Page 33 of Wham Line
“I—”
“And Sparkie followed Mal out into that alley.What about that?”
“Talmage, I’m not accusing you.”
“Yes, you are,” she said.“Because you think I’m just like your friend, and you think I let Mal take advantage of me.But you don’t know me.And frankly, you didn’t know Mal.If Mal was taking advantage of anyone, it was—”
She stopped herself.
“Who?”I asked.
She peeled her fingers free from the chair and took a step back.“I’ve got to get back to work.Please don’t bother me again, Mr.Dane, or I’ll have to talk to the sheriff.”
With a final glance around the dining room, Talmage headed for the kitchen.
I pushed back my chair and got to my feet.Nalini had never brought our drinks.Our food had gone to Sparkie.And after that conversation with Talmage, I’d be lucky if the only thing the chef did was spit in my food.I was going to find Bobby, and we were going to pick up burgers somewhere, and—
Out on the restaurant’s deck, which wasn’t being used in the winter, a lanky young man with dark hair scurried past the plate-glass windows—head down and obviously hoping not to be seen.Jethro was huddled into his coat, clearly trying to make himself as small as possible.If anything, it only drew more attention to him.His cheeks were flushed under what appeared to be a fresh breakout, and he kept looking over his shoulder, as though checking that no one was behind him.
Bobby reappeared from the short hallway that led to the restroom.He came across the dining room and joined me in time for both of us to watch Jethro walk out of sight.
“I’m sorry about that.”
“It’s okay, Bobby.You can do whatever you need to do.”
“No, I meant—I’m sorry for how I talked to you.”
“It’s okay.”
“It’s not okay.I—”
But a crash from the bar interrupted him.
Sparkie lay on the floor, arms and legs akimbo.
Shock rippled through the crowd.A woman said, “Oh my God!”
Bobby and I ran toward her.Bobby reached her first, of course, and he knelt next to her, leaning down to check her vitals.
“She’s not breathing,” he said as he began to check her airway.“Call nine-one-one.”
Chapter 9
Bobby tried CPR.The ambulance came.Dairek—that is, Deputy Landby—came.
And none of it mattered, because Sparkie Sanchez was dead.
Dairek, who had all the grace and charm of chewing gum stuck to the bottom of a shoe, started bossing people around.To be fair, he had an impossible job—simultaneously trying to keep his witnesses from disappearing while also protecting a crime scene until the medical examiner and the sheriff arrived.But it was painful to watch Dairek bumble through the whole affair while bellowing things like “Hey, you!”and “Get away from there!”and “I swear to God, I’ll slap a pair of cuffs on you.”
Bobby lasted about five minutes before he jumped in, and after that, it got better.
I watched him as he worked.The fatigue showed in little ways—the burnt bronze of his eyes was duller than usual, and his reactions were microseconds slower than normal.Among other things, Bobby Mai was the master of compartmentalization, and he used work to distract himself when he was feeling overwhelmed emotionally.
Butwashe feeling overwhelmed?
I mean, he had to be.
Right?
