Read Online Checkmate by Steven James - Free Book Online

window.
    He would have been brought over earlier and I wasn’tsure why she was here in the waiting room—unless the doctors had somehow managed to revive him.
    Before losing consciousness he’d enjoined me to tell Sherry he was sorry about Iris.
    And, not having any idea who Iris was, I couldn’t even begin to guess what kind of reaction Sherry was going to have when I told her that.
    She noticed me, rose, and then approached us, calling for me towait.

9
    â€œPat.” Sherry’s makeup was smeared and ran in tired, sad streaks from her bloodshot eyes. “I heard you were there with Stu when he died.”
    Yes, and I did all I could. I swear,
I thought, but I didn’t tell her that.
    â€œYes,” I said. “I was.”
    She waited. Either she couldn’t think of anything to say or she expected me to go on.
    â€œHe was brave.” I hoped that would be enough.
    She sniffed back a tear, but said nothing.
    This did not feel like the right time or place to tell her what Stu had said about Iris.
    I said, “I’m so sorry for . . . all that’s happened.”
    It’s not your business why he was apologizing about Iris. Your business is just telling Sherry what he said. That’s all. You’re just a messenger.
    â€œHe wanted me to tell you something, Sherry.”
    â€œWhat?” Her tone was touched with longing and profound sadness. “What did he say?”
    â€œHe told me that he . . .”
    The look in her eyes was what did it.
    It was a look that yearned for some hope, somemeaning, some comfort. Her husband had died this morning and—
    â€œYes?” she said imploringly. “What was it?”
    â€œThat he loves you.” The words just came out. “That he’s always loved you.”
    Pat, what are you doing? Tell her what he said about Iris. That’s what he wanted. That’s what—
    Her eyes moistened. “He said that?”
    â€œYes,” I lied. “He wanted to make sure you knew how much he cared about you. That you never doubted that.”
    She wiped away a tear and said nothing.
    â€œHe loved you,” I reiterated.
    â€œOkay.” The word was so soft it was hardly audible. “Thank you.”
    Before I could think of anything else to say, she returned to the window and leaned, weeping, into the arms of a woman I didn’t recognize—a friend maybe, a relative perhaps.
    Just being here made my heart break.
    â€œC’mon.” I led Lien-hua and Tessa outside.
    The rain had stopped, although the sky was still overcast. The sun was trying to find its way through the clouds but was failing.
    â€œLien-hua and I need to swing by the NCAVC and check in with Ralph,” I told Tessa.
    â€œYou’re not thinking about going back there to work,” she scoffed. “Patrick, I mean, come on, you gotta be kidding me.”
    Though I would have been glad to work at the scene, I knew that Director Wellington would never allow an agent who’d been to the emergency room to return to the field that soon—if nothing more than to avoid bad publicity and to placate the Bureau’s lawyers. However,Lien-hua might be able to help with the case there at the NCAVC building.
    â€œNo, I expect I’ll be stuck doing paperwork at home for the rest of the day. But why don’t you follow us in your car, and then if Lien-hua needs to stay there I can catch a ride home with you.”
    She contemplated that and finally shrugged. “Sure. I guess. Whatever.”
    Tessa left for her VW bug and I walked with Lien-hua to her Infiniti Q60 Coupe. My wife knows her cars and she likes them fast and classy.
    â€œWhy did you lie to Sherry?” she asked me.
    â€œWhat do you mean?”
    â€œWhy did you lie about what her husband said?”
    I paused, stared at her disbelievingly. “How did you know?”
    â€œI know your baseline, Pat, where you look when