Read Online Prologue by Greg Ahlgren - Free Book Online Page B

how’s wild, wonderful Concord ? Can you hand me that oil pan now? The barbecue was nice.”
Paul got up and took what he assumed was the pan from the bench and put it in Lewis’ outstretched hand. “No different from the last time you asked. No different from the first time you asked. No different from when the last Redcoat left, except for the increased traffic and strip malls.”
“Man, you’re suffocating there. Nice house and all, but still.”
“I’m sure not in the Cambridge bachelor pad anymore.”
Lewis nodded. “That Agency apartment in my building’s still empty.” He tapped a few times with the screwdriver and smacked his palm on the fender as he stood up. “Good to go.”
“The tall blond guy with the crew cut? When did he clear out?”
“When his plane went down over Chile .”
“Ah.”
“I snagged the barbecue. They’ll never notice.”
“You robbed the dead?”
“No, I robbed the next guy. He never used it. He wasn’t there too long either. Have another beer, Paul.” Lewis held out a can.
“Stays on my breath,” Paul said. “Valerie’d kill me.”
Lewis shook his head. “How’s Grace?”
“Grace is Grace. She’s first in her class, and her project on Robert Kennedy made all-Northeast District.”
“Smart kid. Good thing she’s got her mother’s looks, too.”
Paul chuckled before turning serious. “You know that Grace is adopted, don’t you?” he asked.

Lewis nodded.

“She actually does have her mother’s looks,” Paul continued. “And she has both her parents’ brains. They were good people, both of them.”

“You knew them?” Lewis asked. “I don’t think I knew that.”

“Chuck was with me at Cornell. It was always Chuck and Beth, me and Amanda. I guess we thought we’d always be.” His voice trailed off.

“They got married?” Lewis asked softly.

Paul nodded. “A few years later. By then Amanda had moved on and Val and I were married. When Chuck and Beth got pregnant Val and I had been married about four years with no kids. Didn’t look like we were ever going to have them,” he added ruefully.

“What happened?”

Paul shrugged. “They were so excited when they got pregnant. Beth was older, mid-thirties, and they had been trying for a while. During a routine ultrasound they found cancer. They told her that she could have chemo but it would have meant...”

Lewis nodded. “Yeah, I know. What happened to Chuck?”

Paul snorted. “About three weeks before Grace was born Chuck just dropped dead. No warning, nothing. A brain aneurism-a congenital time bomb that finally went off. Nothing could have been done. That sort of thing. Beth couldn’t even leave the hospital to go to the funeral. She called me to Albany , where he had been teaching. She asked us to adopt Grace at birth. She knew she didn’t have much time.”

“How much time?” Lewis asked.

Paul swore. “She died when Grace was less than two months old. They released her for hospice care and we took them both back with us.”

“You and Val?”

Paul nodded. “I picked them up at the hospital in Albany . Beth was pretty weak but she got to spend her final days with Grace.”

“And Valerie was O.K. with that?” Ginter asked carefully.

Paul took another sip of his beer. When he finished he let out a soft burp. “Grace was born in March. I was teaching three classes that semester. This was before you got here but there was a hiring freeze back in 2010. Mai Johansson was the department chair, remember her?”

Ginter nodded.

“A real witch in some ways,” Paul said. “I told her I couldn’t finish the semester because I was going to do hospice care for a friend. She nearly had a stroke. She threatened to fire me on the spot, told me she’d make sure MIT sued to get my whole salary back. Said I was all done. I figured I was.”

“What happened?” Ginter asked.

Paul laughed. “I told her I didn’t give a shit. I guess back then I still didn’t.”

Paul took another sip.