Thanksgiving Read Online Free PDF Page B

Scott’s wife found out what was going on and the shit hit the fan. The interesting thing is that you can kind of sense, unless this is just me, that Luce already knew that something was up. She was always good at that, sort of premonition stuff. Anyway, there’s an edge of desperation there that’s lacking in the earlier tapes, when she was just thinking of the moment. The down side is there’s also a lot of talk about how she feels guilty and doesn’t want to wreck his marriage and all that, but that just makes the action scenes more piquant, if that’s the word I’m looking for. Frankly, of all the tapes, it’s the one I find myself taking down off the shelf most often. It’s definitely the one I’d start with, if I were you. You want to hear it?’
    He surveyed his stacked cassettes blearily.
    ‘Unless you’d prefer to be the star yourself, of course.’
    ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
    Allen slumped back into his chair.
    ‘Well, see, once Scott was out of the picture I kind of lost interest for a while. There were others, I knew that. I can’t remember the names. They came, they went. No pun intended. By that time, I didn’t really care that much.’
    He grinned at me.
    ‘But you were different. You stuck in there. You did the decent thing. Just what we expect of you guys. Poor old Luce must have thought she’d died and gone to heaven. Every young maiden’s dream come true. The other guys were just interested in one thing, but you fell in love with her. You even married her.’
    He feigned a British salute, palm turned out.
    ‘Good show, chaps. Although as a show it didn’t seem that impressive to me, I have to say. Not compared to the Scott archive, at least. His tapes definitely get more air-time around here than yours, I’m afraid. But comparisons are invidious, and I’m sure it seemed great to you at the time. Plus technically it was a piece of cake compared with that motel gig. Cheaper, too, since I didn’t have to rent a room myself. It was just a question of wiring Luce’s bedroom for sound, which was easy enough to do, visiting the kids every week like I did. I bought a sound-activated recorder from Radio Shack and slipped it in the back of one of the closets. I knew she’d never look in there. Hell, I found some of my own stuff while I was doing it, a pair of shoes I’d forgotten about.’
    He shot me a glance.
    ‘So how about it, Tone? Do you want to hear you and your late wife “doing the deed”? Like I say, it all sounds distinctly underwhelming to me. Lots of talk, but where’s the meat? Still, I have high standards in these things. Maybe it’ll be different for you. Might bring it all back, eh?’
    He frowned.
    ‘Don’t look at me in that tone of voice, Tone. Hell, we’re practically related. We’ve both had the same woman. They’ve got some word for that in Spanish. We’re brothers under the skin. Under Luce’s skin, that is. All I’m saying is that you’re perfectly welcome to access my private Library of Congress here, should you feel so inclined. For legitimate research purposes only, of course.’
    My limbs felt like lead, but I forced myself to stand up. I took out the revolver clumsily, snagging the barrel on my coat pocket.
    ‘Ah, I knew Mr Chekhov wouldn’t let me down,’ Allen said quietly.
    He finished his whiskey and got up.
    ‘Now before you shoot me, Tone, let me give you two fashion tips for future reference. Never wear brown shoes with a blue suit, and don’t choose a lightweight Burberry if you’re planning to carry a concealed weapon. Okay, go ahead, I’m ready.’
    ‘I’m not going to shoot you.’
    For the first time, a trace of anger appeared in his eyes.
    ‘You’re not? Then what the hell is the gun for? And what was all that “You-could-die-tonight” bullshit? What are you, some kind of tease? I’ve been counting on your shooting me. Why do you think I’ve been goading you like this? Jesus, I’ve spent all this time working