Page 69 of The Undead

“You told him?” I yelped. She hadn’t, after all, toldme.She sent me a cool look.

“He’s mypartner.”

“I’m glad Charlie Manson wasn’t your partner”

“Fuck off, Mikey. He told me he was sorry, he was going to turn himself in.”

“Only he didn’t,” I finished. She didn’t say anything. “We’re talking about murder, here, aren’t we? Your partner murdered somebody.”

When she resumed, her voice was different. Hard-edged, like a diamond saw, and underneath the stiffness was a deep river of pain.

“Speaking of severing the lines of communication, Mike,youdidn’t tell me about your conversations with Nick until you’d gone and decided I was guilty. Don’t throw a brick at me. I know it was murder—only Nick’s my partner, he’s my friend, I can’t let him swing for bring his temper and making a bad decision, can I? Damn, I need a cigarette.”

Maggie fumbled one-handed in her purse for a pack, shook one out, and put it in her mouth while she waited for the car lighter to heat. I pressed myself as far away from her as I could. If she noticed, she didn’t say anything, and neither did Adam.

“Shit.” The lighter popped. She held it against the end of the cigarette and puffed it into glowing life. I caught a glimpse of the red eye of the lighter as she shoved it back in its place. Maggie took a deep, deep drag and held it for a long moment, then breathed it out. The night breeze whipped the gray plume out the window and away. I’d never noticed before, but the lighter’s smell lingered, burning metal, a choking, panicking smell that made me turn my face toward the wind myself. “Shit. Anyway, I talked to a friend of mine who’s been looking into things for me. I always thought Nick was a good cop, except for this.”

“Yeah, this one small infraction.”

I was being sarcastic. Maggie nodded thoughtfully.

“And what have you decided to do?” Adam asked, surprising both of us. He’d been so quiet neither of us had believed he was listening. Maggie flinched.

“I haven’t been thinking about it much since—” Maggie inhaled smoke, breathed it out in a rush. “You know.”

“Jesus, Mag, what if Nick turns on you? Haven’t you thought he might?”

“No shit, Mike, I’d never have thought of that. What do you think, I’m Alice in Wonderland? I’ve had witnesses in the house all the time. Besides, I can’t see Nick doing anything violent. I think he’s trying like hell to dig himself back out.” Maggie flicked ashes out the window and brought the cigarette back to her lips. “He was genuinely confused about the results when we exhumed your—the grave. At least I knew he didn’t have anything to do with that.”

“Who’s at the house now?” Adam asked. Maggie checked her watch.

“Nobody. Your sister—” Maggie’s eyes slid to me, quicksilver as the street lights passed over them. We passed a playground, silent and deserted in the night. A truck honked at us as she shot past it. “Connie left after the funeral. My mom went out on a plane today”

“Where’s Cousin It?” I asked sourly. Maggie nearly choked on a laugh.

“Larry? He only hung around until he found out no money was going to be dished his way, then he found something urgent to do back home. How’d you know—” Maggie twisted in the seat, staring at me for too long for driving comfort. “You’ve been watching the house.”

I shrugged. Amazingly, her Ups twitched into a smile.

“I knew you were there. I could feel you.” She blinked and focused her eyes on the road again, pretending she hadn’t had tears in her eyes, daring me to suggest that she had. “Did you see Nick?”

“Yeah, I had the pleasure.”

My wife thought a moment, fingers drumming on the steering wheel. She ground the cigarette out in the ashtray, ignoring my flinch as a spark drifted out lazily to fall as ash to the floor.

It’s a strange thing, but he was really sweet to me. He tries hard, you know, and it isn’t all Nick-the-stud-on-the-make. I don’t know what went wrong with-him, or when, but he wasn’t always so desperate. I thought if I gave him the chance he’d get clean again.”

“But you don’t think so now,” Adam offered softly. She shook her head, slowly, the golden braid sliding over her shoulder like a live creature.

“No. I told him to turn himself in to Internal Affairs. He didn’t do it.”

We finished the drive in silence. As Maggie parked the Volvo in the drive at the house, she looked at me with unmistakable command.

“You, and you—” She speared Adam, too. “Stay here. I’ll be back in five minutes. The last thing I need is to have the neighbors see the walking dead around here.”

“The neighborsarethe walking dead. All they do is go to work, come home, and run the TV all night.” I reached over and grabbed Maggie’s hand as she popped the door. “Maggie.”

She looked at me, and smiled. There was such warmth, such forgiveness, such companionship in her smile that the last of my fear disappeared.

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