The Darkness - Jason Pinter [55]
bathroom. She heard the water running, and a few minutes later Henry came back out wearing shorts and a
T-shirt. Normally she'd make some sort of suggestive
comment about how he looked in shorts, but her mind
couldn't even fathom levity right now. "Sorry about that.
I didn't even realize it."
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Then Henry actually laughed a little bit. Amanda
wanted to join him, but her mouth wouldn't work. "Hey,
baby, you okay?"
Amanda shook her head. She felt her face grow hot,
her eyes beginning to water. No, she told herself. She
refused to cry. This was what their relationship was. This
was what Henry was.
She couldn't protect him. Not right now. Maybe not
ever. If he'd been closer to the explosion...if Kaiser had
invited Henry upstairs for an interview...if a chunk of
brick or concrete had come down at the right angle...he
wouldn't be here right now.
Amanda stood up. She went over to the table, picked
up the wine and took a swig right from the bottle.
When she put it back down and wiped her mouth, she
heard Henry whistle from the couch. "That must have
felt good."
Amanda shook her head. "No. Not really."
"I understand," he said. "I didn't mean to joke about
it. I know what you must be thinking. I'm fine. Not hurt
one bit. They weren't trying to hurt me. Wrong place at
the wrong time."
"Always seems to be that way," Amanda said, feeling
the wine warming her body, her mind going fuzzy. It felt
good, and she didn't try to stop it.
"You know I don't mean for things like this to happen,"
Henry said. He walked up behind her, put his arms around
her waist, leaned in close. She felt her eyes close,
breathed him in, brought her arms around his and held
him tight. She felt his breath on her neck, taking her
away. "I love you, and I also want to be the best at my
job I can possibly be. I'm not scared of chasing stories
like this. Maybe I should be, but I'm not. I've been
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through enough the past few years, a lot of it with you,
to the point where I know this is what I'm meant to do."
"I know it is," Amanda said. "I'm not sure if I wish it
wasn't, but I know that's what you are and what you do.
And I'm proud of you. I just...you don't know what it's
like to hear the person you love say things like that."
"No, I don't," he said. "And God willing, I'll never
have to."
"I hope not either." She turned around. Kissed him long
and hard. "So, at least tell me this. Did you get anything?"
Henry unwrapped his arms from her and went back to
the couch. He sat down, and she joined him. Henry
scratched his head. She could tell he'd learned something, and was troubled by it.
"I got a call today. From someone I wasn't really expecting to hear from, like, ever."
"Your dad," Amanda guessed.
"No," Henry said, somewhat relieved. "But you're
close. Paulina Cole."
"No freaking way," she said. "Why the hell would that
bitch call you?"
"Something happened to her. Recently. Someone kidnapped her, threatened to kill her daughter."
"Oh God," Amanda said. "What happened?"
"The guy let her go, but asked her to do some sort of
favor for him. She wouldn't tell me what she had to do."
"Was it," Amanda said, grimacing, "sexual?"
"I didn't get that feeling. But she wants to find out who
this guy is, but can't go to the cops. My guess is she thinks
this guy is connected. And maybe he is."
"So she came to you," Amanda said.
"She told me if I found the guy, I could have whatever
story there was."
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"If there is one. If this guy isn't just some loon who
took umbrage with one of her scorch-the-earth columns."
"I get the feeling it was more serious than that. One
thing I know about Paulina Cole, she doesn't scare easily.
This guy was serious, and he scared her so bad that she
won't go to the cops and came to me. I have access to the
cops she doesn't. And I can investigate without drawing
attention, because if this guy does have a mole in the
NYPD he wouldn't expect anything from my end. They're
watching her. Not me."
"But if they find out