Read Online Torch Song by Kate Wilhelm - Free Book Online

night,” Constance said. “She could leave any night in the Buick. Who would know? Nathan won’t tell.”
    â€œYou think she’d leave him alone like that?”
    â€œShe does what she has to do for the greater good,” Constance said.
    He made another note. This would get spendy, he knew, but eventually Marla would lead them to Pete. He wrote again in his own peculiar shorthand: “Find out who was in the novelty shop with Mervin, when she left, what shape he was in, when he opened the window, or if she did.” No doubt she was afraid of publicity, afraid to come out with it, but she could be found, questioned. Not by him. He was determined not to give Pulaski a clue about where he was heading with this. His guys would be all over the place showing Charlie’s pictures, describing his car; they’d know he was snooping around, too. He might have gone too far already with the woman in the florist shop, but that was done; he doubted that she suspected she had been questioned. But he couldn’t go back. Ten percent of six million, he thought. Worth the risk of keeping the ATF in the dark.
    â€œI don’t guess we could get a list of all the artists she deals with, the shops where she sells the jewelry,” Constance said thoughtfully. “She mentioned one woman, Sheila, who gave her the idea, and who has a man in Attica for life. What if Pete is staying with someone like her, upstate somewhere?”
    Charlie shook his head. They couldn’t even throw such a wide net, much less follow through—contact all her clients, investigate them all. There were federal and state agencies who could, but he wasn’t part of them. Marla had to lead them to Pete. And she would, he added. She would. It was nearly one. He left Constance to go make his phone call. As he walked, it occurred to him that if he had an hour alone in Marla’s house, and if she kept records, addresses, he would find them. He tried to dismiss the idea and dialed Brian’s number.
    When Charlie pulled up to Marla’s front door, Roy’s station wagon was already there, still ticking as the motor cooled. They had watched it drive by from a driveway down the road, had waited two minutes, and followed. Marla opened the door almost instantly. She was wearing a heavy sweatshirt, and she stepped out onto the front stoop, pulled the door closed after her.
    â€œYou can’t come in,” she said. She sounded hoarse and looked as if she had not slept. “You got Nathan too upset yesterday. We were up all night. You can’t come in and do it again.” She drew in a quick breath. “I called a friend this morning, and he said to tell you about him, about us. I don’t have Pete here, and I don’t know where he is. He won’t come back. I told him I have a friend and he won’t come back! I see someone every month. Up by Lake Champlain. He has a cabin up there where we stay.” She was hugging her arms about herself as if she was freezing.
    â€œHis name, Marla,” Charlie said.
    â€œScott Breckinridge. He teaches at Bennington and he has an art gallery. People come there to bring jewelry for me to take to New York, and then we go to his cabin. I go out to meet with other people during the day, and back there at night.”
    â€œWhere’s the cabin? When did this start?”
    â€œBenson’s Landing, in Vermont. I met him years ago. You think that’s so awful, that I have a man, a boyfriend?”
    She flushed angrily. “Well, that’s how it is. Now just go away and leave me alone!”
    â€œI think it’s perfectly normal,” Constance said. “The only strange thing is why you don’t get together on a more permanent basis. A few days a month isn’t much.”
    â€œI can’t!” Marla cried. “I can’t take Nathan out of the state! You think Vermont would pay for his operations? For a therapist for him? Hah! And