Like a Knife Read Online Free PDF Page A

rolling and packing it as if the childish picture were a precious work of art. A wave of compassion for him washed over her, liquid and warm, as unwelcome as it was keen.
    "I called you yesterday," she said. "What happened? Where were you?"
    "You know where I was."
    "All day?"
    But he didn't reply. Suddenly, Rachel was furious again. Her head ached. She'd spent all day worrying about him, and he stood there like an automaton, giving her monosyllabic answers.
    "You're going to have to speak to me sometime, Nick, I'm not going to let you walk out of here like this."
    "I don't see how you can stop me."
    "I know where you live. I can camp out until you talk to me." Their gazes collided. His was like ice.
    She got right to the point. "How long has it been since you worked for Spier?"
    "Years."
    "How many years? One, ten, fifteen?"
    "Six." He crossed his arms and confronted her. "All right? Six years."
    "And did you have anything to do with his wife's death?" There was a tiny beat of silence, a frigid impasse where they just looked at each other. "Did you?"
    Nick turned away and ran a hand over his tired face. "No." He said the word as if he'd been saying it all day. "I didn't have anything to do with it."
    "How could you-you were with me that night."
    "That's right."
    "You told the police that, didn't you?"
    He rolled up another finger painting. "Sure I did. I'd be stupid not to."
    "So they no longer suspect you of anything?"
    "I'm clean as a whistle." But he didn't look at her.
    "Nick," she scolded gently, "I'll just tell them myself."
    With an angry snap, he flicked the bag away. "Didn't you almost get shut down last year? You told me the Parish Council is just looking for an excuse. My picture was in the paper. The school was in the paper. Leave it alone. Let me finish packing. Fifteen minutes, and I'm gone."
    The vehemence of his response made her step back. He was right; keeping the school out of the police report and out of the media were all that mattered. The next six weeks were crucial, and the last thing she needed was to get mixed up with him.
    But he hadn't done anything, a tiny voice protested, and she could prove it. She swallowed, knowing what was right and what was practical weren't always the same.
    A sudden glow illuminated the top of the steps, and a boy spoke. "Alli. There-Nick." For a moment the outline of an adult holding a child was silhouetted against the light. Then footsteps crunched over the steps and descended.
    Joselito looked like a toy in the man's arms. Wide and massive, the man was built like a linebacker, but his casual air and easy grin rendered him harmless-a big teddy bear with an unruly mop of sandy hair. Yet in spite of his apparent friendliness, hostility shot across Nick's face when he saw who it was. Rachel's welcoming smile froze on her lips.
    "Put the kid down," Nick said.
    Uneasy, Rachel looked between the two men. "Nick, who is-"
    "Put the kid down!"
    The man flashed Joselito an easy smile. "I'm not hurting you pal, am I?" Joselito grinned back at him, and the man turned to Nick. "See?"
    "Put him down. Rachel, take him upstairs." And when she didn't move fast enough, "Now, Rachel-move!"
    It was more emotion than Rachel had seen from Nick in all the months he'd worked there. It propelled her like nothing else would have.
    When she got to the top of the stairs, Felice was barreling toward her. The other teacher was a large, square woman, almost as wide as she was tall. Today, her love of bright colors had her swathed in a loose, swirling dress that hung from her massive bust in yards of hot red and orange.
    "Bill Hughes is on the phone," she said, panting from exertion, her face flushed almost as red as her dress.
    God, not now. " Take a message." Rachel put Joselito down and sent him out to the yard. "I'm not up to fencing with the Parish Council."
    "Okay. Oh-and here." She handed Rachel a message slip. "A reporter from the Post wants to talk to you about your friendly neighborhood