beat.”
“Uh-huh. I came straight home. One of the EMTs was coming my way and drove me. Hope
that’s okay?”
“Of course it’s okay. I wish I could do something for you. I can swing by with your
car anytime tomorrow,” I offered.
“Nuh-uh. That won’t work. Larry’s going to pick me up in a few hours. We all have
to be boots-to-the-ground first thing. There’s no telling how people will react when
they wake up to this news. It’s all over the Internet already, but most Henley citizens
are sleeping.”
“They’re not expecting riots in the streets, are they?”
“You never know what backlash there might be. The murder of a city official is not
your everyday crime.”
There it was.
Murder.
The official word from a more or less official person, though I’d already lost all
hope of a freak accident as Virgil was questioning me.
“The more tension, the more potential for accidents,” Bruce continued. “Plus, until
they know why this happened, security will be beefed up for everyone on the mayor’s
staff and family and the whole city council. Every kind of emergency vehicle is going
to be on standby.”
“Medevac helicopters included,” I said.
“This is me, saluting.”
I could hear Bruce’s voice fading. And though I had many more questions—How is the
city’s First Lady holding up? Who is the mayor’s successor? Do the police have any
leads on who killed him or why? Were there fingerprints on the letter opener?—Bruce
didn’t need my particular version of grilling, even if he might know more than I did.
I told myself it was good that Bruce wasn’t worried about me. Why should he be? It
wasn’t as if a good friendof mine had died. As I’d told Virgil, the mayor and I weren’t even on a first-name
basis. And as long as wishing he would disappear from the stage during his speech
didn’t count as inflicting bodily harm, I should be able to get on with the weekend
without a debilitating reaction.
The self-to-self pep talk didn’t take. An unexpected wave of guilt washed over me.
True, I’d had nothing to do with the mayor’s stabbing, but had I done everything I
could to help him? At least Bruce and the team of medical workers could say that they
had.
I had to ask. “Did he regain consciousness?”
“No, he never…” Bruce paused and I knew he’d figured out my predicament. “Sophie,
I know what you’re thinking. There was nothing you could have done to save the man.
Less than nothing.”
Instead of a small lecture on what
less than nothing
meant, mathematically speaking, it was my distress that came rushing out. “I should
have gone to the hospital with you, or at least when I was finished with Virgil. Maybe
I’d have been able to talk to him, find out why he said my name.”
“Sophie, about your name—”
“You can’t deny it, Bruce. If you told Virgil about it, you must have been pretty
sure that’s what he said. What if he wanted something from me? Something that could
simply have made his last moments peaceful, or even helped ID his killer?” I paused,
entertaining a flash of a thought. “In fact, why didn’t he say his killer’s name instead
of mine?”
“I’m coming over,” Bruce said.
That’s all I needed to hear. “No, no. I’m sorry I brought it up. I’m exhausted myself
and I’d be asleep before you got here,” I lied. “And anyway, you don’t have a car.”
“I could take the helicopter.”
No wonder I loved him. Who else could have had me laughing at the end of this conversation?
“Good night, Bruce,” I said. “Call me if you need anything.”
I hardly heard his “Thanks. I love you” before the dial tone.
I, on the other hand, was fully wired, even after a shower and a cup of warm, purportedly
sleep-inducing tea. I made a note to tell Ariana her special no-fail green brew had
failed me.
There was no dearth of items on my to-do list. I had a stack of resumes to
“Uh-huh. I came straight home. One of the EMTs was coming my way and drove me. Hope
that’s okay?”
“Of course it’s okay. I wish I could do something for you. I can swing by with your
car anytime tomorrow,” I offered.
“Nuh-uh. That won’t work. Larry’s going to pick me up in a few hours. We all have
to be boots-to-the-ground first thing. There’s no telling how people will react when
they wake up to this news. It’s all over the Internet already, but most Henley citizens
are sleeping.”
“They’re not expecting riots in the streets, are they?”
“You never know what backlash there might be. The murder of a city official is not
your everyday crime.”
There it was.
Murder.
The official word from a more or less official person, though I’d already lost all
hope of a freak accident as Virgil was questioning me.
“The more tension, the more potential for accidents,” Bruce continued. “Plus, until
they know why this happened, security will be beefed up for everyone on the mayor’s
staff and family and the whole city council. Every kind of emergency vehicle is going
to be on standby.”
“Medevac helicopters included,” I said.
“This is me, saluting.”
I could hear Bruce’s voice fading. And though I had many more questions—How is the
city’s First Lady holding up? Who is the mayor’s successor? Do the police have any
leads on who killed him or why? Were there fingerprints on the letter opener?—Bruce
didn’t need my particular version of grilling, even if he might know more than I did.
I told myself it was good that Bruce wasn’t worried about me. Why should he be? It
wasn’t as if a good friendof mine had died. As I’d told Virgil, the mayor and I weren’t even on a first-name
basis. And as long as wishing he would disappear from the stage during his speech
didn’t count as inflicting bodily harm, I should be able to get on with the weekend
without a debilitating reaction.
The self-to-self pep talk didn’t take. An unexpected wave of guilt washed over me.
True, I’d had nothing to do with the mayor’s stabbing, but had I done everything I
could to help him? At least Bruce and the team of medical workers could say that they
had.
I had to ask. “Did he regain consciousness?”
“No, he never…” Bruce paused and I knew he’d figured out my predicament. “Sophie,
I know what you’re thinking. There was nothing you could have done to save the man.
Less than nothing.”
Instead of a small lecture on what
less than nothing
meant, mathematically speaking, it was my distress that came rushing out. “I should
have gone to the hospital with you, or at least when I was finished with Virgil. Maybe
I’d have been able to talk to him, find out why he said my name.”
“Sophie, about your name—”
“You can’t deny it, Bruce. If you told Virgil about it, you must have been pretty
sure that’s what he said. What if he wanted something from me? Something that could
simply have made his last moments peaceful, or even helped ID his killer?” I paused,
entertaining a flash of a thought. “In fact, why didn’t he say his killer’s name instead
of mine?”
“I’m coming over,” Bruce said.
That’s all I needed to hear. “No, no. I’m sorry I brought it up. I’m exhausted myself
and I’d be asleep before you got here,” I lied. “And anyway, you don’t have a car.”
“I could take the helicopter.”
No wonder I loved him. Who else could have had me laughing at the end of this conversation?
“Good night, Bruce,” I said. “Call me if you need anything.”
I hardly heard his “Thanks. I love you” before the dial tone.
I, on the other hand, was fully wired, even after a shower and a cup of warm, purportedly
sleep-inducing tea. I made a note to tell Ariana her special no-fail green brew had
failed me.
There was no dearth of items on my to-do list. I had a stack of resumes to
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