Stalker Read Online Free PDF Page B

there. Right in the firing line. And when you’re out there, people notice you. Like Tropper.”
    “It worked .”
    “That’s not the point.”
    “Silly me, I thought it was.”
    Beaudry wiped suds off his mouth with his sleeve. “Listen, we don’t have to be talking about this. We can talk about other stuff. You tell me your gossip, I’ll tell you mine. I’m just trying to…you know. Tell you like it is.”
    She averted her stare. “Look, Graham, no offense, but I’m not in the mood to be dissected.”
    “That’s fair enough.”
    “On the other hand, no sense being on the outs with Tropper.” She stared at her beer. “What should I do for him?”
    Beaudry looked around, then called her closer. She leaned in, elbows on the table.
    He said, “Tropper isn’t a stupid man—”
    “I didn’t say he—”
    “Just shut up and listen, okay?” He lowered his voice. “He isn’t stupid, Cin. He’s got great street smarts. He knows how people operate.”
    He waited. Cindy said, “I’m listening.”
    “If you ask him to recount an incident, he’s crystal. He can recap from A to Z in perfect detail. The problem comes when he tries to write it down in a report. He’s a fish out of water. It takes him centuries to finish his forms. Writing confuses him. He gets things out of order—”
    “He can’t sequence?”
    “Something like that. He’s constantly rewriting his reports because the old ones are always messy-looking.”
    “Why doesn’t he just use Word?” she asked. “You know…cut and paste?”
    “He has trouble with computers. The keyboard confuses him.” Beaudry finished his first brew, held up a finger, signaling the waitress for a second. “Computers probably aren’t your problem, right?”
    “Not word processing.”
    “And I don’t imagine you have trouble with report writing, either.”
    “I find it mind-numbing, but it’s not difficult. I did lots of papers in college. I usually outlined them before I wrote. You know, occasionally, I’ll still outline a report if the incident was complicated—lots of people coming and going. You might suggest he try that.”
    “I don’t suggest anything to Tropper, and you shouldn’t either. I think the Sarge got into the academy with a GED. So now you know why he sneers at you.”
    Beaudry locked eyes with her.
    “It’s something you should be aware of, Cindy. The guys and gals you’re working with are the salt of America. Lots of us are ex-military. We’re G-workers who hate the nine-to-five, but still want a good pension. You’re from another planet—a college brat who somehow wandered into law enforcement. Not only college, but a private college—”
    “Let’s not forget an Ivy Leaguer.”
    “See, that’s what I mean!” Beaudry pounded the table for emphasis.
    “I’m sorry.” She tried to stop smiling. “It was just too tempting—”
    “Forget it.”
    “Graham, I hear you.” She poked her finger into the suds and licked it. “You know, if the guys think I grew up rich, then they’re stupid. My father climbed through the ranks the hard way.”
    “Which brings us to another point, Decker. You gotta stop talking about your father—”
    “Ah, c’mon! Now you’re getting personal!”
    “I’m just telling you for your own good.”
    “Do I do anything right?”
    “Not much.”
    Cindy looked away, biting her lip to control her rising temper.
    Beaudry said, “Every time we start shooting the bull, talking about the day, you say things like, ‘Yeah, my father once had a case like that.’”
    “I’m trying to relate .”
    “It pisses people off. It makes them think that their experiences are nothin’ special. Everyone wants to feel special. You already feel special because you’ve got all this college. You gotta remember that the average Joe on the force is a high school graduate, maybe a couple of years at a junior college like me. If you’re real smart, okay, you do a four-year state, then enter the academy