you, I don’t know, on duty or something?”
“Thanks for the offer, but I might as well get this over with and let you get back to whatever you’re doing. Can you go get
Marci? It will only take a couple minutes.”
“It’ll take less than that. She’s not here.”
Insert more uncomfortable silence. “I guess I should have called first. But I was on my way home from the station and I saw
your lights on, so I figured I’d stop.”
“Decent of you.”
“No trouble. I can come back some other time.” He turned and started down the front steps.
“You sure you don’t want a beer? We’ve got Guinness.” That stopped him.
“I probably shouldn’t.”
“Why not? What is it, sleeping with the enemy or something?”
He turned around, and his cheeks were tinged the sameshade of pink I’d seen in the hospital room when he took me for a tenth-grader. I wondered again how a guy this easily embarrassed
had managed to get through basic training. “Ex…” He cleared his throat. “Excuse me?”
“ ‘Sleeping with the enemy,’ you know, it’s an expression. It was a joke. A really bad one.”
“Oh. Right.”
“So do you want a Guinness or don’t you?”
He cocked an eyebrow. “No strings attached?”
“Huh?”
“Just a beer and nothing else?”
“What, are you afraid I’m gonna jump your bones? Those Boston chicks must be pretty hot.”
“Come on, I didn’t mean…”
“Oh, I get it. You’re afraid I’m going to pump you. I mean for info.”
“Crossed my mind.”
“Oh, Christ, Cody. I was just trying to be nice, say thanks for you coming by to protect our virtue.”
“No digging about the case?”
“Not unless you want to unburden yourself.”
“You got Guinness stout?”
“How the hell do I know?”
I got him a bottle out of the fridge from Emma’s private stock, and we sat on stools at the kitchen counter. “Where is everybody?
I thought you lived with a whole houseful.”
“Steve is out counting the little birdies, which is where he is most nights. Emma is disporting herself with my friend Mad,
and the other two just took off for the vet library. That’s everybody.”
“It’s good there are so many of you. Safer.”
“I guess. What about you, Detective? Do you live alone?”
“Yeah. And since you’re serving me the good stuff you could call me Brian.”
“Wait, I thought you lived with your mother.”
His bottle stopped an inch from his lips. “Now
that’s
a crock. Where did you hear that?”
“Apparently from someone who didn’t know what he was talking about.”
“For the record, I live
near
my mother. I do not live
with
my mother.”
“It’s an important distinction.”
“I’ll say.”
“You know, it totally freaks me out you thought I was in high school.”
“It was the cuts and bruises. They made you look vulnerable. The pigtails didn’t help.”
“I have
got
to stop dressing like Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”
“Who?”
“Never mind. So I hear your wife left you.”
“Are you always this shy?”
“Always.”
“Where’d you hear about my wife?”
“Sources. Hopefully, more reliable than the other one.”
“Well, that much is one hundred percent true.”
“What happened? She didn’t like being a cop’s wife?”
“No, she loved being a cop’s wife. Loved it so much, she traded up. Dumped me for my lieutenant.”
“Isn’t that—I don’t know—unethical? On his part? Can’t he get in trouble?”
“He might, but only if I made a stink. Which I didn’t.”
“You just did the honorable thing and retreated to a nothing police department in the middle of nowhere.”
“I don’t hate it here. I already told you, my mom lives in Gabriel.”
“You didn’t grow up here, did you? You sure don’t sound like it.”
“Me? No way. I grew up in Southie. That’s South Boston.”
“I know what Southie is. I grew up in Western Mass. The Berkshires.”
“Another world out there.”
“We all root for
“Thanks for the offer, but I might as well get this over with and let you get back to whatever you’re doing. Can you go get
Marci? It will only take a couple minutes.”
“It’ll take less than that. She’s not here.”
Insert more uncomfortable silence. “I guess I should have called first. But I was on my way home from the station and I saw
your lights on, so I figured I’d stop.”
“Decent of you.”
“No trouble. I can come back some other time.” He turned and started down the front steps.
“You sure you don’t want a beer? We’ve got Guinness.” That stopped him.
“I probably shouldn’t.”
“Why not? What is it, sleeping with the enemy or something?”
He turned around, and his cheeks were tinged the sameshade of pink I’d seen in the hospital room when he took me for a tenth-grader. I wondered again how a guy this easily embarrassed
had managed to get through basic training. “Ex…” He cleared his throat. “Excuse me?”
“ ‘Sleeping with the enemy,’ you know, it’s an expression. It was a joke. A really bad one.”
“Oh. Right.”
“So do you want a Guinness or don’t you?”
He cocked an eyebrow. “No strings attached?”
“Huh?”
“Just a beer and nothing else?”
“What, are you afraid I’m gonna jump your bones? Those Boston chicks must be pretty hot.”
“Come on, I didn’t mean…”
“Oh, I get it. You’re afraid I’m going to pump you. I mean for info.”
“Crossed my mind.”
“Oh, Christ, Cody. I was just trying to be nice, say thanks for you coming by to protect our virtue.”
“No digging about the case?”
“Not unless you want to unburden yourself.”
“You got Guinness stout?”
“How the hell do I know?”
I got him a bottle out of the fridge from Emma’s private stock, and we sat on stools at the kitchen counter. “Where is everybody?
I thought you lived with a whole houseful.”
“Steve is out counting the little birdies, which is where he is most nights. Emma is disporting herself with my friend Mad,
and the other two just took off for the vet library. That’s everybody.”
“It’s good there are so many of you. Safer.”
“I guess. What about you, Detective? Do you live alone?”
“Yeah. And since you’re serving me the good stuff you could call me Brian.”
“Wait, I thought you lived with your mother.”
His bottle stopped an inch from his lips. “Now
that’s
a crock. Where did you hear that?”
“Apparently from someone who didn’t know what he was talking about.”
“For the record, I live
near
my mother. I do not live
with
my mother.”
“It’s an important distinction.”
“I’ll say.”
“You know, it totally freaks me out you thought I was in high school.”
“It was the cuts and bruises. They made you look vulnerable. The pigtails didn’t help.”
“I have
got
to stop dressing like Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”
“Who?”
“Never mind. So I hear your wife left you.”
“Are you always this shy?”
“Always.”
“Where’d you hear about my wife?”
“Sources. Hopefully, more reliable than the other one.”
“Well, that much is one hundred percent true.”
“What happened? She didn’t like being a cop’s wife?”
“No, she loved being a cop’s wife. Loved it so much, she traded up. Dumped me for my lieutenant.”
“Isn’t that—I don’t know—unethical? On his part? Can’t he get in trouble?”
“He might, but only if I made a stink. Which I didn’t.”
“You just did the honorable thing and retreated to a nothing police department in the middle of nowhere.”
“I don’t hate it here. I already told you, my mom lives in Gabriel.”
“You didn’t grow up here, did you? You sure don’t sound like it.”
“Me? No way. I grew up in Southie. That’s South Boston.”
“I know what Southie is. I grew up in Western Mass. The Berkshires.”
“Another world out there.”
“We all root for
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