Sweet Dreams by William W. Johnstone Read Free Book Online

bitter. She had realized the marriage was a disaster from the outset. “Ever notice that a child psychologist’s kids are usually the worst-behaved kids on the block?”
    â€œPhysician, heal-thyself time, huh? Well, I can certainly relate to that.”
    â€œHow much longer do you give your marriage, Jerry?”
    â€œIt’s over. Ten years down the tube. I . . . suppose I should feel something; a sense of loss, perhaps. But all I feel is relief. Is that normal?”
    â€œNormal is relative to the situation. In your case, yes, I would think relief would be normal. Lisa just has to be the least-liked woman in this town. You two are so different. You’re so laid back and she’s so uptight about everything. Opposites attract in your case?”
    â€œIn a manner of speaking. The bottom line is we were both rebounding. Not many people know this, but I was married and divorced before I met Lisa. I was fighting in St. Louis and—”
    â€œFighting?”
    Jerry chuckled. “I was a prizefighter, Maryruth. Worked two and a half years as a professional between college and med school. Twenty-five bouts; won all twenty-five. Twenty-four by knockouts. My jaw was broken the last time out. I still won the fight, but by that time I’d saved enough money to support a wife and still continue my education.”
    â€œWell now,” she smiled, cocking her head to one side and looking at him. “Yes. I can see where your nose has been broken.”
    â€œSeveral times. Anyway, Julie – to her credit – stuck by me through med school and residency. But when I told her I was going into the military for three years, she really hit the ceiling. She calmed down finally. But when I turned down a pretty cushy job out at a base in California and chose to go through jump school and Ranger training, she called me a damn fool and left. I went to ’Nam. Served fourteen months. Got out in seventy-two. Julie came to see me and conned me into taking her back. That lasted just about six months. I was working at Cook County General. I came back to the apartment one evening and found she had stripped the place bare. She’d cleaned out the bank account and taken off for parts unknown. Lisa was a nurse at Cook County. She was just coming off a very bad relationship. We got together. That’s a thumbnail sketch of it all.”
    â€œAnd now? . . .”
    He shrugged. “Now I’m forty years old, two rotten marriages behind me, no kids, and Lisa is going to take me for a bundle. You can believe that.”
    â€œOh, I do. How long have you been seeing Janet?”
    â€œSexually, about two years.” His openness surprised Maryruth. “Lisa decided the way to keep me in check, so to speak, was to ration our time in bed. She really doesn’t like sex anyway. Take it from one who knows: that doesn’t work.”
    â€œI can imagine. The more I hear about that woman the less I like her.”
    â€œOh, well,” Jerry said with a sigh. “Tell me, what do you know, if anything, about Heather Thomas and Marc Anderson?”
    â€œVery little, really. They’re in the county’s gifted children program. Right at the top of it. They are both extremely intelligent. Their parents brought them to see me just after they came here. It was a good move on their part; more parents should do it. They wanted to see if the kids were experiencing any emotional problems due to the change in schools. I couldn’t detect any. Why do you ask?”
    â€œJust curious. I can’t seem to shake the feeling I first experienced when seeing them.”
    â€œWell, they are special kids, Jerry.”
    Â 
    Heather’s screaming shook Marc and momentarily deafened him. When they’d both recovered from their initial fright, Marc stepped closer to the ugly thing hanging from the chain-link fence.
    â€œIt’s some sort of old mask,” he said.
    â€œWhere did it