Read Online The Stranger Beside You by William Casey Moreton - Free Book Online Page A

ahead, focusing to hold the nausea down.  “You saw him?”
    “Yes.”
    “Take me to him.  I want see my husband.”
    “That’s not a good idea.”
    “I’m not asking permission.  I need to see my husband.”
    He sighed.  “It’s bad, Brynn.”
    “Tell me how he died.”
    “They chased him down into the subway, jumped off the platform down onto the track, and ran into the tunnel.  He was hit inside the tunnel by a train.  He never had a chance.”
    I closed my eyes and felt my body sway.  My legs wavered but I somehow managed to steady myself. 
    “You don’t want to see what I saw this morning, Brynn.  Please trust me.  The person in the morgue is no longer your husband.  You won’t find closure there.  What you would see would only add to the pain.”
     “What was he wearing when you saw the body?”
    “The same as last night.  Sweatpants and a T-shirt.”
    I turned and looked at him.  “How can you try to persuade me not to see my husband one last time?”
    “The choice is yours, but I’m asking you as a friend not to do it.  It’s not worth it.  You won’t see the man you love.  I hate myself for having to say that, but I’m begging you.  Please trust me.”
    We walked on.  We passed a fountain.  The water spouted up, clear and lovely, shimmering in the rays of sunlight.  Young people lounged on the grass, talking and laughing, reading books, holding hands.  I was reminded of the afternoon in the park so many years ago when Tom proposed.  An afternoon so much like this one.  A lifetime ago, it seemed.  The emotions of then and now were separated by a vast chasm.  Tom and I had made the casual sojourn back to his tiny apartment and made love on the floor with the windows open so that we could feel the silky night air on our naked bodies.  It was heaven.  I wanted to feel that way again, just one more time, before I was forced to let him go.  I needed to touch him, to kiss his mouth, to tell him good-bye.  I needed to tell him that I loved him, that I’d always loved him more than life itself, and I longed to hear him say the same to me.  But that opportunity had been stolen away from us.  Why had this happened?  Why had he been arrested?  Why had he tried to escape when he was innocent?  And why would he do something so stupid as to flee headlong into a subway tunnel?  I did not know, but I intended to find out.
    •  •  •
     Garcia had lost them in traffic.  He had not anticipated the Porsche.  It was not rigged with a transmitter.  After Brynn Nelson and her friend left the boutique, Garcia had jumped into the Buick and made an effort to follow them.  There was no chance of that so he circled back.  He knew where Brynn’s friend lived, so he parked across the street from her apartment building.
    •  •  •
    I sat in stunned silence.  The pain was still fresh.  I buzzed my window down six inches and turned so that the wind hit me full in the face.  For a long time I really couldn’t feel or think clearly.  Karly wasn’t big on sentiment, which I actually appreciated at the moment.  She didn’t try to make small talk, or tell me what a great guy Tom had been, or try to convince me he was in a better place now, or that the pain would fade with time.  I didn’t need to hear that crap.  I simply needed a moment to let the initial shock wash over me.  It felt like I was standing in the middle of a tidal wave.
    She parked on Bleecker and we went up to her apartment.  She unlocked the door and tossed her Prada sunglasses onto a catchall shelf by the entry.
    “I’ll pour us both a drink,” she said and disappeared into the kitchen.
    I staggered forward and dropped into an oversized chair.  A ceiling fan leisurely rotated overhead.  Karly handed me a glass, pulled an ottoman over near me and sat on it with her knees together, clutching her drink with both hands.  She leaned toward me.  “OK, talk,” she said.  “And don’t leave