Broken Wings Read Online Free PDF Page A

You want your friend to be treated fairly. So do I. I don’t happen to subscribe to the idea that the last few moments of a man’s life is any of the public’s business. It’s spectacle, it’s great news, and the media loves to exploit that kind of thing, speculate on what happened, pin blame on somebody. But I won’t allow it. I’m after the truth, and I won’t let some half-baked dramatization bring up the network ratings.”
    The wary look she’d worn all morning diminished a degree, and a sparkle of something—surprise? respect?—shone in her eyes. “All right,” she whispered after a moment. “I suppose you’re right about the media. But I was his copilot. I would have been in that airplane if I hadn’t had that car accident. I need to know what went wrong.”
    Addison leaned back in his chair, wishing she hadn’t used just those words. Hadn’t he used them himself, just four years ago?
    I need to know what went wrong.
    It won’t change things, Addison. You’ve got to let go of her.
    For my peace of mind, man. Don’t you understand? My wife was on that plane!
    He raised his eyes to the woman across the table from him, the woman with pain and grief in her eyes, the woman embracing her fear like it was her dead friend. And he understood. “I know what you’re going through,” he said softly. “But I can’t share the tape with anybody until I’ve finished the investigation. I’ve heard a few pieces. There are too many ambiguities, too many places where the wrong conclusion can be drawn. And while I haven’t heard the end of the tape, I feel pretty sure that those last few seconds were not something that can give you peace of mind.”
    Tears filled her eyes, and she looked out the window again, unseeing. He knew what she was thinking. She didn’t even have to say it.
    I never said good-bye. He’d thought the same thing himself, so many times. But even worse than that was the recurring thought that had hit him at the most innocent of times those first few weeks. I should have been there. Somehow, in sharing those last few moments with Mick through the tape, she thought she could live them with him. But she couldn’t die with him.
    “Before we start,” he said quietly, “I feel I should ask you a very personal question. It’s none of my business, I know, but I think it might have some bearing on how I look at Mick Hammon.”
    “What?” The question came out flattened with pain.
    “Were you in love with him?”
    The reaction that passed over her face startled him, for it was quite the opposite from what he expected. It wasn’t defensiveness or guilt or sadness or confession. It was pure, unadulterated fury.
    “How dare you?” she hissed. Then, snatching her purse, she got up and stalked out of the restaurant as fast as she could move.
    Stunned, Addison glanced around for the waitress, then threw down a twenty and darted after Erin with his clipboard clutched in his hand.
    The airport corridors were crowded with people scurrying in various directions. In the confusion it took a moment for him to find her. She was running away from him against the flow of people. He broke into a trot, dodging and bumping people as he went.
    At last, he caught up with her. “Erin,” he shouted breathlessly, grabbing her arm and turning her around to face him.
    “Let go of me!” She jerked her arm free and backed away. “I’m not going to answer any more of your stupid questions. Subpoena me, sue me, do what you have to do. But I won’t sit there with a man who can’t understand the grief of a friend over a friend without drawing smutty little conclusions.”
    Addison felt as if he’d thrown sand in a baby’s eyes. His thick brows arched with apology. “I’m sorry,” he said, dropping his hand helplessly to his side. “It’s just that I don’t know you, and I didn’t know him. I’m trying to get a grasp of this situation, and all I have to draw on are my own impressions. You seem so shaken