Darkness peering Read Online Free PDF

to his infancy, practically, to when Nalen used
to drink. Before Faye had given him her ultimatum.
    "I thought you said they were strays, those cats?" Nalen asked.
    "They were."
    "So how could a stray have a cat bell?"
    "I dunno."
    "You don't know?" Nalen leaned back, leather chair squeaking. "Was
one of those cats you killed wearing a collar?"
    "One of 'em might Ve been."
    "Answer the question, Billy. Yes or no."
    "I don't remember."
    "So this bell--"
    "I said I don't remember!" Billy wiped under his eyes and tapped his
fingers nervously on the arms of his chair. "Jeez, Dad, what're you
dragging all this stuff up again for?"
    "Why do you think I'm bringing it up?"
    "I don't know." His pupils contracted. "I'm not a mind reader."
    "Billy ..." Nalen rubbed his eyes. "The girl who disappeared
yesterday ... she's dead."
    Billy grew very still and wouldn't meet his father's gaze.
    "If you know something," Nalen said, "if you goddamn know anything,
Billy, you'd better tell me right now. Right here. In this room.
Between the two of us."

    Billy sat with his head bowed, eyes downcast, and didn't speak for a
long time.
    "Billy," Nalen said, tension burrowing into his windpipe, and Billy
jumped. "Do you know anything about Melissa D'Agostino?"
    His forehead wrinkled in a frown. "Just that ... you know ... what
somebody told me afterward ... that it was her cat."
    Hairs pricked the scruff of Nalen's neck. "So this cat bell belonged
to Melissa D'Agostino's cat?"
    "I told you a million times, it wasn't me. It was Ozzie and Neal.
They're the ones who shot those cats."
    "And you know for a fact that one of the cats belonged to Melissa
D'Agostino?"
    "It's just something I heard."
    "All right." He ran his fingers through his hair and noticed he was
trembling. "Let me ask you this. Were any of those cats wearing a
collar?"
    "I don't remember."
    "Think, Billy."
    The boy shrugged. "Yeah, maybe."
    "But when Detective Boudreau and I got to the scene, there weren't any
collars on any of the cats."
    Billy crossed his arms and stared sullenly at the floor.
    "So I can assume that, between the time you boys shot those cats and
the time Detective Boudreau and I got to the scene, somebody stole that
cat collar. Am I right?"
    Billy didn't answer. All Nalen could see was the tip of his nose and
the crown of his head with its soft brown hair, and for an instant, he
had an urge to pat his son's head, to stir that soft hair and tell him
everything was going to be okay. Only it wasn't going to be okay. Far
from it.
    "Billy, did one of the boys take the cat collar? Did you take the cat
collar?"
    "No," he said defensively. "I just wanted to get the hell out of
there."

    "So Ozzie and Neal ... they took turns shooting the cats, and Boomer
Boomer was letting the cats out of the sack one by one ... and you were
sort of corralling the cats so that Ozzie and Neal could get a good
shot. Is that right?"
    He winced. "That's about right."
    "And afterward, when all the cats were dead, somebody took the cat
collar as a sort of souvenir?"
    "No," he said, voice cracking. "We were pretty fucked up, Dad. I know
it's a disgusting thing to do, shooting innocent creatures and all--"
    "Billy, let's nail this down."
    He looked at his father with pudding-colored eyes. "I wouldn't hurt
anyone, Dad."
    Nalen exhaled in frustration.
    "D'you believe me?"
    "Yes."
    "You believe I wouldn't hurt anyone? I mean, just because I did
something stupid like, over six months ago ... 'cause I mean, you don't
hate me or anything, do you?"
    "No, son, I don't hate you."
    "But you think less of me."
    "I don't think less of you." Nalen shifted in his chair and the
leather squeaked, advertising his discomfort. He'd always been
uncomfortable around Billy. Always. All Billy had to do was look at
him sideways, and Nalen would inwardly cringe as if he were on trial.
    Abuse, Faye had called it. But Nalen was merely imitating his own dad,
a Boston cop, a hard-drinking,