Valediction by Robert B. Parker Read Free Book Online

lightly. I believe that your concern is Miss Spellman's well-being. And I realize that a man like you trusts visible evidence and little else. Would my personal assurance of her happiness and safety suffice?"
    "No."
    Winston took his pipe from his mouth and held it in his right hand and rubbed his chin with his thumb, the pipe stem pointing obliquely away from him. His ale grew headless on the coffee table.
    "What would satisfy you?" "See her, talk with her, alone."
    "And perhaps to take her by force and, as the phrase has it so elegantly, de-program her?"
    "No," I said. "If she's where she wants to be, she can stay."
    "Then I'm to trust you?"
    "We'll trust each other. We'll work out a setup where I see her alone, but in view. If she wants to leave, I walk out with her and you can see that it's voluntary. If she wants to stay, you bring her back and I can see that it's voluntary."
    Winston puffed on his pipe. He did it expertly and the smoke floated gently away on the cool silent air. He nodded his head and smiled gently.
    "It has a nice symmetry," he said. "But why should I agree to it? It is not our normal stance to compromise."
    "Because I'll drive you whacko if you don't. I will find her. If she wants out, I will take her out. I'm sort of at loose ends these days, I got nothing else to do, and I am in a state of advanced ill humor. You'll be my hobby, take my mind off my troubles. In short, I will be a dreadful pain in the ass, Reverend, until I have this straightened out."
    Winston smoked his pipe some more. "Do you have a business card, Mr. Spenser?" He seemed able to keep the terror out of his voice. I didn't seem to scare people as much as I used to.
    I gave my card to Winston.
    "I'll call you tomorrow," he said. "And discuss what we've decided." He stood up. Dismissed.
    We walked to the door. He told me he was glad I'd stopped by. Then he opened the door and closed it behind me. On Commonwealth Avenue I looked back at the house. The porch and the marble steps and the three-story façade with its violet windowpanes were rich and pleasant too. I wasn't.

CHAPTER 14

    The Bay Tower Room is not in a high crime neighborhood. It is thirty floors above the city and looks out through floor-to-ceiling glass past the Custom House Tower at Boston Harbor. There is a lot of polished brass and gleaming oak, and an orchestra with a swing era sound. Hawk and Laura were there already. My date was not. Probably still home primping, maybe getting advice from her mom on how far to go on the first date.
    Hawk wore a white linen summer suit and a blue and white striped shirt and a white silk tie. A blue show handkerchief poked out of his breast pocket. Laura had creamy skin and red hair. She wore a green summer dress with small white figures in it.
    Laura said, "Hello, Edmund." She always called me Edmund, just as she always called Hawk Othello. She probably had cats she called Damon and Pythias.
    Hawk nodded at me. I sat down. Laura said, "Katie will be a little late."
    I looked around at the room. "Elegant," I said. "Last blind date I had we took a six-pack to the drive-in."
    "How are you feeling," Laura said.
    "Fine," I said.
    Laura put a hand on my arm. "Come on. It will not be good if you keep it all in."
    Hawk grinned. "Laura been reading Dr. Brothers again," he said.
    Laura ignored him. "How are you really, Edmund?"
    I felt a little spurt of anger. "Suspended," I said. "As in suspended animation."
    "I think you should talk about it. It will help you."
    The waitress came and we ordered.
    "I do talk about it," I said. "But not with everyone."
    She looked a little startled.
    "I talk with him about it." I gestured with my chin toward Hawk. Laura looked more startled. "And with a friend of mine named Paul Giacomin. What I could actually use is practice not talking about it."
    "Othello talks?" she said.
    "Hard to believe, isn't it?" I said.
    "Oh," Laura said. "Here's Katie."
    Hawk stood. So did I. Katie had skin the color of a gingersnap