Moth (24 page)
“Pain can be good, Lew. The same as other strong feelings. Love, fear, devotion. It can give us reasons to go on when there aren’t any others. It can become a new center for a new self.”
Or an excuse for all sorts of evasions.
But I said: “You’re proof of that, Clare.”
“Of course, it can also give us a reason to make a perfect fool of ourself at eleven o’clock at night.”
“Is that what you’re doing?”
“God. I hope not.” She was silent for a few moments. “I guess what I’m doing, really, is using the situation as an excuse to call and say how much I miss you. Yeah. I’m pretty sure that’s it.”
“I miss you too. More than you can know.”
“You could have called.”
“No, Clare. I couldn’t.”
“Okay. So I never was much good at these coy, girlish ploys. Give me credit for trying. I was supposed to call
you.
And now I’m doing that.”
“It’s good to hear your voice,” I said after a moment.
“I’d like to see you, Lew.”
A moth fluttered into my window’s light again and again.
“Okay.”
“If that’s all right with you.”
“It is.”
“You understand …”
“I think so. I’d like to see you, whatever I do or don’t understand.”
“Maybe we could have a drink.”
“That would be great. Where?”
“I don’t know. Tip’s, maybe?”
“
Ça va
.”
“Want me to pick you up?”
“I’ve had enough car for a while. I’ll walk. See you there. Give me fifteen, twenty minutes.”
“Oh, Lew, I almost forgot: Bat came home. I went out Tuesday morning and there he was, sitting on the car, like nothing ever happened.”
“Nearest thing he could find to his fridge, I guess.”
“I guess. God, I’m looking forward to seeing you.”
“Then go saddle up your car, scrape off any stray nesting cats and drive if you’ll excuse the expression like a—”
“Don’t say it!”
“—good friend.”
“I hope so, Lew. I do so want to be.”
“See you soon. Calm seas, Clare.”
And I walked out into the darkness toward her.
Four streets up, hearing voices close by as I came to a corner, I turned my head. Further down the block, a mugging was taking place. It had begun that way, at least; now it seemed to be progressing. One of the men had the woman’s purse over his own shoulder. He knelt at her head, holding her down with hands flat against her shoulders and licking upside down at her face while the other one’s hands burrowed roughly under her skirt. As I watched, that one reached up and slapped her hard on the cheek, then took her neck in his hand.
I shouted and started toward them, instinctively turning to keep the injured arm out of sight. Both jumped to their feet. The one who had been at her head ran. The other stood his ground till I came closer and slipped my hand into my coat pocket. Then he also bolted.
“Are you all right?” I asked. A plain woman in her early thirties, inexpensively dressed.
“I think so.”
“Don’t be afraid,” I told her.
Then I, too, was running.
Driven | 978-184243-837-4 | £7.99 |
The Long-Legged Fly | 978-184243-696-7 | £9.99 |
Moth | 978-184243-700-1 | £9.99 |
Black Hornet | 978-184243-704-9 | £9.99 |
Eye of the Cricket | 978-184243-708-7 | £9.99 |
Bluebottle | 978-184243-712-4 | £9.99 |
Ghost of a Flea | 978-184243-716-2 | £9.99 |
Cypress Grove | 978-184243-728-5 | £9.99 |
Cripple Creek | 978-184243-732-2 | £9.99 |
Salt River | 978-184243-736-0 | £9.99 |
Drive | 978-184243-724-7 | £9.99 |
The Killer is Dying | 978-184243-740-7 | £9.99 |
Death Will Have Your Eyes | 978-184243-720-9 | £9.99 |
Limited Edition Boxed Set | 978-184243-886-2 | £99 |
(Only 100 sets available containing all thirteen titles including
Driven
. Plus a FREE twelve inch vinyl of James Sallis music and two short stories specially recorded for this publication.)
Order online at
www.noexit.co.uk/sallis
This ebook edition published in 2012
First published in the UK in 1996 by No Exit Press
an imprint of Oldcastle Books
PO Box 394,
Harpenden, AL5 1XJ
All rights reserved
© James Sallis 1993
The right of James Sallis to be identified as author of this work has been asserted in accordance with Section 77 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly
The url links are correct at the time of production, our apologies if any of these are no longer valid
ISBN
978-1-84243-700-1 Print
978-1-84243-702-5 Epub
978-1-84243-701-8 Kindle
978-1-84243-703-2 PDF
For further information please visit
For more about Crime Fiction go to
www.crimetime.co.uk
/
@crimetimeuk
