Tightrope
Page 20
50
It was very late.
Blue took a couple of glasses from the bar and filled one with brandy. The other he filled only halfway. Time to crack down on himself. What with this being the start of a New Year and all.
Spaceman was sitting on the couch, looking sleepy. Blue still wasn’t sure why his partner was even here. He took the full glass and sipped gratefully. “All those diamonds,” he said finally.
“All those lives,” Blue reminded him, dropping onto the other end of the couch.
“You trying to be my fucking conscience?”
Blue just shook his head.
They watched dawn beginning to creep over the city. “Shouldn’t you be heading out to Azusa?” Blue said. “Still time to celebrate.”
“Yeah, I guess.” Spaceman tugged at the sling impatiently. Blue doubted that it would last the two weeks suggested by the doctor. “I’m just not up to seeing anybody right now. Even Lainie. Not yet. You know?”
Blue did know, although he was a little surprised to hear a hard case like Kowalski actually admit it. He took a small sip of his drink, actually tasting the brandy instead of just swallowing it like medicine.
It promised to be a great twelve months ahead, if this first night was any kind of gauge. Just look at the heroic picture they made: a couple of tired, bloodied cops, watching the sun come up over their city. They cared more about the city than the city cared about them, that was for damned sure. He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“So happy New Year,” Spaceman said finally, holding the glass aloft. “Here’s to the good guys.”
After a moment, Blue lifted his glass in response. “The good guys,” he said.
All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 1986 by Teri White
Cover design by Drew Padrutt
ISBN: 9781784089887
This 2015 edition published by MysteriousPress.com/Head of Zeus
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 9781784089887
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