The Drowning Pool Read Online Free PDF
Author: Jacqueline Seewald
away and waiting for detonation. He had a choice: either figure a way to defuse St. Croix or else stand back and avoid the explosion. The latter would be the sensible, safe course of action, but Gardner knew better than most that all of life was uncertain and entailed risk.
“Are you hurling a challenge at me?” He kept his tone quiet, non-threatening.
“No, just stating facts.”
“Generous of you.”
There wasn’t much point in telling Bert that he hadn’t always lived or worked in the suburbs, that he started his career patrolling the streets of Newark—mean streets that looked a whole lot worse than pictures of Berlin after it was leveled in l945. He recalled a statement of past Mayor Ken Gibson that if you wanted to know where other cities were going, all you had to do was look where Newark had already been. But no, there wasn’t any point in trying to explain.
THREE
Kim slept late, which was unusual for her. She dreamt about her friend Lorette Campbell, whom she hadn’t thought about for several months. It was a strange dream. In it, they were back on campus taking an English class together as they once had done.
Halfway through the lecture, Lorette turned to her. “It’s such a shame we can’t do this anymore. I hate being dead.”
Kim woke up with a start. She found herself sweating and at the same time chilled. Such a creepy dream. Lorette was dead, murdered. Probably it was visiting the pool club last night that had precipitated the nightmare.
She felt a sudden longing, a need to talk to her mother. She reached for her cell phone and scrolled down to her mother’s number. The answering machine picked up. It seemed Ma wasn’t available at the moment. Kim left a brief message and clicked off. She didn’t much like talking to machines. Too impersonal for her tastes.
She had the whole day ahead of her and wasn’t certain quite what to do with it. She wanted to be with Mike but knew he was working. Besides, after their discussion last evening, it might be better if she gave him some space, no matter what he might say to the contrary. Too bad about the murder at the pool; she wouldn’t have minded lounging there herself today. Under normal circumstances, she couldn’t think of a better place to relax.
Kim looked at herself in the mirror and decided a haircut might be in order. Her hair was getting long, the dark mahogany falling in thick waves. She usually wore it pulled back in an austere chignon at work, and during hot weather like this, in a ponytail around the apartment.
The phone rang; she assumed it was Ma calling back but it turned out to be Mike.
“So what are you doing on your first day of vacation?”
“Not much of anything so far. I might sit in the courtyard and read a novel for a while. Soak up some sun.”
“How about spending the evening with me? I’d like to take you and the girls out to dinner.”
She smiled. That was thoughtful of him to want to include her. “I’d like that a lot.”
“Great. I’ll pick you up as soon as I get off work. The girls will be home from day camp by then. We can all chow down and share our day.”
“You don’t think it might be awkward between us?” she asked in a tentative manner.
“Who says we have to agree on everything. I’m not that insecure. Besides, I intend to be very persuasive.”
“You really think you can change my mind?”
“I know I can. I’ve got plans.”
Funny how just hearing his deep, masculine voice thrilled her straight down to her toes.
So he planned on courting her. Well, she could certainly do with a bit of that!
* * * *
“Where to?” Bert asked.
“How about April Nevins’ apartment?”
But they did not go directly there. It was lunchtime and they were both hungry. They drove out to Route 9, and Gardner fittingly stopped at the La Reine Diner just a mile from the garden apartment development complex. Too bad he couldn’t be with Kim for lunch. Well, he was looking forward to
“Are you hurling a challenge at me?” He kept his tone quiet, non-threatening.
“No, just stating facts.”
“Generous of you.”
There wasn’t much point in telling Bert that he hadn’t always lived or worked in the suburbs, that he started his career patrolling the streets of Newark—mean streets that looked a whole lot worse than pictures of Berlin after it was leveled in l945. He recalled a statement of past Mayor Ken Gibson that if you wanted to know where other cities were going, all you had to do was look where Newark had already been. But no, there wasn’t any point in trying to explain.
THREE
Kim slept late, which was unusual for her. She dreamt about her friend Lorette Campbell, whom she hadn’t thought about for several months. It was a strange dream. In it, they were back on campus taking an English class together as they once had done.
Halfway through the lecture, Lorette turned to her. “It’s such a shame we can’t do this anymore. I hate being dead.”
Kim woke up with a start. She found herself sweating and at the same time chilled. Such a creepy dream. Lorette was dead, murdered. Probably it was visiting the pool club last night that had precipitated the nightmare.
She felt a sudden longing, a need to talk to her mother. She reached for her cell phone and scrolled down to her mother’s number. The answering machine picked up. It seemed Ma wasn’t available at the moment. Kim left a brief message and clicked off. She didn’t much like talking to machines. Too impersonal for her tastes.
She had the whole day ahead of her and wasn’t certain quite what to do with it. She wanted to be with Mike but knew he was working. Besides, after their discussion last evening, it might be better if she gave him some space, no matter what he might say to the contrary. Too bad about the murder at the pool; she wouldn’t have minded lounging there herself today. Under normal circumstances, she couldn’t think of a better place to relax.
Kim looked at herself in the mirror and decided a haircut might be in order. Her hair was getting long, the dark mahogany falling in thick waves. She usually wore it pulled back in an austere chignon at work, and during hot weather like this, in a ponytail around the apartment.
The phone rang; she assumed it was Ma calling back but it turned out to be Mike.
“So what are you doing on your first day of vacation?”
“Not much of anything so far. I might sit in the courtyard and read a novel for a while. Soak up some sun.”
“How about spending the evening with me? I’d like to take you and the girls out to dinner.”
She smiled. That was thoughtful of him to want to include her. “I’d like that a lot.”
“Great. I’ll pick you up as soon as I get off work. The girls will be home from day camp by then. We can all chow down and share our day.”
“You don’t think it might be awkward between us?” she asked in a tentative manner.
“Who says we have to agree on everything. I’m not that insecure. Besides, I intend to be very persuasive.”
“You really think you can change my mind?”
“I know I can. I’ve got plans.”
Funny how just hearing his deep, masculine voice thrilled her straight down to her toes.
So he planned on courting her. Well, she could certainly do with a bit of that!
* * * *
“Where to?” Bert asked.
“How about April Nevins’ apartment?”
But they did not go directly there. It was lunchtime and they were both hungry. They drove out to Route 9, and Gardner fittingly stopped at the La Reine Diner just a mile from the garden apartment development complex. Too bad he couldn’t be with Kim for lunch. Well, he was looking forward to