Sacrifice Read Online Free PDF Page B

eyes were pearly darkness. "What's your name?" he asked me, trembly thread in his voice.
    "Burke."
    "How do you spell that?"
    I told him.
    The kid's eyes went thoughtful, rolled up into his head, snapped right back. "Our names are linked," he said.
    "What do you mean?"
    "They have the same letters. U. K. E. In both our names. Maybe they have the same root. Mine is from the Bible. Is there a Burke in the Bible?"
    "Not by that name."
    "Are you Immaculata's friend?"
    "She is my brother's wife."
    "Max is your brother?"
    "Yes."
    "It's true," Mac assured him.
    "Immaculata is my friend."
    "I know. That means you're my friend too."
    His eyes flickered again, straightened. "Do you know any monsters?" I hunkered down next to him, getting my eyes on the same level.
    "Yeah, I know some."
    "Do you fight them?"
    "I have."
    "Do you win?"
    "Sometimes."
    "Are you scared…when you fight them?"
    I held his eyes, willing them to stay on mine. "Yes," I told him. "Yes, I'm scared."
    He held out his hand to me, a soft child's hand. "Don't be scared. If you're my friend, you don't have to be scared."
    "I'm not scared now."
    His eyes rolled again. Came back slower this time. "Burke?" he asked. Like he was seeing me for the first time, waking up from a dream.
    "Yeah?"
    "If we put our names together, you and me, do you know what they would be?"
    "No. What?"
    "Burke and Luke. Together it would be Lurk. What do you think?"
    "I think you're right." Watching his eyes, holding them steady. Tiny lights dancing in them now—candlepoints in the night.
    I got to my feet.
    "Are you coming back?" he asked.
    "Count on it," I told him.

21
    B ack in Lily's office. I lit another smoke, waiting.
    "He's got a genius IQ," Lily said. "Tests right off the scale."
    "I could tell."
    "What else can you tell?"
    "He's video–phobic, right? Somebody photographed him, maybe videotaped. While something ugly was going on…maybe to him. You see the same reaction from some kids when a flashbulb goes off."
    Storm edged forward. "He was examined at our hospital. After the attack on his baby brother. They found something besides the knife scratches."
    I turned my face to her, waiting.
    "A prolapsed rectum," she said, icy hate in her soft voice.
    "The parents?"
    "Wolfe thinks so," Lily said, something standoffish in the way she said it. I wasn't going to let it go by twice.
    "Wolfe is your pal, right?"
    "Sure."
    "Your sister?"
    "What's your point?"
    "What's yours?"
    She looked across the desk to Storm. Shrugged her shoulders. "Luke's been sexually abused. Wolfe should be right on top of it—she knows what we know. But she's waiting…like there's something more.
    "And she doesn't like him." Immaculata's voice, stepping into the room.
    "How do you know?" I asked over my shoulder.
    "Luke knows. He told me."
    Immaculata had a baby. Lily had a glowing teenager named Noelle. Storm was pregnant. Wolfe had no children. I never would. I glanced at Storm's swelling belly. "You're sure you're not…?"
    Lily caught my look. "No, it's not that. Wolfe is just like us. She adores Noelle. And Flower. She
knows
something."
    "And you want…?"
    "We have to protect the child," Immaculata said. "That's what we do here."
    "Wolfe won't talk to me," I said.
    Lily smiled her Madonna's smile. "She might…she likes you.
    Storm giggled.
    Women. "I'll take a look," I told them. Immaculata kissed me on the cheek.

22
    M ax and I motored over to West Street, took it north past the triangular wedge of the short–stay motel at Fourteenth Street, hooked a U–turn, and headed back downtown. Horatio Street runs through the Village, a nice block, brownstones, well kept. On the other side of the highway, it's a dead–end street, runs right up against the filthy Hudson River.
    The Prof was there, wrapped in his long overcoat, a flaming red silk scarf around his neck, the ends trailing almost to his feet.
    Midafternoon now. When it turns dark, the long parking lot parallel to the river becomes a hustler's strip.