Twice Dead - Catherine Coulter [231]
“Stop it, Simon.”
That jerked him around to stare at her. “Stop what?”
“You’ve got a look that says you’re far away, like maybe the Delta Quadrant.”
“Yeah, I was thinking. About Abe Turkle. He’s a loose end, Lily, like Mr. Monk. So is Morrie Jones, but he’s in jail, and hopefully safe there. The lieutenant is going to put a guard on him.”
Lily said, “I forgot to tell you, when you and Hoyt were talking back there, Lieutenant Dobbs told me Morrie claims he doesn’t know a thing, that a couple of thugs hurt him when he was minding his own in a bar. He claimed no broad could ever hurt him. Oh yes, Morrie’s got a big-time lawyer. I wonder how much money Morrie’s being paid to keep his mouth shut.”
Simon said, “Can Lieutenant Dobbs find out who hired the lawyer?”
“I asked him if he knew. He said he’d sniff around. Now, Simon, you’re brooding because you think Abe Turkle might be in danger.” In that instant, Lily forgot she was hungry, forgot she needed to go to the bathroom. “You’ve just made my stomach drop to my knees. Let’s go see Abe, Simon.”
He grinned over at her, braked, and did a wide U-turn.
“Hey,” she said, “not bad driving. Won’t this piece of garbage go any faster?”
Simon laughed. “You’re the best, Lily, do you know that? Hey, I see someone doing another U-turn behind us. Must be our protection.”
“Good. Hope he can keep up with us.”
Simon laughed.
“My dad, Buck Savich, used to tell me that if I decided to become a professional bookie, I’d be the best in the business. Except for one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“He’d say my eyes changed color whenever I lied, and if anyone noticed that, my days as a bookie would be over.”
“Your eyes are blue right now. What color do they go to when you lie?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never looked at myself in the mirror and lied to it.”
“I’ll keep that in mind, though, and let you know.”
Simon turned his attention back to the road. He saw big Abe Turkle in his mind, a paintbrush between his teeth, ready to beat the crap out of him. Then Abe’s smile when he looked at Lily. The man was a crook, but he was an excellent artist. Simon didn’t want him to get killed.
He sped up to sixty because his gut was crawling. Bad things, bad things. But he said in a smooth, amused voice, “You probably remember that I met your dad when Dillon and I were in our senior year at MIT. He was something else.”
“Yes,” she said. “He was the best. I miss him very much. All us kids do. As for Mom, she was a mess for a long time. She met this guy, a congressman from Missouri, just last year, still claims they’re only friends, but she’s a lot happier, smiles a lot more, just plain gets out and does more things. She adores Sean, too. He’s the only grandkid close by.”
“What did your mom think of all the legends about Buck Savich? There were so many colorful ones floating about long before he died.”
“She’d shake her head, grin like a bandit, and say she didn’t think the tales were exaggerations at all. Then, I swear it to you, she’d blush. I think she was talking about intimate things, and it always freaked us kids out. You can’t think of your parents in that way, you know what I mean?”
“Yeah, I do. I guess, on the other side of the coin, our parents look at us and see little kids who will be virgins for the rest of their lives.”
Lily laughed. “What about your parents? Where do they live?”
“My folks have been divorced for a very long time. My dad’s a lawyer, remarried to a woman half his age. They live in Boston. No little half brothers or half sisters. My mom didn’t remarry, lives in Los Angeles, runs her own makeover consulting firm. If they ever had any liking for each other, it was over before I could remember it. My sisters, both older than I am, told me they’d never seen anything resembling affection either.” He paused a moment, slowed a bit for a particularly gnarly turn, then sped up again. “You know, Lily, I have a hard time seeing you as a bookie. Did you make some money for college?”
She gave him a shark’s grin, all white teeth, ready to bite.