The Bitterest Pill

Eighty-two

Maryglenn was standing on the tarmac at the foot of the small jet’s door ladder. The engines were spinning in earnest, whining. The air stank of spent jet fuel and hot metal. The wind was whipping her hair into her face. Her face was lit on and off and on again by the strobing wingtip lights. Three black Suburbans were parked between the two of them and the hangar. There were six blank-faced special-ops types spread out around the jet. All of them seemed so uncomfortable in their civilian clothes. They looked much more at ease with the M4s held at their chests.

Jesse was surprised to get the call and had been reluctant to go to the little private airport in Marshfield. Still, one thing therapy and rehab had taught him was to not swallow as much pain as he always had. He’d always been so damn stoic about everything. What he had come to realize was that his Marlboro Man act was not only a defense but a means of intimidation. You can’t hurt me. You can’t touch me. But of course he could be hurt. He hurt a lot, and the tough-guy act only drove the hurt deeper and made it more persistent. Besides, he wanted answers. Jesse always wanted answers.

“Thank you for coming, Jesse. This is very Casablanca.” She laughed. “The airport farewell, I mean. All we need is Claude Rains, Humphrey Bogart, and the usual suspects.”

Westerns were usually the movies Jesse loved, but he got the reference. He had seen Casablanca. Can’t be a cop in Hollywood and not pick up on movie history, no matter how hard you might try to avoid it.

“The end of a beautiful friendship,” he said.

She bowed her head. “Maybe not the end, but at least a temporary halt to things.”

“Why am I here, Marygl — wait, that’s not your name, is it?”

She smiled. It was a sad smile. “No fooling you, Chief Jesse Stone.” She held her right hand out to him. “Esther. I can’t tell you my last name. Sorry. I’m sorry for the lies.”

He took her hand and could not deny feeling the jolt of attraction. That hadn’t simply evaporated. “Nice to meet you, Esther. Very Old Testament.”

“It was meant to be. Obviously, almost nothing you know about me is true. Well, I have always loved art. Art is the only way I manage to hold on to who I was.”

“Anything else?”

She leaned forward, kissing him hard on the mouth. “That is true. I am more than a little in love with you, I think. I don’t even understand it.” She pulled back and studied his face in the strobe light. “I think you may feel the same.”

Jesse said nothing, but smiled.

“I do very dangerous work, Jesse,” she said. “I did dangerous work. Important work, and there are some people looking for me.”

“Bad people.”

“The worst kind of people and the most dangerous kind. People with revenge on their minds and people with nothing to lose. People who would kill themselves and everyone in Paradise if it meant getting to me.”

“A new name a new place for you?”

“There’s a file on the plane and someone to teach me about who I am and will be.”

Jesse looked past Esther at the jet. There was a man’s head in one of the portholes. The man was staring back at Jesse. “I’m sorry,” he said. “They probably aren’t pleased about you talking to me this way.”

“I don’t care. They owe me and I owed it to you. I’m sorry, too, but I can’t risk other people’s lives, especially not yours.” She reached out and stroked Jesse’s face. “If I can ever get word to you, I will. But get on with your life, Jesse. You deserve happiness. I’ll miss you.”

“I already miss you,” Jesse heard himself say without quite believing it. He really was making progress. “Be safe and take care of yourself.”

“I promise I will. Enjoy Cole’s party. I wish I could be there.”

Before Jesse could say anything, one of the special-ops types came and stood between them. He turned to Esther and said she had to go.

She said, “Give me a second.”

When Special Ops hesitated, she stepped around him and threw her arms around Jesse. Jesse hugged her tight. When they let go of each other, the special-ops guy told Jesse he had to leave before the jet took off. He did as he was told and didn’t look back.