Cross

Cross Read Online Free PDF

Book: Cross Read Online Free PDF
Author: Ken Bruen
for my input.
    I was stunned, shocked, sickened. Visions of Cody were in my head and I thought I might throw up. Took me a solid five minutes before I could gasp, 'Any leads?'
    She composed herself, curbing the excitement the case stirred in her. 'We have nothing
– no leads, nothing to go on, it's dead in the
water. But if a person were able to shed any light on it, it would be a career-maker.'
    It took me a moment to grasp.
    'Ah no, you want me to nose around.
You're the one always telling me to get out of this whole sordid game, that it will destroy me.'
    She at least had the grace to seem ashamed, then said, 'I don't want you to do anything dangerous, but you have an uncanny knack for finding threads.'
    Before I could refuse – and refuse I intended
– she took out a sheet of paper and said, 'Here's the name, he lived in Claddagh, I'll leave it here. Just think about it, OK? That's all I ask, Jack.'
    Jack.
    She never used my first name. It was a measure of her desperation.
    As she was heading for the door she said, 'You look beat, get some rest.'
    With all the sarcasm I could muster, I said, 'I'm touched by your concern. The next time I
see you, I want to hear you've been for that check-up.' I tried to keep my tone light, not show how worried I was.
    She was in the hall, a ray of light catching the gold buttons on her tunic. Looking almost
impressive and vulnerable, she said, 'I'm not concerned, I was just trying to be polite.'
    I shouted after her, 'Try harder.'
    I slammed the door, letting the neighbours know I was back and with ferocity. Picked up the piece of paper, read:
    John Willis
    3, Claddagh Park
    Galway
    I sat in the chair, and before I could even begin to think about it, my eyes closed and sleep grabbed me.
    Herbert Spencer wrote: 'There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance –
that principle is contempt prior to investigation.'
    I, of course, have no idea what Spencer looked like, but in my addled sleep he appeared, carrying a hammer and nails and quoting the above, and then began shouting that this was not going to be solved as I was not in the right frame of mind. He looked a bit like my father and then roared, in Irish, ' Bhi curamach! '
    Be careful .
    Ridge was in the dream too, but her part is lost to me, save she was extremely unhappy.
Serena May, the dead child, of course appeared, her sad eyes locked on me till I
woke, whimpering, drenched in sweat.
    My apartment was dark, and I fumbled to see my watch . . . Jesus, seven o'clock, I'd been out for five hours. Resolved I'd cut way down on the sleepers. I made no such resolution regarding the bitterness – that was the only fuel I had.

6
    'Sed libera nos a malo.'
'Deliver us from evil.'
    The Lord's Prayer
    The girl remembered the green walls of the mental hospital – puke green. She'd come to in a hospital bed and panic had hit first before she'd realized she was still alive. She hadn't known if she was relieved or not.
    Then she'd seen her father, sitting on the hard chair by her bed, keeping vigil. His head had fallen forward and a slight dribble leaked from his mouth, making him look old. The crown of his head revealed a bald spot, still barely noticeable, but the loss had begun.
His whole posture spoke of defeat. She'd known him through his many moods – angry, frustrated, grief stricken – but never, never had he surrendered.
    If she stirred, she knew he'd wake, and she needed some time before that happened. She lay perfectly still, her mouth dry, her body feeling weak. But something had changed.
She could sense a dark energy above her, waiting to be summoned. Those days after the tragedy, when she'd been inconsolable, she'd begun to lose her mind. She kept replaying how her mother must have felt, those moments before the close. And alone – her mother would have hated that.
    The girl had hoarded a stash of her
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