The Disappearance by J. F. Freedman

Author:J. F. Freedman [Freedman, J. F.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Suspense
ISBN: 9781480424005
Publisher: Signet
Published: 1997-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

FOUR

FERDINAND DE LA GUERRA and Luke Garrison. Two men. One of a certain age, one who sometimes feels he’s aging too fast. Sitting in the living room of the old gentleman’s house. It’s a several decades-old Spanish colonial situated on a quiet, narrow lane in Mission Canyon, in the flats. It’s a wonderful house, full of history, beautifully furnished with Mission-style furniture, the walls covered with early twentieth-century landscape paintings of the central coast, portraits of old land-grant ancestors stiffly posed, South American tapestries, ancient swords, guns, Spanish conquistador helmets. On some of the dark, burnished tables, there are small pieces of authentic pre-Columbian art: Aztec, Mayan. And one painting more contemporary, the centerpiece of the room, hung over the large stone fireplace: a Diego Rivera, a gift from the artist, personally, to the owner’s father.

The house and its owner fit each other like kid leather gloves, Luke thinks. Aging but still elegant.

“You’re going to be in trial in a few weeks. How do you feel?” The judge looks over at Luke as he poses the question. He pours two snifters of forty-year-old Spanish brandy. The aromas are overwhelming in the glasses, redolent of crushed flowers, wild berries, old succulent grapes. And beautiful women on dark candlelit nights when this house was overflowing with desire.

“Better,” Luke says confidently. “Our odds are on the rise.” He leans back in his chair, holding the liquid in his mouth, the flavors drifting into his head, heavenly fire.

“What about you?” The tone is anxious, trying not to be. “Aside from the case.”

“I’ve got baby-sitters watching the dark corners, so I feel safe—safe enough. Whoever it was isn’t going to come after me again, I don’t think. Unless he’s desperate or crazy, in which case—” Luke throws up his hands. “It’s constricting, seeing a deputy over my shoulder every time I step out my front door.” He points towards the door. “It’s annoying as hell, especially to Riva. It reminds her of what happened.”

De La Guerra smiles. “She’s like me. She wishes you weren’t on the case anymore.”

Luke nods. “Like I said, if I let whoever did this run me off, he wins and I lose. And so does the law, which I care about, it’s still my life.”

“What about your life? How would you feel about losing that?”

“I wouldn’t like it,” Luke admits. “But I don’t plan on that happening. Neither does our esteemed sheriff. He’s tired of being embarrassed.”

The judge shifts to the practical. “Has there been any progress? Do they have any leads?”

Luke shakes his head. “Not a one.”

“You’re still thinking it was Doug Lancaster.”

Outside, an owl hoots in the darkness. Luke walks over to a floor-to-ceiling window. He looks out into the night, trying to see where the owl is perched, high up in a tall pine that sits at the edge of the property. “The owl a regular?” he asks. “What kind is it, you know?”

“It comes and goes,” De La Guerra replies from his comfortable leather chair. “A great horned,” he says to the second part of Luke’s question.

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.