THE GIRL IN THE WINDOW (The Inspector Samuel Tay Novels Book 4) Read Online Free PDF Page A

Robbie. Then go home yourself. I don’t see what else we can do today.”
    Kang nodded and turned left.
     
    They drove in silence for a while, but then Kang shot a glance at Tay and cleared his throat.
    “There’s something I want to talk to you about, sir. It’s…uh, personal.”
    Tay shifted his eyes toward Kang. This didn’t sound like anything he wanted to hear. It really didn’t.
    “You see, sir…well, it’s like this. Lar and I are having a baby.”
    For a moment, Tay had absolutely no idea what Kang was talking about. He heard all the words Kang said, of course, but he couldn’t immediately arrange them in any way that made sense. Then he suddenly remembered: Lar was what Kang sometimes called his wife whose real name was Laura.
    They were having a baby? Why was Kang telling him about it?
    Kang had been Tay’s sergeant for eight or nine years now, but Tay knew next to nothing about Kang’s personal life. He had only met Laura once, or was it twice? How long had she and Kang been married? Tay had no idea. Did they have children already? He was pretty sure they didn’t, but he wasn’t absolutely certain.
    Tay liked Robbie Kang, and he relied on him and trusted him, but he couldn’t honestly say they were close friends. Well…he supposed the truth was that he didn’t have any close friends. He attached no significance to that. He certainly didn’t feel like it was a personal failing. It was just the way his life had worked out.
    “And here’s the thing, sir,” Kang rushed on before Tay could decide how he was expected to respond to Kang’s announcement. “Lar thinks our baby should have a godfather and…well, I was wondering, sir, if you would do that.”
    “Do what?” Tay asked, baffled once again as to what Kang was talking about.
    “We’d like you to be the baby’s godfather, sir. That is…if you’re willing.”
    “ Me ?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “You can’t be serious, Robbie.”
    Tay flinched at how clumsy he had been to put it like that and was immediately embarrassed. He shot a quick look at Kang.
    “What I meant, Robbie, is I can’t think of anybody on earth less suited to being a godfather than I am. It’s very nice of you to ask me, but surely you can find someone who would be a much better choice.”
    “I don’t think so, sir. We think you’d be great.”
    “Robbie, you’re forgetting I don’t like children. And children don’t like me.”
    “I think you’re exaggerating a little there, sir. And besides, you don’t ask someone to become a godfather to play with your kid. A godfather is someone a child can rely on as it grows up, someone you know your child can count on no matter what happens to you. And there isn’t anyone we would trust more with our child than you, sir. Lar and I both feel that way.”
    Tay was speechless. He had always been awkward in dealing with praise, not that he’d really had all that much practice at it, and Kang’s sudden declaration that he wanted to entrust his child to him left Tay totally flummoxed.
    He just stared out the window and said nothing. He really didn’t know what to say.
    “Sir?” Kang prompted after the silence had stretched out to a point at which it became awkward. “Will you do it?”
    “No one has ever asked me to do anything like this before, Robbie, and I just don’t know what to say.” Tay cleared his throat. “Let me have a day or two to think about it, will you?”
    “Take all the time you want, sir. I just want to say Lar and I would be honored if you would accept.”
    They rode in silence after that. Tay couldn’t imagine what Kang was thinking, but he hoped his hesitation hadn’t caused any offense. Tay simply didn’t know what to make of any of this.
    When they were out on the street going about their business as police officers, Tay trusted Kang absolutely, but beyond that how well did they really know each other? They had certainly never reached the point where they confided in each other in a