Off the Chart. James Hall

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      The tart scent of her long day’s work in Miami clung to her clothes and flesh. She averaged a half-dozen crime scenes on a typical shift, shooting several rolls of film on each one, using her video camera on the larger scenes. From what Thorn gathered, it was hardly glamorous, rarely more than routine. Women beaten to death by boyfriends, teenage boys shot down in their first drug deal, geriatric suicides, babies fatally shaken by mothers trying to keep the little brats quiet. Mainly Alexandra moved through small dismal rooms with peeling paint and furniture abandoned by long-departed occupants, one sprawling body after another, usually discarded hypodermics, baggies of crack somewhere nearby. In the years she’d been doing it, Alexandra had cataloged so much death and misery, made such a study of cruelty’s stark poses, it was a wonder the heavy shadows of her work didn’t mute her laughter or dim her nearly ceaseless smile.

      Finally she drew out of the embrace and pressed a hand to his chest to hold him at bay, a not-now-but-definitely-later smile in her eyes.

      ‘So about this dog.’

      ‘Well, I tried to stay neutral because I thought it was your call.’

      ‘Because he’s my dad.’

      ‘I didn’t think it was my place to decide.’

      ‘Meanwhile, look at him.’

      Lawton was lying in the grass near the dock, flat on his back, hands laced behind his head, with the Lab’s snout propped on Lawton’s chest.

      ‘A dog is a long-term commitment,’ she said. ‘You ready for that?’

      She turned her head slowly and fixed her eyes on Thorn’s.

      ‘Never been readier.’

      A ghost of skepticism hovered just below the surface of her smile.

      ‘So it just came walking out of the woods?’

      ‘Poof, like that.’

      She lifted her hands and raked her fingers through her thick black hair as if unsnarling the thousand invisible knots from her long day. He heard what sounded like a quiet groan of pleasure escape from her throat. Then she tipped her head back and shook her hair so it rustled along the back of her white sleeveless blouse. Thorn looked at her neck, at her delicate ears, at the dusting of dark hair that formed her sideburns.

      ‘A boy and his dog,’ she said. ‘Oh, hell, why not?’

      She put an arm around his waist and they walked down to the shoreline.

      ‘I’ve named him,’ Lawton said. ‘I’ve named the dog.’

      ‘Hello, Dad,’ she said.

      ‘I’m calling him Lawton.’

      ‘But that’s your name.’

      The dog was staring up at Lawton as if waiting for the next command.

      ‘I know it’s my name. What do you think, I’m so far gone I don’t know my own name?’

      ‘You think that’s a good idea?’ Thorn said. ‘Two Lawtons, that might be one too many.’

      ‘Why not? It’s a good name,’ Lawton said. ‘It’s served me well.’

      ‘We might get you two confused. Lawton the dog, Lawton the dad.’

      ‘Get us confused? Now who’s losing their mind? I’m a man, this is a dog. How’re you going to get us confused?’

      ‘He’s got a point,’ Thorn said.

      She looked at him and closed her eyes briefly.

      ‘Okay, okay,’ she said. ‘But you’re going to have to take care of him, Dad. That’s a big job. Are you ready for that? Bathing him, taking him to the vet. He’ll need shots.’

      ‘Watch,’ he said. ‘I’ve taught him to sit already. He’s a smart little fur ball.’

      With an open hand Lawton motioned the dog down, and the puppy jumped up and tried to nip his fingers.

      ‘Down, Lawton. Sit.’

      With a single bark of complaint, the puppy planted his rear on a sandy patch and stared up at Lawton, his tail brushing back and forth across the bare earth.

      ‘See,’ the old man said. ‘He’s a fast learner.’

      ‘That’s good, Dad. And you’re obviously a good teacher.’

      ‘He’d better be fast,’ Lawton said. ‘Because I don’t have much time left to teach him much.’

      ‘Oh, come on. Don’t say that.’

      ‘Where’d that guy Webster go? He offered me a job working undercover. I need to talk to him about when I’m going to start.’

      ‘That was months ago, Dad. That was March; this is May. He went away and he’s not coming back.’

      ‘Went away?’

      ‘Anyway, you’ve got this dog. You don’t need any more jobs.’

      ‘But Webster was counting on me. It was a national emergency. I could be putting us all in peril. This woman Anne Joy is at the root of it.’

      ‘Anne Joy?’

      Alexandra stooped down beside the dog and scratched him beneath the throat. The puppy grew limp at her touch.

      ‘Her name came up,’ Thorn said.

      ‘First I’ve heard of that.’

      ‘Webster mentioned her. That’s when I shut him up and kicked him out.’

      ‘Oh, yeah, I feel it coming,’ Lawton said. ‘The end is definitely near. It won’t be long. This dog is going to have to be my legacy.’

      ‘Dad,’ Alex said. ‘Please stop.’

      ‘It doesn’t matter,’ Lawton said. ‘I’m ready. Now that you’re finally in good hands and there’s someone to carry on my name, it’s time for me to exit.’

      Alexandra stood up, her mouth clamped tight.

      ‘It’s okay,’ Thorn said. ‘It’s just words.’

      ‘I know. I know. But still.’

      ‘You ready for a glass of red?’

      ‘Thorn, what did Webster want with Anne Joy?’

      ‘He thought I knew something about her. I assured him I didn’t.’

      ‘You should’ve told me that.’

      ‘I know,’ he said. ‘But I didn’t want you to get the wrong idea.’

      ‘The СКАЧАТЬ