Blood Games. Faye Kellerman

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СКАЧАТЬ sounds a lot cooler than it is,” Gabe said. “My dad’s a nasty guy—a real mean motherfucker. He also owns about a zillion guns and knows how to use every single one of them. I get along with him because I don’t cross him. Plus, we don’t live together anymore.”

      “You live with your mom?”

      “Nah, she’s in India somewhere. She took off with her lover and dumped me into the care of complete strangers—”

      “Are you shittin’ me?”

      “I wish I was shittin’ you.” Gabe laughed. “Last year was a total nightmare.” He rubbed his hands together. “But it worked out okay. I like where I am. My foster dad is a police lieutenant. You’d expect him to be the hard-ass, but compared to my own dad, the man is a saint.” He looked at his watch. It was almost six in the evening and night was inches away. “I gotta go.” He stood up and so did Dude.

      “What’s your name?” Dude asked.

      “Chris,” Gabe lied. “And you?”

      “Dylan.” They fist-bumped. “What school do you go to?”

      “Homeschooled,” Gabe said. “Almost done, thank God. Hey, nice to meet you, Dylan. Maybe I’ll catch you on the shooting range.”

      He turned his back to the group and slowly swaggered away. It took all his energy not to glance back.

      Once he was out the door, he ran like hell.

      RINA WAS ARRANGING roses when the boy came in, flushed and panting. She said, “Are you all right?”

      “Just out of shape.” Gabe tried to steady his breathing. He attempted to give his temporary mother a smile, but it probably didn’t come out too sincere. He could tell that Rina was scrutinizing him, her blue eyes concentrated on his face. She was wearing a pink sweater that matched the flowers. His mind was desperately trying to figure out small talk. “Those are pretty. From the garden?”

      “Trader Joe’s. The roses in the garden won’t start blooming for another couple of months.” She regarded her charge, his emerald eyes flitting behind his glasses. Something was off. “Why were you running?”

      “Trying to be healthy,” Gabe told her. “I really need to do something about improving my stamina.”

      “I’d say anyone who can practice for six hours a day has a great deal of stamina.”

      “Tell that to my beating heart.”

      “Sit down. I’ll get you something to drink.”

      “I can do it.” Gabe disappeared into the kitchen. When he came back, he was holding a bottle of water. Rina was still giving him funny looks. To distract her, he picked up the paper from the dining room table. The front page showed a picture of a boy, the caption stating that fifteen-year-old Gregory Hesse had committed suicide by a single gunshot to the head. He had a round face and big round eyes and looked much younger than fifteen. Gabe started reading the article in earnest.

      “Sad, isn’t it.” Rina was looking over his shoulder. “You think to yourself, what on earth could have been so bad that this poor kid was willing to end it all?”

      There were lots of reasons for despair. Last year he had gone through all of them. “Sometimes life is hard.”

      Rina took the paper from him, spun him around, and gave him her serious eye-to-eye contact. “You looked upset when you came in.”

      “I’m fine.” He managed a smile. “Really.”

      “What happened? Did you hear from your dad or something?”

      “No, we’re cool.” When Rina gave him a skeptical look, he said, “Honestly. I haven’t spoken to him since we came back from Paris. We texted a couple of times. He asked me how I was doing and I told him I was fine. We’re on good terms. I think he likes me a lot better now that my mom is out of the picture.”

      He took a swig of water and averted his eyes.

      “Did I tell you my mom IMed about a week ago?”

      “No … you didn’t.”

      “Must have slipped my mind.”

      “Uh-huh—”

      “Really. It was no big deal. I almost didn’t answer her because I didn’t recognize the screen name she was using.”

      “Is she okay?”

      “Seems to be.” A shrug. “She asked me how I was.” Behind his glasses, his eyes were gazing at a distant place. “I told her I was fine and not to worry … that everything was cool. Then I signed off.” He shrugged again. “I didn’t feel like making chitchat. Tell you the truth, I’d rather she not contact me. Is that terrible?”

      “No, it’s understandable.” Rina sighed. “It’ll take a lot of bridge building before you get some trust—”

      “That’s not gonna happen. It’s not that I have anything against her. I wish her well. I just don’t want to talk to her.”

      “Fair enough. But try to keep an open mind. When she contacts you again, maybe give her a few more seconds of your time. Not for her sake, but for yours.”

      “If she contacts me again.”

      “She will, Gabriel. You know that.”

      “I don’t know anything. I’m sure she’s busy with the baby and all.”

      “One child isn’t a substitute for another—”

      “Thanks for the pep talk, Rina, but I really don’t care. I barely think about her.” But of course, he did all the time. “The baby needs her way more than I do.” He smiled and patted her head. “Besides, I’ve got a pretty good substitute right here.”

      “Your mom is still your mom. And one day, you’ll see that. But thank you very much for the nice words.”

      Gabe returned his eyes to the newspaper article. “Wow, the boy was local.”

      “Yes, he was.”

      “Do you know the family?”

      “No.”

      “So like … does the lieutenant investigate cases like this?”

      “Only if the coroner has questions about whether it was a suicide.”

      “How can the coroner tell?”

      “I really don’t know. You can ask Peter when he gets home.”

      “When’s he coming home?”

      “Sometime between now and dawn. Do you want to go out to the deli for dinner?”

      Gabe’s eyes lit up. “Can I drive?”

      “Yes, СКАЧАТЬ