d been at Dale’s when Jacques got back from the fiasco at Chubbie’s ready to throw his shit in the car and hit la route and he didn’t want to leave without saying anything. Not that he cared if he hurt her feelings. The last thing he needed was for her to decide she’d been used, read the news, put two and two together, and call the police. Don Kwiatkowski’s loss of sanity mandated getting out of Penns River, but the package from Quebec was still in transit. Even worse than her calling the police was the possibility of Mary on the rag opening his mail to find almost seventy thousand dollars of untraceable American currency.

“Hey, Mary. Can I talk to you a minute?”

She looked at the clock over the refrigerator. “Just a minute. I’m already running late.”

“I may have to go out of town for a few days. For work.”

Mary’s face didn’t mask the uncertainty in her voice. “You might?”

“I’m waiting for a phone call this afternoon to know for sure.” Jacques’s bag already packed and in the car. Leaving enough behind to soothe Mary’s suspicions. Nothing he’d miss. “Just a few days.”

“When are you leaving?”

“Like I said, I’m not even sure I have to go. If I do, though, it will be right away.”

Another look came to Mary’s face. Harder. “That was quick. Ain’t even been a week.”

Jacques put his arms around her. “It’s not like that. I told you what I do. The security work. I have a chance for a new contract. Could be a big deal for me. I’ll be back once I talk to some people and take a look around. Couple three days. Hey.” Cradled her chin in his hand. Tilted her head up. “I’m coming back. Go see how much of my stuff is still in the room.”

“That’s cause you ain’t packed yet.”

“That package from my brother? In Canada? That’s coming here. That package means a lot to me. I’m not going to skip out on it.”

“You keep going on about that package. What’s in it?”

Jacques had worked on the story. “My father, he died. We weren’t close or nothing, but sometimes when you’re not close to someone it’s harder. You wonder what might have been different, you know? My brother found some of his things from better times, and a few he thinks might help me understand better why my father was so hard to get along.” Half true. Marc-Edouard Lelievre currently serving five years in the Milton Hilton, though he was a bâtard to get along with. “It’s personal stuff. I’m not going to leave it. And I trust you with it.”

Jacques watched the indecision play out on Mary’s face. A look of resignation took root. “Well, it ain’t like I could keep youns from going even if I wanted to. Your stuff’ll be here when you get back.”

Jacques waited ten minutes after she left to drive to Fayette County.

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