The Confrontation by Easton Livingston

Author:Easton Livingston
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: JMD Publising
Published: 2020-03-26T00:00:00+00:00

Part V - Hunger of the Hunch

Neff waited in the parking lot, staring at the apartment door. It was out of character for him to go off book on an unofficial investigation and was not a path he felt comfortable walking. Yet, here he was waiting for Dr. Murchowski to come out of her apartment office so he could follow her to wherever she was going. He knew he was treading on thin ice. If she discovered he was following her, she could slap a restraining order on him and it could turn out far worse. Nothing happened yet. He could put the car and drive and head back downtown. It ran across his mind twice, but each time he couldn't go through with it. Something was off. It would be irresponsible to ignore it. Dana Johansen's death may have been the symptom of something more sinister. He had to follow where it led, ride the connecting lines... and tiptoe carefully.

He imagined what his wife Anita would say to him. Like always, she would trust him. She'd support the direction he was going. She might even say, "You've gotten this far in your career doing what you're doing and it hasn't failed you. So keep doing it." It was the logical position to take. That's why he loved her so much. It was rare to find that kind of support in a spouse. At least in his case, it was rare. A complete and different experience from his first marriage.

His first marriage was all about control. Who would control the other or who would control the relationship. That's not what he wanted, but it's how it ended up. She wanted to control him, his career, his likes, and dislikes. It surprised him he didn't see it coming. He was a police officer, and it was his job to observe details. To discern the small things. He realized in hindsight, he was just too close to the situation. It was difficult for him to take a step back and interpret it with objectivity. He believed marriage to be a partnership. His had turned into a battlefield for leadership.

It didn't help that his mom liked her and still had a relationship with her. Many of his impromptu visits home interrupted their phone conversations. Then his mom would ask, “Do you want to talk to Sharon?” He wanted to say it would be more satisfying cramming toothpicks in his ear. Instead, he ignored the remark and relinquished his presence from the room.

Since divorcing Sharon, there was a marked distance between him and his mother. The divorce disappointed his mom while her treatment of Anita offended him. She always got the short end of the stick from his mother, the victim little verbal jabs; what his ex-wife would do well and how his current wife wasn't doing it so well. Family gatherings became strained. It was all a hot mess. Divorce was never pretty and not a choice he wanted to make. He didn't like it but he had to live with it.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.