Read Online After the Rain by Chuck Logan - Free Book Online Page A

me.”
    The drinks arrived and Nina raised her glass in a toast.
    “To tomorrow.”
    Nina fished her cell phone from her purse. “I’m going to call Jane, tell her I won’t be back tonight, and explain things to my daughter.” She looked around. “And I gotta use the john.”
    Ace nodded, pointed toward the rear of the place. “Door in the hall on the right.”
    Nina got up, walked down the bar, and went into the women’s john. She took a seat in the stall, latched the door and flipped open her cell phone, thumbed down through the phonebook, selected Jane’s number, and pushed “send.”
    “This is Jane.”
    “Nina.”
    “How’s it going, Mata Hari? You catch that four-pound walleye yet?”
    “Very funny. So far so good. I’m invited to his pad for the night. He says he’ll sleep on the couch. And I sort of believe him. He’s this odd mix of Eagle Scout and the Sundance Kid. I can’t tell if he’s going for it or going along with it.”
    “We gotta try, right? Hollywood wants to know how you assess your security.”
    “My first impression, he’s got some dangerous baggage but it takes a while to get down to it. The other guy in the bar was more edgy. But this Ace, he’s…”
    “He’s a tricky guy, Nina; and he’s got some social skills and maybe even some depth of character. But so did Darth Vader.”
    “I hear you. So far he hasn’t discussed his business.”
    Hollywood came on the phone. “We can’t cover you all the time, Nina. Not in a small town. We talked about this. If you go forward you’re on your own.”
    “Understood.”
    “We need some idea of his pattern, his contacts, any sign he’s anticipating something big.”
    “I got it, Holly.”
    “Okay. And we set the ball rolling. Jane has the local cop hunting down your husband.”
    Great, Nina thought, but said nothing.
    “I said…”
    “I heard you.”
    “Okay. Here’s Kit.”
    Nina shut her eyes. The bathroom smelled of cheap disinfectant on monotonous yellow linoleum. The walls and floor closed in; claustrophobic. She was quick to fight it off. It’s not a question of one kid; thousands of kids out there could be potential victims… Still, she had used her daughter, like a private soldier, to gain position.
    “Hi, Mom.”
    “You did great, honey. Thanks.”
    “Are you done working yet?”
    “No, I got to keep going a little while longer. But, hey, Dad’s on his way to pick you up and take you home. What are you and Auntie Jane going to do tomorrow?”
    “She said there’s an outside pool, in a park.”
    “Remember, you need lots of lotion even if it’s cloudy.”
    “I know.” Then Kit’s voice quavered. “Are you going to come home, too?”
    “C’mon, honey, we talked about this.” Nina tapped her teeth together.
    “Fine,” Kit said sharply. “I know—don’t quit, don’t cry unless you’re bleeding.” Kit had obviously mastered Jane’s cell phone because suddenly the call was over. The connection went dead: she had hung up on her mother. Nina couldn’t afford the luxury of remorse when she was working, but she couldn’t stop a memory. Eight years old, about Kit’s age. An elementary school in AnnArbor. A one-page story assignment: What I did this weekend. “My mom and I went to the VA Medical Center to help the wounded soldiers…” The teacher, in beads and a peasant skirt, had said, “That’s okay, Nina, it doesn’t mean you’re for the war…”
    Focused now, she finished up in the bathroom and washed her hands. She regarded herself in the mirror. The alcohol she’d consumed dragged on her, like the middle of a Ranger run wearing full equipment. Deliberately, to test her timing and reflexes she applied fresh lipstick, taking pains to perfectly match the line of her lips.
    She blotted her lips on a paper towel and surveyed her makeup. So far so good, you floozy.
    Well, this is what she wanted. To be a D-girl and hang it way out there, going after something big. On her own.
    Which