American Crow
Page 31
‘It was the least I could do...’ I replied, wishing it was Laura and I stood there cheek to cheek.
‘You bloody did it,’ Lenny barked, slapping his hand on the table triumphantly, ‘I knew you would, Blakey.’
‘I said I would, didn’t I?’
I turned and sat down in silence as Olivia hugged her father tightly, trying to swallow the lump of concrete nestling in my throat, then swivelled back around as Lenny produced a fresh bottle of brandy from his drawer.
‘Good work, son...I’ve got another case if...’
I raised the palm of my hand, stopping him in his tracks.
‘That’s me done Lenny, okay?’
He eyed me for a moment, then poured a generous measure into both tumblers.
‘You serious?’
He slid the glass across the table his eyes full of mischief. I picked the glass up and downed it in one, just wanting to get the hell out of there. Needing to be alone.
‘Yes, this time, I am. I promised Laura I would at the funeral, and that’s the way it’s going to be from now on...’
Lenny licked his lower lip slowly, deep in thought.
‘Thing is Blake, a job’s come up that’s just tailor made for you. I wouldn’t trust anyone else with it in fact.’
‘Really?’ I said cynically, pushing back the chair.
‘I’ll make it worth your while.’
I shot him a weary glance. I had enough cash to keep me going for a while, until I found something new that would keep me occupied.
‘I’m done...seriously.’
I got up and made my way out, then caught Olivia’s teary gaze as I reached the door. She stared deep into my eyes for a second, smiling, then mouthed the words ‘thank you’ inaudibly. I nodded and cracked a smile back, then looked at Lenny, remembering Nancy’s words suddenly on Black Mountain. “The past is the past, and the present for living, Blake.”
I felt my stomach tighten again as if it was about to fold over on itself. Maybe Nancy was right, and I just needed to get on with my life, carry on doing what I did best until the reaper came knocking, like she had...
‘I’ll think about it, okay.’
Lenny flashed me one of his larger than life smiles.
‘Good boy. I’ll give you a ring in the morning, when you’ve had a chance to rest and sort your damned face out..’
I turned and headed downstairs, then out onto the side-street where my Shadow was still parked up in one piece. Relieved, I sparked up the engine and pulled out into the early morning traffic, thoughts of Laura, then Nancy percolating through my exhausted mind.
Maybe people like Deacon did need me, and it was just some god damn awful irony that he got what he wanted at the end of the trail, and I didn’t...My hand went to Laura’s necklace to check it was still there, and in that moment, I thought I felt her draw close, as if she were sitting right behind me, her arms wrapping around my waist tightly as I increased my speed.
Perhaps that was just the way it was and always would be until I was chewing on dust too, I thought. It was just the way it was...
THE END
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