Deceitful Moon (44 page)

There was no sleep. Nothing tasted or smelled good enough to eat. He picked a little here and there and made dinner each night for Jen
,
but mostly they stared silently at whatever was on their plates. He sensed they both felt the same way, that Louise would have used her magic to put her own
special
touch on the entrée, making it incredibl
y
special. But that wasn’t going to happen ever again. There would be no more late night raids to the fridge to
ravage
a
piece of her famous cherry pie or some of her
unbelievable
fried chicken.

There were other late night things he
was missing
. The way she’d move close on a cold night. The gentle rhythm of her breathing that would rock him to sleep after one of those awful days that made him wonder why he’d become a cop.

The times when they couldn’t sleep and would make love, giggling about making too much noise so Jen wouldn’t hear. Forever gone like fog in the wind.

He sipped more coffee. The day was turning into a classic Indian
-
summer
day for Michigan. It would get near
seventy-five
degrees
and it
was odd to see the reds and golds of
transformed
leaves basking in that kind of heat. Maybe another hot day would help melt away a little more of the numbness he felt. He’d always heard time made things better.

Please God, speed it up.

At least he had Jen, and she had him. He knew that sometimes teenagers who lost parents would become silent, withdrawn, sullen and angry
at
anything that was still living, especially the
surviving
parent
. The worst fear
haunting him
was
that
his daughter
would
blam
e
him for what
had
happened to Louise. But that
hadn’t happened
. Jen had been the picture of grace, a tower of strength that would make her mother proud. She seemed to
have
taken to heart Louise’s last request.

Jen was determined to take care of him
,
and he would return the favor.

Then there was
b
ig
Sampson
. The dog was the best
natural
psychologist in all of creation. Manny
or
Jen would talk; the dog would listen better than
any
PhD making $1
5
0 an hour.
Then he’d come close and rest his head on the
nearest
body part, knowing just how long to stay.

There was some good news.
Five
days ago
,
Gavin came out of his coma.
The next day
,
they performed the six-hour surgery to remove the bullet near his aorta
,
and he came through with flying colors.
He’d have some balance issues and some short-term memory problems, but he was going to make it.

Mike sounded so excited when he’d called, then
he’d
gr
o
w
n
sullen. Gavin had remembered how he’d gotten in the IC ward, only he didn’t want to talk about it.
Who would?

Manny had gone up to see him
,
and they were both truly glad to see each other, but neither mentioned the other
’
s pain. Soon enough.

Taking one more sip, he decided to go for a warm
-
up
of coffee
. As he stood, Sophie pulled into the drivew
ay with Alex riding in the back.
He hadn’t seen
them
since the funeral.

Of course, if he’d gone to work, he would have. But that hadn’t happened either. Maybe it never would again, at least not as a cop.

Alex and Sophie had called a few times, sent a couple
of
e-mails
, and s
o had Josh, Max, and even Chloe
, all leaving
messages
to
offer
their support. Whatever he needed, they were there.
The p
roblem was no one could bring back Louise and fill the
indefinable
hole in his soul
.

Sophie and Alex had someone with them
who
m
Manny didn’t recognize. Alex got out of the back and leaned against the car sporting shorts
,
a tee shirt
,
and
sneakers
.

Sophie was a different story. She was dressed like he’d never seen her. She was wearing a San Francisco Giants baseball cap, a Barry Bonds jersey, and baseball spikes. She had a bat draped over her shoulder with a baseball glove wedged on the end. The new baseball was too big for her
small
hand. She looked like she was headed for her
very
first
L
ittle
L
eague game.

The young lady with
them
was dressed in pink sweats and matching cap. She walked a step behind Sophie, looking at the ground, like she was embarrassed or shy. Manny guessed a little of both.

“Hey,” Sophie said.

“Hey yourself. Going to a Giant’s game?”

“Hell no. Better than that.”

“Can’t be a Tiger’s game
.
T
hey didn’t make the playoffs.”

“Better than that too.”

Manny
shrugged
. “I give up
. T
ell me. But first, who’s your friend?”

The young lady in pink stepped closer, took off her hat
,
and looked him square in the eyes. “You don’t remember me?”

He smiled a tired smile. Maybe the first one since the funeral.

“Hi
,
Shannon. I like this look better than the hooker thing.”

She nodded. “Me too.”

“Are things working out with your
f
oster parents?”

“Better than I could have hoped for
,
thanks to you.”

He shook his head. “I just made a call. They’re good people.”

