Death In Paradise by Robert B. Parker Page B

have much trouble getting a date," Jesse said.
    Hooker grinned. "When I have time," he said.
    "So how come Billie?" Jesse said.
    "Whaddya mean?"
    "Billie doesn't seem like she'd be your girlfriend."
    "Girlfriend? She wasn't my girlfriend."
    "You gave her your class ring," Jesse said.
    "Yeah, but that was…"
    They stopped walking. Hooker turned toward Jesse.
    "It's like, I broke up with my regular girlfriend."
    "And Billie was available?"
    "Christ," Hooker said, and smiled. "Billie was always available."
    "And?"
    "And, yeah, I needed a date for senior prom, and Paula was going with somebody else."
    "And the pickings were thin."
    "Most of the girls already had dates. And it seemed like a way to stick it to Paula."
    "And get laid in the process," Jesse said.
    Hooker grinned and shrugged.
    "So how come the ring?" Jesse said.
    "I kind of liked her," Hooker said. "After I actually took her to the dance. And I felt bad for her. I mean everybody was banging her, but nobody cared anything much about her, you know?"
    "Un-huh."
    "And, you know, she wasn't that bad a kid. Like everybody thought she was stupid, and she wasn't. She was pretty smart about a lot of stuff."
    "And you fell head over heels in love," Jesse said.
    "What planet you come from?" Hooker said. "Like I said, I felt bad for her. I'm not going out with anybody. So I figure, hell, I'm going to college in a couple of months. I'll give her the ring, make her feel good, and then I'll go to college in September and it's over. I don't give a shit about the ring."
    "She know that?" Jesse said.
    "No, of course not. But it didn't work out like I thought. Paula and I patched it up, and she said if we were going to be together I couldn't be going out with Billie."
    "Seems fair," Jesse said. "To Paula."
    "Yeah, and, like, I love Paula. You know? Billie wasn't so bad. But…"
    "When'd you break the news?" Jesse said.
    "About a week after graduation," Hooker said.
    "How'd she take it?"
    "Funny," Hooker said. "She was funny about it like she expected it to happen. I told her to keep the ring. Like a memento. I figured I'd give Paula something from Yale."
    They were quiet, sitting together on the bottom row of the empty stands with the summer sun staring down at them.
    "What was her life like at home?" Jesse said.
    "I don't know," Hooker said. "She never said anything about home."
    "And you never went there?"
    "Couple times to pick her up. Mrs. Bishop's real young-looking."
    "Anything else?"
    Hooker shrugged.
    "Nothing I can think of. I'd just go in, pick up Billie, and we'd leave. Mrs. Bishop seemed nice. I was surprised when they kicked her out."
    "Did you see her after they kicked her out?"
    "No."
    "You know where she went?"
    "No."
    They were silent again. Jesse liked to leave openings for people to fill.
    "I gotta do my sprints," Hooker said.
    "Sure," Jesse said. "You know anyone with a reason to kill her?"
    "No," Hooker said. "You think it's her?"
    "Probably," Jesse said.
    "Jesus," Hooker said. "That's a shame."
    "It is," Jesse said.
    "You think you can catch him?"
    "Or her."
    "Him or her," Hooker said. "You think you'll catch him?"
    "You think you'll make the Yale football team?" Jesse said.
    "Sure. You gotta stay positive. If you think you can't, you probably won't."
    Jesse smiled and didn't say anything.
    Hooker saw the smile and paused.
    "Oh," he said. "Yeah, sure. Well, good luck."
    "You, too," Jesse said.
    Hooker walked back to the field, stood on the forty-yard line, set his stopwatch and sprinted to the end zone.
    He probably will make it.

Chapter Twenty
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    No one groomed the field they played on. The park department mowed it once a week, but that was all. Sometimes somebody on one of the teams would bring down a rake and try to smooth things out a little, but there were too many games, and everyone had jobs, and there was just time to come home and change and get to the park. There wasn't much time for groundskeeping. The right-hand batter's box had