Read Online F Paul Wilson - Secret History 02 by Sibs (v2.1) - Free Book Online

at best."
     
                "Doesn't sound like your kind
of place."
     
                "It's not, but then again it
is. Actually, it's a little like Leo's, but the hamburgers are great. Pete and
I are keeping it a secret. We're only telling our closest friends, otherwise
this place will be overrun."
     
                "Just what I want to do on a
Sunday—listen to your friends talk about money," he said, jabbing out his
cigarette. "Almost as much fun as a tetanus shot."
     
                "No, really." She began
slipping into her bra and panties. "You'll like it."
     
                Rob shook his head. "Sounds
like too much fun for me. I think I'll pass."
     
                It wasn't that he was into the
anti-yuppie vogue. Sure, they seemed like a pretty empty-headed bunch, but He
wasn't all too sure that if he had an income well into six figures that he
wouldn't be just like them. It was just that he never seemed to have anything
to say to her friends. They all liked to hear him talk about police work, but
that was the last thing he wanted to discuss during his off hours.
     
                "No, you won't," she said
as she buttoned up her silk print blouse. "You can come back to my place
while I spruce up, then we'll head for Julio's."
     
                Rob didn't move.
     
                "Are you coming?"
     
                "No, Connie," he said.
"Really. It sounds like a drag."
     
                Suddenly, she was angry. Her eyes
flashed.
     
                "No! You're the drag, Rob! You've been moping around for a couple of
days now! What's wrong with you?"
     
                The last thing Rob wanted this
morning was a fight.
     
                "Nothing, Connie. Let's drop
it, okay?"
     
                "Drop it?" she said.
"I'll drop it! But that's not all I'm going to drop! You're no fun
anymore, Rob! And you weren't so hot in bed last night either!" She turned
and headed for the bedroom door. "See you in the movies, Rob!"
     
                "Say hello to Peter McCarthy
for me," he said to her retreating back.
     
                A few seconds later, the walls of
the apartment shook with the booming slam of the front door. Rob sighed.
     
                "Women."
     
                He lit another cigarette and stared
out at the Sunday morning sky.
     
 

 
 
February 9
9:47 A.M.
 
                "It smells in here, Mom,"
Jill said, her nose wrinkling at the rancid odor.
     
                Kara coughed. "That it does,
Jill. That it does."
     
                Smells
like something died in here.
     
                Which wasn't a very comforting
thought, seeing as this was Kelly's apartment. Kelly had given her the key
years ago, telling Kara to feel free to come visit and stay any time she was in
the city.
     
                Kara left the door open. "Wait
here," she said.
     
                She left Jill standing in the
hallway by their overnight bags while she made a quick round of the rooms.
Empty. Good. No one here who shouldn't be here. The odor was strongest in the
kitchen. Kara opened the door under the sink and found the cause: rotten
leftover Chinese take-out in the garbage sack. She tied the bag closed and
brought it out to the hall. She'd throw it away later.
     
                "All clear," she told
Jill.
     
                "What was it?"
     
                "Week-old egg foo yung and
fried rice, I think."
     
                "Ugh!"
     
                "You said it."
     
                Kara helped Jill off with her coat
and shrugged out of her own. She felt uneasy here, like some sort of
grave-robber, or a vulture picking at the bones of the dead. But something had
to be rotten here besides egg foo yung. Something had gone wrong in