Read Online A Shadow Fell by Patrick Dakin - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Patrick Dakin
Ads: Link
Con?”
He ran his hand through his nest of a beard while he arched his eyebrows and pursed his lips. “What the fuck you think I’m saying, amigo?”
1 6
It was with some trepidation that I gave serious consideration to Con’s proposal of assistance. After all, I didn’t know him very well and, if I was actually able to meet with success in my endeavors, how was I to know I could count on his silence after the fact. His reluctance to talk about his own past, however, seemed like a reasonably good indication that he was quite capable of keep ing whate ver might happen locked away in that inscrutable mind of his.
Eventually I decided I had very little to lose by taking Con up on his offer.
Before committing to what might be a lengthy absence from home I spent several days after our return from Lumberton at Callie’s bedside. I studied her face and hands for hours at a time, looking for the tiniest twitch that might signal a speck of deep-seated consciousness. I even tried playing a few of her favorite tunes on my acoustic guitar in the hope that something with personal meaning might break through the barrier of oblivion she was locked behind.
My efforts , although unquestionably well-meaning, earned me little more than glances of pity from the hospital staff who came and went on a regular basis .
* * *
Con, it turned out, was exceptionally well outfitted for forays into the wilderness. When we sat down to make a list of what we’d need for our expedition there was very little beyond hiking boots and some waterproof gear for me , that he wasn’t able to provide. That and food, of course.
The plan was a simple one . It was not one , however, I felt had any great potential for advancing my cause. Con wanted to visit the site of Henderson’s original cabin in the off chance that he m ight have visited there. If he had it was Con’s hope, and mine, too, of course, that we ’d be able to track him to wherever he might now be h iding . I felt the likelihood was slim to none that Henderson would have actually undertake n such a mission but Con was quietly insistent there was at least a possibility he may have. In any event, it made me feel like I was doing something and that was infinitely better than spending day after day moping around the house, becoming increasingly depressed.
I was also harboring the hope that by being somewhere else, and in the company of another human being, the n ightmares that continued to plague me might begin to subside.
1 7
It had been a few years since I had made this trek. The last time I had done so I’d been in the company of Brad Crandall who had contacted me after I retired to help him run down some leads in his daughter ’ s disappearance. She had been one of Henderson’s victims although, at the time, we didn’t know it. It was the last case I had worked on while with the FBI and , partly because I had been so dissatisfied with the lack of success, had resulted in my early retirement . We had made the excursion up here after learning of Reuben Henderson’s past and what had transpired here when he was a boy. Henderson’s life of sadistic
He ran his hand through his nest of a beard while he arched his eyebrows and pursed his lips. “What the fuck you think I’m saying, amigo?”
1 6
It was with some trepidation that I gave serious consideration to Con’s proposal of assistance. After all, I didn’t know him very well and, if I was actually able to meet with success in my endeavors, how was I to know I could count on his silence after the fact. His reluctance to talk about his own past, however, seemed like a reasonably good indication that he was quite capable of keep ing whate ver might happen locked away in that inscrutable mind of his.
Eventually I decided I had very little to lose by taking Con up on his offer.
Before committing to what might be a lengthy absence from home I spent several days after our return from Lumberton at Callie’s bedside. I studied her face and hands for hours at a time, looking for the tiniest twitch that might signal a speck of deep-seated consciousness. I even tried playing a few of her favorite tunes on my acoustic guitar in the hope that something with personal meaning might break through the barrier of oblivion she was locked behind.
My efforts , although unquestionably well-meaning, earned me little more than glances of pity from the hospital staff who came and went on a regular basis .
* * *
Con, it turned out, was exceptionally well outfitted for forays into the wilderness. When we sat down to make a list of what we’d need for our expedition there was very little beyond hiking boots and some waterproof gear for me , that he wasn’t able to provide. That and food, of course.
The plan was a simple one . It was not one , however, I felt had any great potential for advancing my cause. Con wanted to visit the site of Henderson’s original cabin in the off chance that he m ight have visited there. If he had it was Con’s hope, and mine, too, of course, that we ’d be able to track him to wherever he might now be h iding . I felt the likelihood was slim to none that Henderson would have actually undertake n such a mission but Con was quietly insistent there was at least a possibility he may have. In any event, it made me feel like I was doing something and that was infinitely better than spending day after day moping around the house, becoming increasingly depressed.
I was also harboring the hope that by being somewhere else, and in the company of another human being, the n ightmares that continued to plague me might begin to subside.
1 7
It had been a few years since I had made this trek. The last time I had done so I’d been in the company of Brad Crandall who had contacted me after I retired to help him run down some leads in his daughter ’ s disappearance. She had been one of Henderson’s victims although, at the time, we didn’t know it. It was the last case I had worked on while with the FBI and , partly because I had been so dissatisfied with the lack of success, had resulted in my early retirement . We had made the excursion up here after learning of Reuben Henderson’s past and what had transpired here when he was a boy. Henderson’s life of sadistic
Similar Books
