Page 20 of The Burnt
He glanced at the clock on the wall. It was a quarter past eleven. He must have drifted off.Where the hell is Gary?
“I’m expecting someone. I’ll give it five more minutes.”
Just then, the door opened. Gary Sawchuck stomped the snow from his boots and made his way to Declan’s table.
Gary looked just as he had more than a decade ago. He was tall, almost two metres in height, with silver-grey hair, dark-brown eyes and a clean-shaven square jaw. Declan had never mentioned it to anyone, but he’d developed a crush on him the first time he’d seen him.
Gary interrupted Declan’s thoughts. “Christ. Three traffic accidents on the way here. It’s like drivers have never been through winter before.”
Gary pulled off his heavy winter coat and slipped it over the back of his chair. He dropped his still-fit frame into the seat across from Declan. Gary turned to the waitress. “Coffee, double cream and sugar, and a menu, please,” he called out.
Fran brought Gary his coffee and a menu. He only glanced at it before ordering the all-day breakfast with bacon and eggs over easy and white toast with lots of butter.
Fran looked at Declan.
“Egg-white omelette, whole-grain toast, hold the butter please.”
She wrote everything down and walked toward the kitchen.
“No wonder you still look in shape,” Gary said. “It’s good to see you again.”
“Same here.”
“So, from what I hear, you’re making a bit of a name for yourself.”
Declan rolled his eyes. “And sometimes it’s a good name.”
Gary laughed then drained half of his coffee in one long gulp. “Let’s cut to the chase. So, what do you want to know?”
Declan leaned in. “Can you tell me what happened at Archie’s place?”
“A 9-1-1 operator got a call from the house. The person on the other end just said ‘police’ and then stopped responding. They passed it on to us and we answered the call. By the time we arrived, Archie was in bad shape. There was blood all over the place.”
Declan interjected, “And you were the first officer on the scene?”
Gary nodded. “As soon as we pulled up, I remembered the house. As strange as it seems, Archie recognised me.”
“It’s hard to forget a face like yours.”
Gary ignored the comment. “He was having trouble breathing. He only lasted a minute after we got there. He passed along his message for you just before he died.”
Declan signalled Fran for a coffee refill. Fran topped up both their mugs then headed back to the kitchen.
Declan asked, “And what exactly was Archie up to these days?”
“He was nothing but a low-end bookie and petty thief.”
Declan looked at Gary. “Do you remember the day we told Archie his son was dead?”
“Yeah.”
“Did that seem like a guy who cared about his kid?”
Gary pondered the question. “Not really. I’d say just the opposite.”
“Exactly. It seems Archie did a one-eighty on his feelings toward Freddy.”
Gary scowled. “And you know this how?”
