The Killing Ground by Finn Bell

Author:Finn Bell [Bell, Finn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: fiction
ISBN: 9780473368050
Publisher: Finn Bell
Published: 2017-07-12T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 27

March 16, THREE MONTHS AGO . . .

Kissing Patricia for the second time tonight wakes up parts of me I didn’t know had been asleep, and I remember how good it can be to actually feel naked.

Not in the sense of clothes, because we are both still fully clothed, and again back in my car parked out by Howell’s Point. The heavy rain is dulling the rock music on the radio as we make out like teenagers in a Zombie apocalypse.

No, naked in the sense of being vulnerable and open.

I guess it’s not too different from how you feel in the beginning of a relationship, when you actually take your clothes off in front of someone you have feelings for, that period of euphoric happiness where you can still feel both kinds of naked with them.

Where does that go? How did Anna and I lose it? How do you grow blind? How do you slowly stop seeing the person you love, when they are right there in front of you the whole time?

I can’t help thinking of Anna now because even though it’s completely different, it’s also very familiar as I get here, unlooked for and beyond my hopes, to taste again something undeservedly beautiful.

It’s when Bush’s classic song “Glycerine” comes on the radio that we finally pull away from each other again and quite literally return to ourselves.

“Finn? The other night, when we came to your house . . . And now you’re living with Tai. What’s happening?” Patricia asks. I feel bad for letting things progress this far without drawing some attention to the small matter of the family of lunatics who may be looking to kill me.

I don’t see the point in any further dishonesty because in this town she’s going to find out sooner or later, most likely from me because I still can’t let things go. Even worse, I actually now have backup, as Pruitt is right in it with me.

So I tell Patricia everything, from the first meeting out at Zoyl farm to the last dire predictions of Father Ress. Patricia takes the hearing of it in surprisingly good stride.

“Okay, so let me get this straight. You’ve got the Zoyls after you, and maybe they are going to kill you to keep their secret that they’re sick, or maybe simply because they are sick in the first place?” she asks in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Erm, yes, that’s about the gist of it,” I say as I watch her carefully for any further reaction.

“Well, I’d suggest you get that sorted out, hey?” she replies in a surprisingly calm voice, then continues when she sees my expression, “Sorry, Finn. It’s not that I don’t care. But I used to be married to a career criminal, and my son became deaf at the age of two—I’ve just about used up all the anxiety and fear I have already. What’s left I reserve for actual death and the future cancelation of Sex and the City reruns,” she says with a kind smile.

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