Suspicion by Joseph Finder Read Free Book Online

the head, and was gone.
    Galvin finished pouring and handed Danny a cut-glass tumbler. They clinked glasses. “Here’s to our wives and girlfriends,” he said. “May they never meet.”
    Danny smiled and nodded. In the back of his mind he wondered what “favor” Galvin could possibly want from him.
    “Your daughter is Jenna’s only friend, you know,” Galvin said.
    “I know they’re close.”
    “She’s such a good influence on Jenna. I mean, Jenna’s actually doing the assigned reading for school without bitching and moaning about it. Like, she actually read
To Kill a Mockingbird
, and we didn’t have to nag her once.”
    “I read it out loud to Abby when she was probably too young for it, but . . . yeah, she’s a reader. Nice to know they talk about books, not just hip-hop or dubstep or whatever.”
    “It’s like . . . if you surround yourself with good people, it makes you a better person. Brings out the best in you. Surround yourself with bad people, it brings out your worst. Every other school she’s gone to, last couple of years, she always seemed to fall in with the druggy, no-good kids. Bad influence. But Abby brings out the best in her. You have no idea how amazing that is.” Galvin’s eyes shone, as if they might be moist.
    “That’s great,” Danny said, not knowing what else to say, surprised by the unexpected intimacy of the moment.
    “You’re doing something right, brother.”
    “Me? Nah, I just try not to get in her way too much. I don’t know what I’m doing. I screw up all the time.”
    Galvin smiled. “So you’re raising Abby yourself? How the hell do you do it?”
    “Hmm,” Danny said, half smiling, scratching the side of his face. He looked up and said musingly, “You know those old disaster movies when the airline pilot has a heart attack and the flight attendant has to fly the plane?”
    He smiled. “Karen Black in
Airport 1975
? Or maybe it was
Airplane!
and it was Julie something. . . .”
    Danny smiled back. “Exactly. Whatever. You know, suddenly I’m supposed to know how to fly this thing? But you don’t have a choice.”
    Galvin shook his head. “Man, I gotta hand it to you. If it wasn’t for Celina, I can’t even imagine . . .”
    He beckoned Danny over to a couple of overstuffed leather chairs in front of a cluttered antique desk, where they sat. From a low table next to his chair, he lifted a glossy black lacquer box with gold lettering on top that said COHIBA BEHIKE . He lifted the lid and pulled out a couple of cigars, fat as sausages, and offered one to Danny.
    Danny nodded, and the solemn ritual began. Galvin handed him a cigar cutter. Danny snipped the end of his cigar, then handed the cutter back. Galvin lit his cigar with a lighter whose hard blue flame looked like it could cut steel. He took a few puffs, and handed the lighter to Danny.
    They smoked silently for a minute or so. Danny remembered why he never liked cigars. He thought about complimenting Galvin on the cigar. But what could he say, that it made him only mildly nauseated? Instead, he pointed his cigar at a wooden presentation case on the desk. Seated in a bed of red velvet flocking was a bronze medal that said COLL EGIUM BOSTONIENSE .
    “You’re a distinguished alum of BC?”
    He nodded. “President’s Medal for Giving a Shitload of Money.”
    Danny laughed. Galvin was self-effacing about it, but he still kept the medal on display.
    “Wanna know something?” Galvin finally said, contemplative. “I’m just a lucky son of a bitch. I know that sounds like some kind of bullshit false modesty, but believe me.” He looked up at the ceiling. “Ever drive somewhere and you’re pressed for time, but you just hit all the green lights, one after another? You know, boom boom boom—you just hit ’em all right? You just luck out?”
    Danny nodded.
    “Well, that’s me. God’s honest truth. Hand to heart.” He placed a palm over his heart. “Look up
right place, right