Hush Money

CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN

Apparently it was going to rain forever. But today, so it shouldn’t be boring, there was thunder and lightning as well. I was standing at my window watching the rainwater overwhelm the storm drains and back up over the sidewalk on Berkeley Street. A long streak of lightning razzmatazzed across the sky, followed hard upon by thunder. It was early, people were on their way to work. Below me a scatter of colorful umbrella tops was bright against the gleaming wet pavement. Flowers on a dark wet field.

Behind me someone knocked on my office door. I turned away from the storm and looked at the door.

“Come in,” I said.

A fat guy with his hat on backward came in.

“You Spenser?” he said.

“Yes.”

“Got a couch here.”

“A couch?”

“Yeah, where you want it.”

“I didn’t buy a couch,” I said.

“Well, somebody did, says here your name, this address.”

“Does it say who bought it?”

“Nope. Got a phone number though.”

He read it to me. It was Susan’s.

“Put it next to the door,” I said.

He went back out and in a minute he came in with one end of a couch wrapped in plastic. At the other end was a tall thin black man who was probably Haitian. They put the couch down, the Haitian man took the plastric wrap off it. The fat guy with the hat got my signature on the slip and they left. I closed the door and looked at the couch. It was very manly looking, brass studs, dark green leather, and long. I tried stretching out on it. Nap-able. I got up and went back and looked at the weather some more. More lightning jittered past. Behind me the door opened. It was Susan wearing a scarlet silk raincoat and a big hat. She had a large bag of something with her. As soon as she got inside she turned and studied the couch.

“Cute, cute, cute, cute, cute,” she said.

“Five cutes,” I said. “You look like the rain goddess.”

“I know,” she said. “Do we love our new couch?”

“Cute, cute, cute, cute, cute,” I said.

“You’ve got the phrasing all wrong,” she said. “You pause after the second cute, then rattle off the last three rapidly.”

“I’ll work on it,” I said. “What’s in the bag?”

“Eats,” she said. “In case you’ve not had breakfast.”

“I can always use another breakfast,” I said.

“Egg salad sandwiches,” Susan said, as she took things out of the bag, and put them on my desk. “On light rye, coffee, and some adorable little Key lime cookies.”

“Excellent choices,” I said. “Why do I have a new couch in my office?”

“You need one,” Susan said.

She put napkins out and unwrapped one of the sandwiches. It was cut in quarters.

“Be nice for Pearl,” I said, “next bring your dog to work day.”

“Yes, she hates sleeping on the floor.”

“Me too,” I said. “How come you’re not working?”

“I canceled my appointments today, I thought we needed to celebrate.”

“Have I missed an anniversary date?” I said.

“No. I just think you’ve done a hell of a job in some very messy cases that your friends got you into.”

The room brightened for a moment as thunder chased lightning past the window. I had a bite of sandwich and a sip of coffee.

“You being one of the friends?” I said.

“And Hawk being the other.”

“What are friends for?”

“And Hawk’s friend got tenure?” Susan said.

“Yes.”

“And Amir whatsisname is going to jail?”

“Pretty sure. Couple of state cops found him hiding naked, trying to get out of the rain, in a culvert under 495. Soon as they got him into the car he started blaming Milo for all his troubles, and along the way confessed to everything. Which works out great because Milo is blaming everything on Amir.”

“What about Milo?” Susan said.

“He appears eager to testify against Amir, and the two security guys who tossed Prentice out the window.”

“Will he go to jail?”

“I believe him that he didn’t know about the Lamont murder,” I said. “And since it’s not illegal to be a racist gay homophobe, I assume that if the DA believes him, he’ll walk when he gets through testifying. His future as a charismatic leader seems grim, though.”

We ate a little more sandwich and watched a little more lightning and listened to a little more thunder.

“I know the meteorological explanations,” I said to Susan, “and I believe them. But it’s hard not to think of the gods during a thunderstorm.”

“I know,” she said. “And Robinson wasn’t even gay.”

“Nope.”

“But he wouldn’t say so.”

“Nope.”

“That’s either great integrity or great foolishness.”

“Integrity is often foolish,” I said.

She smiled at me and I was thrilled.

“Of course it is,” she said. “I understand from sources that KC Roth has gone back to her therapist in Providence.”

“Just needed a little professional intervention,” I said.

“Didn’t you tell me that she asked if you’d ever had sex in the office?”

“Yes.”

“And you said you didn’t want to do so on the floor, and were waiting for a couch.”

“Why yes,” I said.

Susan smiled again. Not the smile of approval, which thrilled me, but the smile of promise which could easily launch a thousand ships.

“I believe I see a pattern emerging,” I said.

“You’re a trained observer,” Susan said. “Do you mind making love after you’ve eaten?”

“After, before, during, instead of – whatever the schedule calls for.”

Susan got up and went to my door and locked it. Then she took off her raincoat and hung it on the coatrack. She took her hat off and put it on top of my file cabinet. She slipped her dress over her head, and hung it on a hanger on the rack, taking time to smooth out any wrinkles. She fluffed her hair carefully. Then she turned and smiled at me and finished undressing. She picked up the big hat and put it on.

“Shall we try the couch?” she said.

“With the hat on?” I said.

“Special effects,” Susan said.

“Works for me,” I said.

The hat was on the floor shortly after we began. The storm made the room sort of dim, except when the lightning made it brilliant. The rain was thick on the window. By the time we finished we were on the floor beside the hat.

“So much for the new couch,” I said.

Susan pressed her face into my neck as if her nose were cold.

“So much for KC Roth,” she said.

And we lay there with our arms around each other and laughed while the thunder and lightning frolicked with the rain outside.