![Cosmopath - [Bengal Station 03]](/res/cobbf/book3.jpg)
we can do it.”
She looked at him. “You sure?”
He smiled, grimly. “I’m not going for second best, Su.”
“I know,” she said. “But how...?”
He slipped the insurance data-pin into his handset and scrolled through the details. He frowned.
“What?” Sukara said.
“We’ll be lucky if it covers thirty per cent of the cost.”
“So that means... we have to find around a hundred and forty thousand dollars, right?”
He nodded. “In the region of.”
She felt close to despair, then. “But how, Jeff? How the hell can we...”
He pulled her to him and kissed her head. “We have around thirty thousand saved from the Breitenbach case, yes?”
She sniffed and nodded. “Okay, thirty thousand. That still leaves over a hundred to find.”
“Su, there’s no problem. Listen, Lin’s been going on at me for a long time to work more shifts. I do... what... three days a week at the moment? And I’m taking scut work. There are some big cases I’m passing up.”
“So if you worked more hours, on bigger cases...” She felt guilty saying it: how would she feel if she had to read criminal minds all day long, week after week? It was bad enough Jeff having to work three days a week.
He laughed and shook her. “Hey, why so glum? Do you know how much I’ll rake in a week if I do six days on some of the big cases Lin’s been trying to offload?”
She shook her head, watching him.
“Around five thousand a week. US. With that kind of earning power I can get a loan for a hundred thousand no problem.”
“But six days a week, Jeff? And you’ll be working murder cases, won’t you?” She looked at him, and realised how much she loved this man, and that made her feel even more guilty. The fact was, she wanted him to do all that work, read all those evil minds, even though it’d be painful for him to do so.
But she felt she had to put in a token protest. She knew it. And he knew it... and that made her feel even more guilt-stricken.
He saw this and laughed, pulled her to him and kissed her.
“I’ll get on to Lin in the morning, sort something out.”
“But the assassin...?”
“Once all this has blown over, I’ll up the shifts.”
She nodded. “Oh, Jeff... Everything was going so well, wasn’t it? I was so happy. We had everything. Two lovely girls. I had you...”
“Hey, we’ve still got those things. Everything’ll work out fine, believe me. And seventy per cent are good odds, Su.”
She looked at him. He was smiling down at her, radiating strength and confidence. She felt something melt within her, despair and at the same time relief that she had this man at the centre of her life.
Later, around midnight, with the best part of six bottles of beer consumed between them, Sukara stopped off at the door to the girls’ bedroom and leaned against the woodwork, staring in at the quietly sleeping figures. They were almost identical, embryonic shapes in their beds, jet hair dark against the pillows, breaths synchronised as they slept.
Wondering what the future might hold, she pushed herself away from the door and joined Jeff in bed. They came together in silence and held on to each other like the survivors of a shipwreck.
* * * *
FOUR
AN IRRESISTIBLE OFFER
That morning, Vaughan had a lucid dream. It was a replay of the chase the day before, and its aftermath. He was sitting in the bar, thinking he’d shaken the Korth, when Sukara called him with the news about Li. Then the jade-green alien was standing on the threshold and this time, with the arbitrary revisionism of dreams, Vaughan watched as the Korth killed the security woman with a single burst of its pistol and turned to face him...
He cried out and sat up in bed, overwhelmed by the fact that had Sukara not called him last night then the Korth would undoubtedly have killed him.
He stared around the
She looked at him. “You sure?”
He smiled, grimly. “I’m not going for second best, Su.”
“I know,” she said. “But how...?”
He slipped the insurance data-pin into his handset and scrolled through the details. He frowned.
“What?” Sukara said.
“We’ll be lucky if it covers thirty per cent of the cost.”
“So that means... we have to find around a hundred and forty thousand dollars, right?”
He nodded. “In the region of.”
She felt close to despair, then. “But how, Jeff? How the hell can we...”
He pulled her to him and kissed her head. “We have around thirty thousand saved from the Breitenbach case, yes?”
She sniffed and nodded. “Okay, thirty thousand. That still leaves over a hundred to find.”
“Su, there’s no problem. Listen, Lin’s been going on at me for a long time to work more shifts. I do... what... three days a week at the moment? And I’m taking scut work. There are some big cases I’m passing up.”
“So if you worked more hours, on bigger cases...” She felt guilty saying it: how would she feel if she had to read criminal minds all day long, week after week? It was bad enough Jeff having to work three days a week.
He laughed and shook her. “Hey, why so glum? Do you know how much I’ll rake in a week if I do six days on some of the big cases Lin’s been trying to offload?”
She shook her head, watching him.
“Around five thousand a week. US. With that kind of earning power I can get a loan for a hundred thousand no problem.”
“But six days a week, Jeff? And you’ll be working murder cases, won’t you?” She looked at him, and realised how much she loved this man, and that made her feel even more guilty. The fact was, she wanted him to do all that work, read all those evil minds, even though it’d be painful for him to do so.
But she felt she had to put in a token protest. She knew it. And he knew it... and that made her feel even more guilt-stricken.
He saw this and laughed, pulled her to him and kissed her.
“I’ll get on to Lin in the morning, sort something out.”
“But the assassin...?”
“Once all this has blown over, I’ll up the shifts.”
She nodded. “Oh, Jeff... Everything was going so well, wasn’t it? I was so happy. We had everything. Two lovely girls. I had you...”
“Hey, we’ve still got those things. Everything’ll work out fine, believe me. And seventy per cent are good odds, Su.”
She looked at him. He was smiling down at her, radiating strength and confidence. She felt something melt within her, despair and at the same time relief that she had this man at the centre of her life.
Later, around midnight, with the best part of six bottles of beer consumed between them, Sukara stopped off at the door to the girls’ bedroom and leaned against the woodwork, staring in at the quietly sleeping figures. They were almost identical, embryonic shapes in their beds, jet hair dark against the pillows, breaths synchronised as they slept.
Wondering what the future might hold, she pushed herself away from the door and joined Jeff in bed. They came together in silence and held on to each other like the survivors of a shipwreck.
* * * *
FOUR
AN IRRESISTIBLE OFFER
That morning, Vaughan had a lucid dream. It was a replay of the chase the day before, and its aftermath. He was sitting in the bar, thinking he’d shaken the Korth, when Sukara called him with the news about Li. Then the jade-green alien was standing on the threshold and this time, with the arbitrary revisionism of dreams, Vaughan watched as the Korth killed the security woman with a single burst of its pistol and turned to face him...
He cried out and sat up in bed, overwhelmed by the fact that had Sukara not called him last night then the Korth would undoubtedly have killed him.
He stared around the
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