Sophie reached down, grabbed his hand
,
and pulled him up. “Come on. We’re going to the park. We have a bet
,
and you’re going to pay up.”

“What bet?”

“Remember when you said you could whiff me? Time to see if your mouth wrote a check your ass can’t cash.”

Manny released her hand and backed up the steps.
“Sophie
,
I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but I’m not ready
. . .
”

He turned and started up the steps. Shannon flew past him and stood in front of the door.

“
Sophie says you live to help people. I don’t know about others, but y
ou went out on a limb to help a messed
-
up, drug
-
using hooker, angry at all of the bad breaks the world had thrown her way. You helped me when dying seemed like the best way to stop the pain. Let
us
return the favor.”

He looked in her face and saw Jen in a couple of years. Way too close to home. “I don’t know
. . .
”

“Please.
I think I need this.
Besides, Sophie says you have a rag arm
,
and it’ll be the easiest hundred bucks she ever made. You gonna take that?”

Just then, Jen came around the side of the garage
, h
er softball glove in hand. Not only that, Manny’s baseball spikes and his old Al Kaline glove in the other. She moved in front of Sophie’s SUV
.
“
I
. . .
I think I might need this too,
D
ad.”

More conflict welled up inside. The last conversation he had with Louise, he came within an inch of accusing her of being a member of the Justice Club. He didn’t deserve to feel better.

Somewhere deep inside, he knew neither statement was really true. Just excuses to stay checked out.

He watched the drops of coffee in his mug swirl from one side to the other.
Quietly
,
the memory of what the old timer, John Eberle, who had identified Argyle on the
Ocean Duchess
, had said to him forced its way into the middle of his grief.

There ain’t no reason to die until you’re dead.

The old man had lost his wife, but somehow found the strength to go on, even enjoy life.

He turned to face
Sophie
. “
Did you bring
your checkbook
?
”

***

Three hours later, Jen and Manny returned to the house exhausted, but glad they’d gone
to the baseball diamond
. He’d watch
ed
his daughter, at least temporarily, throw away burdens a fifteen-yea
r
-
old should never have to bear. He’d ditched one or two of his own.

Even though he’d lost the bet, he’d gained much more. His friends had made him realize that
l
ife would go on, for both of them. They weren’t over the hump,
not even close,
and maybe they
’d
never be, but they’d taken the first step.

Jen went to her room
to get ready for dinner when
he noticed the
two
message
s
on the answering machine.

He pushed the play button.

Josh Corner’s voice came to life. “Hi
,
Manny. Just checking in to see how you’re doing
. . .
never mind, stupid question. Anyway
,
I want you to know that Max, Chloe, and I are all thinking about you
,
and when you’re ready, and if you want, we can talk about the position I offered you. Obviously
,
take your time. No hurry. Hey man, if you ever want to talk, I’m here. Day or night.”

Josh hung up. Good man, maybe he would call him soon. But not about a job.

The second message started.

“Detective Williams.”

Manny
stood still
.

Argyle.

“I’m so sorry to hear about your wife. I wanted that pleasure. But it does my state of mind a great service to think you’re suffering
. . .
your daughter
,
too. Imagine how
it
will feel when she goes next. I think about her often. What she will be like as she begs me to kill her
?
Until then
,
remember
detective:
one never knows.”

Manny
yelled and then
ripped the phone from the wall
,
smashing
it against the kitchen
floor
with such force that it
shatter
ed
into
so many
pieces.

Jen flew out of her room and rushed into the kitchen
, eyes wide
.

“What happened?”

He reached for his daughter, hugging her fiercely. “Nothing baby. Just one of those moments.”

She
squeezed
him back. “
It
’
s
okay
D
ad
;
I get those
too.”

Thank you so much for reading
this
book!!

Please go to
www.rickmurcer.com
to visit me.

*************************************************************************

Below are the first four chapters of
Emerald
Moon
. . .
another Manny Williams thriller.

I hope you enjoy it.

<REVISED VERSION
OF EMERALD MOON AS YOUR “SNEAK PEEK CHAPTERS” >>

P.S. THANKS FOR LETTING ME PARTICIPATE IN THE REFINEMENT OF THE MANNY WILLIAMS BOOKS. HOPEFULLY WE WILL BE ABLE TO DO MUCH MORE WORK TOGETHER. YOU’RE A GREAT WRITER AND A REAL SICKO MIND. PEACE. ~~EDITOR JAN