Read Online Liberty Falling-pigeon 7 by Nevada Barr - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Nevada Barr
Tags: Fiction, General, detective, Suspense, Mystery & Detective, Women Sleuths, Mystery, Mystery Fiction, Mystery & Detective - Women Sleuths, Fiction - Mystery, Crime & mystery, Mystery & Detective - Series, Pigeon; Anna (Fictitious character), Women park rangers, Mystery & Thrillers, Ellis Island (N.J. and N.Y.), Statue of Liberty National Monument (N.Y. and N.J.)
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known her for a long time, since she'd started as a secretary in Mesa Verde. Now she was moving up the ladder, running with the bigger dogs. Anna had no doubt she'd be a superintendent within ten years. Though she seemed a threat to no one, Patsy had a good mind and a genius for organization. Like most professional women, she was a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde--or perhaps a Margaret Thatcher and Cinderella. On the job, she was a study in efficiency and put in more hours than anybody on staff. Off work, she was subject to the myriad romantic fantasies that plague single girls between the ages of thirteen and dead.
"Billy Bonham's a cutie pie," Patsy said. "Do I detect a hint of Mrs. Robinson?"
"Sometimes I forget," Anna admitted.
"Me too, till I look in the mirror. Billy's as sweet as he looks. Fresh off some farm in North Carolina by way of Boston University. Our Park Police guys are all cute. I don't think they hire them like they do regular rangers. I think they cast them like Disney casts young blue-eyed blondes to run the Alice in Wonderland ride. Maybe they have Park Police pageants." Patsy laughed again, a genuine peal, the kind described in old books. "God, but I'd love to see the bathing suit competition."
"Cut that out," Dwight said mildly. "I'm feeling sexually harassed."
Patsy winked at Anna and smoothed her short blond hair back with both palms.
"Billy didn't seem too anxious to assess the damage," Anna said, remembering the fear in his eyes.
Dwight docked neatly at the end of the covered pier where the Circle Line brought visitors. They disembarked and he motored away, the wake of the Liberty IV catching the day's final hurrah, glowing iridescent green against the oily night harbor.
As Patsy and Anna walked down the planks, a figure disappeared into the darkness under the wooden roof at the far end of the pier. With the wattage of Miss Liberty, two cities and a basin full of boats, there was little true night on Liberty Island. Anna's eyes had adjusted before they met the man in the middle of the dock.
"Andrew, this is Anna. Andrew's another of our Park Police. Usually he works days. Anna's staying with me for a while." Patsy's introduction served two purposes: common courtesy and letting law enforcement know who was on the island. Andrew was over six feet tall with a body out of a muscle magazine, hair shaved so close he looked bald and skin as black and polished as his shoes. Anna shook the proffered hand. His grip was firm but gentle. If Andrew had any unresolved issues about his masculinity, bone crushing wasn't one of his compensations.
"What did I tell you?" Patsy tittered like a teenager as they left him. "Central Casting. Who else could find guys like that?"
Completing the picture of their regression to adolescence, Anna giggled. Briefly, she hoped Andrew hadn't noticed; then she dismissed it. Odds were slim he was unaware of the effect he had on women.
"Where's Hatch?" she asked.
Patsy opened the kitchen door. It was never locked--almost unheard of in these environs. "My God, didn't you hear? Where have you been, girl?"
The moment she spoke, it came back: the cry, the crumpled child, the crowds, Hatch staring down, the adenoidal voice whining, "Naw, man, he was pushed. That cop shoved him off." Anna's own concerns had effectively blocked it from her mind.
"I heard," she said, and told Patsy she'd seen the dead boy.
"Girl," Patsy contradicted her. She dumped the pack she used as a briefcase beside the refrigerator. "Beer?" Anna accepted a Bud Light, not because she particularly liked the stuff but because it did contain alcohol and she'd forgotten to buy wine. When Molly was well, she promised herself as she popped the top, she'd go back to AA for a few meetings.
"Girl. It was a girl," Patsy repeated. "The medical examiner thinks she was fourteen or fifteen. Thin and flat-chested but definitely a girl. She had brown hair down to here." Patsy had led the way into the living room, and indicated
"Billy Bonham's a cutie pie," Patsy said. "Do I detect a hint of Mrs. Robinson?"
"Sometimes I forget," Anna admitted.
"Me too, till I look in the mirror. Billy's as sweet as he looks. Fresh off some farm in North Carolina by way of Boston University. Our Park Police guys are all cute. I don't think they hire them like they do regular rangers. I think they cast them like Disney casts young blue-eyed blondes to run the Alice in Wonderland ride. Maybe they have Park Police pageants." Patsy laughed again, a genuine peal, the kind described in old books. "God, but I'd love to see the bathing suit competition."
"Cut that out," Dwight said mildly. "I'm feeling sexually harassed."
Patsy winked at Anna and smoothed her short blond hair back with both palms.
"Billy didn't seem too anxious to assess the damage," Anna said, remembering the fear in his eyes.
Dwight docked neatly at the end of the covered pier where the Circle Line brought visitors. They disembarked and he motored away, the wake of the Liberty IV catching the day's final hurrah, glowing iridescent green against the oily night harbor.
As Patsy and Anna walked down the planks, a figure disappeared into the darkness under the wooden roof at the far end of the pier. With the wattage of Miss Liberty, two cities and a basin full of boats, there was little true night on Liberty Island. Anna's eyes had adjusted before they met the man in the middle of the dock.
"Andrew, this is Anna. Andrew's another of our Park Police. Usually he works days. Anna's staying with me for a while." Patsy's introduction served two purposes: common courtesy and letting law enforcement know who was on the island. Andrew was over six feet tall with a body out of a muscle magazine, hair shaved so close he looked bald and skin as black and polished as his shoes. Anna shook the proffered hand. His grip was firm but gentle. If Andrew had any unresolved issues about his masculinity, bone crushing wasn't one of his compensations.
"What did I tell you?" Patsy tittered like a teenager as they left him. "Central Casting. Who else could find guys like that?"
Completing the picture of their regression to adolescence, Anna giggled. Briefly, she hoped Andrew hadn't noticed; then she dismissed it. Odds were slim he was unaware of the effect he had on women.
"Where's Hatch?" she asked.
Patsy opened the kitchen door. It was never locked--almost unheard of in these environs. "My God, didn't you hear? Where have you been, girl?"
The moment she spoke, it came back: the cry, the crumpled child, the crowds, Hatch staring down, the adenoidal voice whining, "Naw, man, he was pushed. That cop shoved him off." Anna's own concerns had effectively blocked it from her mind.
"I heard," she said, and told Patsy she'd seen the dead boy.
"Girl," Patsy contradicted her. She dumped the pack she used as a briefcase beside the refrigerator. "Beer?" Anna accepted a Bud Light, not because she particularly liked the stuff but because it did contain alcohol and she'd forgotten to buy wine. When Molly was well, she promised herself as she popped the top, she'd go back to AA for a few meetings.
"Girl. It was a girl," Patsy repeated. "The medical examiner thinks she was fourteen or fifteen. Thin and flat-chested but definitely a girl. She had brown hair down to here." Patsy had led the way into the living room, and indicated
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