An Adrien English Mystery: The Dark Tide Read Online Free PDF Page B

reminding him that part of his decision had also been based on his family's belief that he couldn't really be gay, and even if he was, he was way too young to settle down—
    let alone commit to someone who was liable to end up as a complete liability.
    “It was good what we had. It was special.”
    It seemed to be my week for apologies from ex-lovers. I wondered if I'd be hearing from Guy soon. Probably not. Guy was comfortably certain that he was generally, if not always, in the right. The idea of that made me grin inwardly. “It was. It was also a long time ago.”
    Mel drew a quick breath and sighed. “Yes. It was.” His brows knitted. “You look tired. I wasn't thinking. Do you want to go?”
    I nodded. “Sorry, but yeah. To be honest, I'm beat.” It was normal. They'd warned me in the hospital that I was going to find that I tired fast at first, that I'd need to plan for naps and plenty of rest. It was still aggravating. When was the feeling-better part supposed to start?
    To my relief, Mel kept the conversation low-key and casual on the drive back to the bookstore. He parked in front and turned off the engine.
    “This was… I wish we'd done this a long time ago.”
    I smiled, although I was thinking what a bad idea that would have been at any point during the last three years. “It was great seeing you again.” I reached for the door handle. “Thanks for lunch. Let me know how your dad's surgery goes.”
    “Adrien?” Mel said quickly, “There's a film-noir festival at LACMA this week. Thursday's double feature is The Blue Dahlia and The Big Sleep . Assuming everything goes well with Dad's surgery, would you want to see it together? You always loved Chandler.”
    I wasn't sure what to say. I wasn't sure what he wanted. Sure, we had stayed friendly. That wasn't the same as being friends. We had not stayed friends. I didn't know if—even now—I could be friends with Mel.
    “I hate to admit this, but I don't know if I'm really up to—”
    “We'd leave the minute you wanted to go. Totally up to you how long we stay. I—It's driving me nuts sitting around that house. It would be good to get out for a few hours, wouldn't it?”
    Maybe. The fact was, I preferred staying home on my own and sleeping. Sleep was currently my favorite thing.
    “We used to have a lot of fun at those things,” he added persuasively.
    Sometimes that life seemed to belong to someone else.
    “Can I let you know?” I hedged.

    18
    Josh Lanyon

    If he was disappointed, he hid it well. “Of course. I'll call you tomorrow. How about that?”
    I nodded reluctantly. I think part of my unease was that my instinctive response had been a jolt of excitement at the idea maybe Mel was… Well, I truly didn't want to start thinking that way. Merely ego, wasn't it? “Okay, then. Call me tomorrow, and I'll see how I'm feeling.”
    “Great.” He hesitated and offered that warm smile that showed the dimple in his left cheek.
    “Talk to you Wednesday.”
    Nodding, I got out of the car, lifted my hand in farewell. Mel raised his hand in acknowledgment, pulled away from the curb.
    I crossed the sidewalk, absently noting the art-deco black tile on the building's facade. The old guy—Henry Harrison—was right. It was a beautiful building.
    As I drew near the building, I heard two things: absolute silence from the construction crew—and Natalie screaming.

    An Adrien English Mystery: The Dark Tide

    19

    Chapter Three

    I burst through the doors of Cloak and Dagger, and Natalie, who must have seen my approach through the windows, threw herself into my arms, sobbing.
    “What is it, Nat? What's wrong?”
    She wept something into my shoulder, and I said bewilderedly, “What the hell happened?
    Did someone…?” I looked around. Obviously it was something more than a declined credit card or a missing shipment. My imagination boggled.
    There were a few alarmed customers grouped nearby. Half the plastic wall was down, and the entire construction