Read Online Sudden Death by David Rosenfelt - Free Book Online
Authors: David Rosenfelt
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doesn’t look like the linebacker type, I assume that this is where Bobby sits and relives some past gridiron glories. The football pictures all show a young man in a high school uniform, so Bobby may have never made it to college ball. It’s surprising, because he appears to be a very large, very powerful young man, and just based on this room, it’s doubtful that his dedication to the sport waned.
There are a number of pictures of Bobby with Kenny Schilling, many in football uniform. All but one have them in “Passaic High” uniforms; in the exception their jerseys say “Inside Football” across the front. The pictures also reveal Bobby to be African-American, whereas Teri is white. I do a quick mental calculation and decide that they are young enough not to have encountered too much societal resistance to their union, though I’m sure some still exists.
Teri comes back with the coffee and sees me looking at the pictures. “Bobby was a great player,” she says, and then smiles sheepishly. “Not that I would necessarily know a great football player if I saw one, but everybody says he was terrific. The fact that he never played in the NFL with Kenny is something he hasn’t fully gotten over, though he’d never admit it.”
At that moment the door opens and Bobby comes in. He brings with him the solution to the mystery of why he gave up football, why he never played in the NFL. Bobby, powerful arms propelling his large frame, sits in a wheelchair. I have no idea what put him there, or when it happened, but the sight of him is an instantly saddening story of shattered dreams. It is also an explanation of why Teri is not a full-time nurse; Bobby must need some help getting around.
“Mr. Carpenter?” he asks, though I suppose Teri has already answered that question for him.
“Andy,” I say, and wait until he offers his hand before I walk over and shake it. His grip is powerful, his biceps enormous, and my mind processes the fact that this wheelchair-bound invalid could twist me into a pretzel. “Walter Simmons from the Giants gave me your name. He said you might be willing to talk to me about Kenny.”
“Kenny’s my best friend. I’ll help in any way I can.”
“I take it you don’t think he’s guilty.”
“No fucking way.”
Teri seems to cringe slightly from the language and excuses herself so that we can talk. As soon as she does, Bobby launches into a spirited defense of Kenny, whom he ranks as sort of a male, football-playing Mother Teresa.
“He’s the reason I have my job,” says Bobby. “He told the Giants that if they didn’t hire me, he’d become a free agent and move to a team that would. He wouldn’t back down, so they did.”
I doubt that the story is quite how Bobby describes it but it’s probably how he believes it. “How long have you known him?”
“Sophomore year in high school. That’s when I moved to Passaic and we met on the football field. I was the right guard. He ran right behind my ass for over a thousand yards that year and two thousand each of the next two. Still holds the Jersey state record. Kenny and I were both named high school all-Americans.”
Bobby and Teri were both at the bar the night that Preston was killed, and Bobby admits with reluctance that he saw Preston and Kenny leave together. He completely rejects any possibility that Kenny is the killer. “And I told that to the police,” he says. “I don’t think they wanted to hear it.”
The conversation moves back to Bobby’s own football career, mainly because that’s where he moves it. My guess is that pretty much every conversation he has moves to the same place. He talks about how he was going to attend Ohio State on a full football scholarship. That all came to an end when he was injured in a car crash.
“It happened in Spain,” he says. “I was taking a few weeks to travel through Europe. I was on one of those winding roads, and my car went over the edge. I haven’t been out of
There are a number of pictures of Bobby with Kenny Schilling, many in football uniform. All but one have them in “Passaic High” uniforms; in the exception their jerseys say “Inside Football” across the front. The pictures also reveal Bobby to be African-American, whereas Teri is white. I do a quick mental calculation and decide that they are young enough not to have encountered too much societal resistance to their union, though I’m sure some still exists.
Teri comes back with the coffee and sees me looking at the pictures. “Bobby was a great player,” she says, and then smiles sheepishly. “Not that I would necessarily know a great football player if I saw one, but everybody says he was terrific. The fact that he never played in the NFL with Kenny is something he hasn’t fully gotten over, though he’d never admit it.”
At that moment the door opens and Bobby comes in. He brings with him the solution to the mystery of why he gave up football, why he never played in the NFL. Bobby, powerful arms propelling his large frame, sits in a wheelchair. I have no idea what put him there, or when it happened, but the sight of him is an instantly saddening story of shattered dreams. It is also an explanation of why Teri is not a full-time nurse; Bobby must need some help getting around.
“Mr. Carpenter?” he asks, though I suppose Teri has already answered that question for him.
“Andy,” I say, and wait until he offers his hand before I walk over and shake it. His grip is powerful, his biceps enormous, and my mind processes the fact that this wheelchair-bound invalid could twist me into a pretzel. “Walter Simmons from the Giants gave me your name. He said you might be willing to talk to me about Kenny.”
“Kenny’s my best friend. I’ll help in any way I can.”
“I take it you don’t think he’s guilty.”
“No fucking way.”
Teri seems to cringe slightly from the language and excuses herself so that we can talk. As soon as she does, Bobby launches into a spirited defense of Kenny, whom he ranks as sort of a male, football-playing Mother Teresa.
“He’s the reason I have my job,” says Bobby. “He told the Giants that if they didn’t hire me, he’d become a free agent and move to a team that would. He wouldn’t back down, so they did.”
I doubt that the story is quite how Bobby describes it but it’s probably how he believes it. “How long have you known him?”
“Sophomore year in high school. That’s when I moved to Passaic and we met on the football field. I was the right guard. He ran right behind my ass for over a thousand yards that year and two thousand each of the next two. Still holds the Jersey state record. Kenny and I were both named high school all-Americans.”
Bobby and Teri were both at the bar the night that Preston was killed, and Bobby admits with reluctance that he saw Preston and Kenny leave together. He completely rejects any possibility that Kenny is the killer. “And I told that to the police,” he says. “I don’t think they wanted to hear it.”
The conversation moves back to Bobby’s own football career, mainly because that’s where he moves it. My guess is that pretty much every conversation he has moves to the same place. He talks about how he was going to attend Ohio State on a full football scholarship. That all came to an end when he was injured in a car crash.
“It happened in Spain,” he says. “I was taking a few weeks to travel through Europe. I was on one of those winding roads, and my car went over the edge. I haven’t been out of
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