Bitter Waters by Wen Spencer Read Free Book Online Page A

realized if I didn’t get this stuff out this morning, it would sit here all week, driving you nuts with the stench.”
    â€œThanks,” Ukiah said, setting Kittanning’s car seat on the table. “But I doubt if I could smell even that over someone’s full diaper.”
    Max glanced up, saw Kittanning, and grinned. “Hey! How’s my boy!”
    â€œStinky,” Ukiah said.
    Kittanning squealed with delight. “Max!”
    â€œHe’s happy to see you,” Ukiah translated, wincing slightly as the noise seemed to approach the supersonic range.
    Which made Max smile wider. Max set the last dish intothe drying rack, let the soapy water out with a quiet sloshing noise, and dried his hands while Ukiah gathered supplies for a diaper-changing mission. Changing pad. Diaper wipes. Powder. Empty bread bag.
    â€œCome here, big boy.” Max lifted Kittanning out of the seat, and grimaced as the smell attacked him. “Oh, yeah, that’s one stinky diaper! What’re your moms feeding this baby? Curry and skunk weed?”
    â€œIt comes out deep green, whatever it is,” Ukiah said, frowning as the search for a diaper was coming up empty.
    â€œWith your nose, how can you stand changing him?”
    â€œI try not to breathe,” Ukiah said, checking the next bag. He knew that by the end of the day, everything in the bags would prove invaluable, but it still mystified him as to how someone so small needed so much stuff. “I think I’m out of diapers. Oops, no, here’s some.” He pulled three diapers out of the bottom, and then searched a little more to verify that they were the only diapers left. “Looks like I’m going to have to run to the store in a few hours.”
    â€œWhile you’re there, could you pick me up some stuff?” Max asked, and yawned deeply. Kittanning took the opportunity to stick a hand into Max’s mouth.
    The yawn served to remind Ukiah about Max’s late-night search. “Did you find anything out about Hutchinson?”
    â€œNot as much as I hoped.” Max pretended to munch on Kittanning’s fingers, making the baby laugh. “The government frowns on people investigating their agents. I ran the standard nonintrusive background check. Credit reports. Newspaper articles. Courtroom caseloads. I printed everything out so you can scan over it.”
    â€œWhat’s the condensed version?” Ukiah laid out the changing pad.
    â€œBorn and raised in New England, he attended Boston University and moved to Washington, D.C., to join the NSA. He appears to be a serious bulldog; whatever he latches on to, he drags down and nails cold. He’s paying on a Saturn, has two credit cards with modest balances, and rents an inexpensive town house in Maryland. I ran across an old engagement announcement, but no signs of a marriage. In 2002, afterHomeland Security formed, he ended up under their umbrella. I’m clueless, though, what he might want with us. The Pack, as a biker gang, falls into FBI jurisdiction.”
    â€œAri said he had photographs of us.” Ukiah positioned the rest of the diaper-changing accessories clockwise around the pad. “Professional quality. I’m ready for Kitt now.”
    â€œEvery case you’ve been on usually has had at least one newspaper photographer covering it.” Max handed Kittanning back to Ukiah, and then tugged on Ukiah’s braid. “What’s this?”
    Ukiah grabbed hold of his braid and inspected the band holding the end. “A hair tie.”
    â€œIt’s purple.”
    â€œIt’s one of Cally’s.” Ukiah tossed his braid over his shoulder. “The other choice was pink.”
    â€œTime for you to get your hair cut.”
    â€œIndigo likes it long.” Ukiah steeled himself and peeled the diaper tapes back. Amazingly, the smell could get worse. “Besides, Magic Boy always wore his hair long. It’s the way of