Spider - Michael Morley [41]
‘I’ll get the kitchen to send one up for you. You want anything to eat?’
‘Yeah, could they do a panini of some kind?’ he said, gathering the bags and getting ready to walk away.
‘They’re chefs, honey; they could do you a six-course lunch if you want.’
‘Mozzarella and some salad would be just fine.’ Jack pushed his chair back under the table and was about to leave when he caught the expression on his wife’s face. ‘You look like you’re fit to burst, Nancy. You want to tell me what’s eating you?’
Nancy took a deep breath. She’d have preferred to have this conversation later, in the cool of the evening when she could control their moods and there was nothing else to distract them. ‘I don’t want you to do this. I know it’s probably connected to the murder of that young woman that’s been in the news, and you feel that you should get involved, but you shouldn’t, it’s not going to be good for you.’
‘Say all that again,’ said Jack, a little crisper than he intended.
‘It’s all starting up again, isn’t it?’ said Nancy, knowing the day was about to be ruined.
Jack twisted his shoulders away from her, as he always did when he tried to show her he was exasperated and she’d got everything out of proportion. ‘Honey, I’m going to look at some papers and photographs, see some maps and reports, and give some advice, that’s all.’
She looked at him distrustfully and rolled her tongue over the front of her teeth, one of the traits Jack always recognized as a sign that she was holding out on him. ‘What else?’ he said in the tone he usually reserved for suspects in an interview room.
‘Howie called from New York.’ She studied his face for a reaction, before adding with a sigh of resignation, ‘Something’s happened over there. He wouldn’t tell me much but he mentioned BRK, said they were reopening the case.’
‘He say why?’ asked Jack, his pulse quickening.
‘Like I said, he wouldn’t tell me much. Just that the press were going to be all over it again, probably all over you too.’ She took hold of his hand. ‘Honey, we don’t need this.’ Her voice hardened. ‘Actually, this is the very stuff that we came all the way here to get away from.’ She looked to her left and then to her right, taking in the peace of the garden and the beauty of the view across the hills. ‘Please don’t put it all at risk, Jack, don’t get drawn in again.’
Jack leant across the table, trying to make a connection. His face was uncompromising, but to the trained eye of his wife it betrayed vulnerability as well. ‘Nancy, this man might be killing again. He may already have taken at least one young woman’s life, right here in Italy, maybe the girl you referred to, and from the sound of what you’ve just said, he could well be active again back home.’ Jack reached across and took hold of her other hand as well. ‘I can’t keep running away. The impotency of doing nothing is driving me crazy. I have to try to stop him.’
‘Even if it hurts you?’ said Nancy, feeling that this was a conversation she’d had over and over again. ‘Even if it hurts us?’
Jack said nothing but Nancy could read the answer on his face. She pulled her hands free of his. ‘I’ve got to see Paolo in the kitchen. I’ll have him send some food over to you.’
Jack stood motionless as she pushed her chair away from the table so hard that it clattered on to the patio. He bent over and picked it up, then watched her walk quickly towards the restaurant. He knew from the shape of her back that her arms were up at her face and she was crying. And he knew that there was nothing in the world he could do to stop it.
28
Marine Park, Brooklyn, New York
Lu Zagalsky is in a shallow, fitful sleep when Spider slips off the gag and slams the needle of undiluted bleach directly into her voice box. The chemical will burn out her vocal cords and render her incapable of a squeak, let alone ascream. Keeping the gagon would be to run the risk of her choking on her own vomit, and he doesn’t want her to die. At least, not