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.I wanted to know allof the complex-of experience which had finally brought her to this place andtime, to this moment with her dark hair fragrant and pressed against the edgeof my chin.A widow, now indulging herself in the delights of the flesh, solong denied by the hulking drunken husband, and feeling guilt for suchindulgence.I was being used, and wanted a deeper and truer contact.Iwondered if I wanted her to be in love with me, as a sop to my ego, perhaps.There was a change in the feel of her, in the textures of her, that told meshe was now awake.Gently, gently, she disengaged herself as I feigned sleep.She sat on the edge of the bed and groped for the short nightgown, then stoodand put it on.Through slitted eyes I saw her put a fist in front of a wideyawn, a yawn so huge it made her shudder.She moved silently across the roomand slipped through the interconnecting door.I heard the soft click of thelatch and the second metallic sound that meant she had locked the door behindher.A gesture for the motel maid? A disavowal? Or the end of the episode?ThirteenFREDERICK VAN Harn sat in the same rear corner of the limousine as had theJudge.The black chauffeur sat upon a different bench because the shadepatterns were different at ten o'clock on that Monday morning.The engine ranas quietly as before, the compressor clicking on and off.I sat on the same jump seat, turned to face him.I wore boat pants, sandals, afaded old shirt from Guatemala.He wore a beige business suit, white shirt,tie of dark green silk, dark brown loafers polished to satin gloss.As helooked directly at me.I saw that his sideburns were precisely even.Thesideburn hair was long, brushed back to cover the ears.Neat little ears, Iimagined.Maybe a bit pointed on the top.Olive skin, delicate features, longdark eyelashes, brown liquid eyes.I had been an annoyance to him when we had met at Jack Omaha's house.Hestudied me quietly, very much at ease, not the least bit uncomfortable.Hishands were long and sinewy, and he clasped his fingers around a slightlyupraised knee."Mr.McGee, you got under my skin pretty good when we met at Chris's place.""You went into a massive tizzy."He smiled."Are you trying to do it again?""I don't know.What are you trying to do?"It was an engaging smile.Very direct."I'm trying to get you off my back.Uncle Jake thinks you could hurt me."Page 70ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html"Don't you?"The smile faded.He looked earnest."I really don't see how.Oh, if you werepolitically inclined you could give me some static by bringing up the dumb-assbit about flying marijuana in, but you'd have no proof of that, and I think Icould deny it convincingly.Besides, I don't think people are as dead setagainst it as they used to be.The use of it is too prevalent.I hear that along time ago the rumrunners were folk heroes along this coast.It's gettingto be much the same with grass.I'm not sure you could hurt me.""What if somebody got notarized statements from Betty Joller and SusanDobrovsky? Do you think your kinky love life could hurt you any if it cameout?"He colored but recovered quickly."People must find it remarkably easy to talkto you, McGee.I don't think there's anything kinky about enjoying the hardsell.Reluctance stimulates me.Maybe in retrospect they see it differentlythan it was.But in both those cases there were plenty of squeals of girlishjoy.""Joanna thought you were tiresome.""Please stop trying to bait me.Let's try to get along at least a little bit.Try to understand each other.""What do you want me to understand?"He shrugged."How I was such a damned fool.I'd flown to most of the islands.I'm a good pilot.I've got a good airplane and I keep it in first-classcondition.As lawyer for Superior Building Supplies, I knew Jack and Harrywere in bad shape and things were getting worse.I think it was Jack whobrought it up, like a joke.I had said something about falling behind on theranch payments and trying to get an extension on the loan.He said we ought towork out a way to bring grass in.He said he could find a nice outlet for us.We met again and planned how we could do it, still treating it as a joke.Finally I went down and lined up a source in Jamaica and then we.wentahead.We couldn't afford much the first time.But it all worked out okay.""Tell me about it."He shrugged again."We'd rendezvous off the north shore of Grand Bahama.Thecoast was always clear because it's difficult water.I'd circle and drop thestuff.We would have put the big bags inside plastic bags from Omaha's stockand tied the neck so they'd float and the seawater couldn't get to the grass.They'd gather them in with a boat hook.Very simple [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]