Robert B. Parker’s Fallout

Sixty-Six

Jesse, Molly, and Nellie were at Molly’s. Jesse had brought pizza. They’d finished it by now. One slice each for Molly and Nellie, then they said they were done. Jesse couldn’t understand a person stopping after one slice of pizza any more than he ever understood one drink.

“Where’s Crow?” Molly asked.

“He said he had some tracking to do,” Jesse said. “It’s in his blood, you know.”

“I hadn’t heard that,” Molly said. “Tracking whom?”

“He told me it was need-to-know.”

“I need to know,” Molly said.

“You will when I do,” Jesse said.

“I hate when you do this,” she said.

“Join the club,” Nellie said.

“I actually started this particular club,” Molly said.

Jesse said he wanted to hear more about Molly’s conversation with Ainsley Walsh. Molly asked why she needed to tell it again. Jesse said because he wanted to hear it again, especially the part where Ainsley had F-bombed her into outer space after Molly had questioned her about Jack’s sexuality.

“Actually,” Molly said, “I might have left out the part about her calling me a grandma bitch.”

Nellie giggled. Molly gave her a look.

“I never heard those two words together before,” Nellie said. “They’re actually kind of funny.”

“Did you get the feeling that her reaction was genuine when you asked the question about him being gay, or was she overreacting for show?” Jesse asked. “And by the way? I should have asked that question already.”

Molly said, “No shit, Sherlock.”

Nellie said, “Maybe you haven’t evolved as much as you think you have.”

“So what do you think about the way Ainsley went off on you?” Jesse said.

“I raised four girls,” Molly said. “When they were too over-the-top, I didn’t think they were overreacting. Just acting.”

“Say he was gay,” Nellie said. “How does it change the circumstances surrounding his death?”

“Maybe he was ripped up about the thought it might get out,” Jesse said. “Or coming out. And killed himself because of that.”

“Sadly,” Nellie said, “he wouldn’t be the first.”

“The world’s gotten more accepting,” Molly said. “But that doesn’t make it any easier if you’re the one dealing with it, I don’t care how much people love you. Or how much of a jock you are.”

“What did finally make you ask the question?” Jesse said.

“I just kept asking myself just how many deep, dark secrets a high school senior boy might have, since we were all convinced there was some deep, dark secret going on,” Molly said. “Then no recreational drugs turned up in his system.”

“Or did he get a girl pregnant,” Molly continued. “But unless Ainsley is lying about a lot of things, there was no other girl in his life.”

“Doesn’t mean there wasn’t,” Jesse said.

“On that one, I feel as if she was telling me the truth.”

“Why?”

“Because I do.”

Molly spread her arms out wide. “When Ainsley stopped cursing me out, she got out of my car, slammed the door, and told me she was going to Uber home.”

They sat in silence. It was late. Jesse was hoping to have heard from Crow by now. There had been no talk of Nellie coming home with him tonight. Jesse wasn’t exactly sure why. Or maybe he was. Maybe he was being reminded, being in the barrel like this, that all he really had room for in his life, at least right now, was the job.

And maybe not just right now.

Jesse put his eyes on Molly.

“I know you,” he said. “You think it’s true. That he was gay.”

No one in the room spoke right away, until Molly finally did.

“Yes,” she said. “I do.”

She looked at Jesse.

“I asked Ainsley about another girlfriend,” she said. “What I should have done is ask about a boyfriend.”

Jesse said, “Maybe all the fights were about that.”