The Darkness - Jason Pinter [54]
make that decision when the time came.
Still, it felt nice to think about it. If only once in a while.
Amanda heard someone jiggling the doorknob. She
stood up, glass in hand, and watched as Henry entered the
apartment. His sport jacket was rumpled, slacks dirty
around the cuffs. There seemed to be some sort of dirt or
substance, something gray and ashy on his lapels. He saw
her and smiled, and that was enough to make her smile, too.
"Hey, hon," he said, dropping his briefcase on the floor
and joining her. She felt his arms wrap around her, and
she hugged him back. "You smell like tannins."
She held up the glass of Pinot. "Got started early. That
kind of day, you know?"
"Do I know." He went into the kitchen and took out a
glass. Not a wine goblet, but a regular drinking glass.
Then he went over to the dining room table where she'd
put a stopper in the open bottle. He wrenched out the plug
and filled his glass up nearly three-quarters of the way.
Then Amanda watched in both horror and admiration as
he downed the entire thing in one gulp. But when he
went back for a refill, that's when she stepped in and took
the bottle.
"Let's talk first," she said. "That first glass was enough
to knock you out."
He looked at her, then back at the bottle, debating
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whether it was worth arguing over. Eventually he nodded
and went over to the couch, plopping down and emitting
a deep sigh as he plunged his head into the soft leather.
"So," he said, his eyeballs straining to see her from his
position. "Tell me about your day."
"The Morgansterns were in today. They've been trying
to keep custody of their adopted daughter for the past few
months. The birth mother was a crack addict, and her
daughter was taken away from her after she left her in an
alley wrapped in newspaper. Apparently the mother
managed to clean herself up, get a job, and most importantly marry a man with enough money to make a go at
challenging for custody. It's going to be long and it's
going to be ugly."
"Do you think you can win?" Henry asked.
"I hope so. The adoptive parents deserve to keep the
girl. The mother...she might have cleaned up, but there
are certain people who you know aren't good parents. I've
met her twice, and neither time did she look me in the eye.
Her husband does all the talking. She stands there, hands
folded across her lap, like she's almost embarrassed."
"You think he's pressuring her to try and get the
daughter back."
"That's what I think."
"Yeah," Henry said. "You're gonna win."
Amanda smiled. Moved over to Henry, clasped his
hand, leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"You think so?"
"I know so."
"Thanks, babe," Amanda said, moving back to talking
distance. "So how was your day? Any good stories? Jack
keeping you on your toes?"
Henry looked at her, and immediately Amanda felt a
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sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Her smile disappeared. She'd seen that look before.
"There was an explosion today, on Park Avenue. An
apartment..."
"Some lawyer, right?"
"That's right. Brett Kaiser."
"I saw that on the news. Terrible. The police are saying
they think somebody murdered him."
Henry looked at her. "I was there."
Amanda recoiled slightly. "Wait, what?" she said, incredulous. "What do you mean you were there? Like,
when the news crews came after the explosion?"
"I mean I was at the explosion. At Brett Kaiser's apartment building. Kaiser was tied into the story Jack and I
have been chasing, and I was at his building trying to get
some comments from him. When he left me, he went
upstairs to his apartment, and a minute or two later everything just erupted."
"Oh my God," Amanda said. She held her hands to her
heart, her mouth hanging open, dry. "Oh my God, Henry,
are you okay?"
"I'm fine," he said. "A little ringing in my ears, but it's
going away."
"You were...there?" she said. He didn't say anything.
Then Amanda wiped at his lapel, her hand coming away
with gray dust. "Is this..."
"Christ," Henry said, jerking up and