Died to Match Deborah Donnelly

[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.”“Well, what are you saying? If I sleep with you, then you’ll stop smoking? Is that the price tag on the deal?”“There’s no deal, Stretch.” He sighed and stared down into the tank, tired and discouraged.His dashing black costume was damp and smudged and his hat, along with mine, lay forgotten somewhere back on the pier.A harbor seal, huge and sleek, cut a sudden arc on the illuminated surface just below us, but Aaron didn’t seem to notice.“I’m sorry,” he said at last.“The truth is I’m mad at myself, not you.Corinne was my date, I knew she was depressed, I should have stayed with her instead of wandering off with you.Christ, if she’d killed herself—”“Well, she didn’t,” I said, pushing away the image of her pale, pale face.“We don’t even know if she meant to.She could have just fallen.Either way, blaming yourself won’t do anyone any good.Look, why don’t you go on home? I’ll be here for another hour at least; I’ve got a cleaning crew coming.”“You don’t need a ride?”“Nope.Lily took Donald home in a cab, so I’ve still got Vanna White.” That was my aging but faithful white van.“All right, Stretch.I’ll call you.” No good-night kiss, not tonight.The moment Aaron left, I wished he had offered to stay.I was tired and discouraged myself, and we’d left so much unsaid.Well, I’d be home in bed soon enough.I went through the exhibits on automatic pilot, making mental notes for the cleaners.The Aquarium contract requires only that the floors be vacuumed, but I like to leave my venues spotless—you never know when you’ll need a last-minute reservation somewhere, or just a good word on the grapevine.And after a fiasco like Corinne’s fall, the word would not be good, for the Aquarium or for me.I was determined to call it a fall.Busily fretting for my reputation and checking for damage, I inspected the length of A Watershed Journey, starting with the artificial marsh, whose hollow plastic log had earlier sheltered Florence Nightingale, giggling madly, and a remarkably vocal mime.It was empty now, I was happy to see, with no bits of nursing apparel left behind.Along the artificial stream, wire mesh had prevented a blob of carpaccio and a couple of caviar blini from joining the ecosystem.So far so good.I checked the river otters’ playground near the artificial waterfall, then stood by the cascading water, staring into its endless foaming descent, while my troubled mind went blank and still.I even closed my eyes for a moment, pleasantly deafened by the roar, nearly asleep on my feet.Then I started awake when someone laid a hand on my arm.It was Marvin, a look of concern on his comfortable, old-shoe face.“Everything all right?”“Fine!” We could hardly hear each other over the roaring water, so we stepped outside.“Did you check the shorebird area for trash when you closed it off?”“Not really, just looked around that nobody was in there.I was kinda busy—”“No problem.Let the cleaners in when they get here, OK?”“Will do.” He went back inside.I made my way down the corridor, through another entrance, and past the post-and-rope barrier he had erected across the Northwest Shores grotto.Not much litter on the floor here, that was good, but I wanted to be sure no one had flung anything into the tide pool or onto the little beach.You can’t have the marbled god-wit eating caramel brie for breakfast.The tide pool was unsullied, but when I rounded a broad concrete pillar to check the beach, I stumbled over something that shifted, soft and heavy, under my feet.Kneeling down, my eyes adjusting to the dimness after the brighter light outside, I made out grizzled hair and a Kelly-green jacket very much the worse for wear.A mushroom cloud of Guinness fumes clinched the ID.“Tommy? Hey, Tommy, wake up!”His head lolled silently, and for a moment I thought we were due for another ambulance.Then the bleary Irish eyes flickered open and a palsied hand lifted high.“Stop it!” said Tommy hoarsely.“Stop it, you’re killing her!”“Stop what? What are you talking about?”But the hand dropped down, the eyes rolled up, and Tommy was no longer with us.I laid him gently back against the pillar and straightened up to use my radio.“Marvin, we have a stowaway.There’s a gentleman passed out near the door to… to…”“Carnegie? Hello? I’m losing you.Should I come over there?”“Yes,” I whispered, staring down into the shorebird exhibit, and going slowly cold all over.The radio slid from my hand and I spoke into the air.“Yes, come.”A garish heap of patchwork and ruffles lay on the little beach exhibit, half in and half out of the water.Slim brown legs extended from it among the coarse tufts of salt grass, and one slender outflung arm, still adorned with showy bracelets, stirred gently in the shallows.Long hair, midnight-black, curled and twisted like weeds beneath the surface, obscuring the downturned face of Mercedes Montoya.I vaulted the handrail and hit the sand with a jolt that clapped my teeth together.As I hauled at Mercedes’ shoulders to roll her clear of the water, elusive scraps of CPR training scattered from my mind like minnows from a shark.There was an ABC, wasn’t there? A, what was A? Airway! Tilt the head back to open the airway.Then B, check for breathing, or is B for bleeding? Oh, please, what do I do?Mercedes wasn’t breathing, so I crouched low and pressed my mouth to hers, forcing air into her, again and again.No response.When I sat back, dizzy with the effort, her head fell lifelessly to one side.Sand had crusted in the scrapes and scratches on her cheeks.I positioned my hands on her chest to begin pumping, then stared at my fingers in disbelief.They were blotched with dark smears that spread over my hands and up my wrists [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

Pokrewne