The Pain Nurse - [20]
“This is what Julius was afraid of. Your going off half-cocked. He’s really agitated about it. He was a good friend to you.”
“I was his friend.”
“Was.” Cindy shook her head. “You don’t make friends, Will. You don’t know how. You didn’t like my friends. I tried to open doors for you. You didn’t have to work in the sewer every day, making no money. I introduced you to people, my friends. But you wouldn’t even try.”
Her words stung him into silence.
Her gaze roved past him. “Will, you need someone to talk to. Doesn’t the hospital have…?”
“A shrink? Oh, there’s one exclusively for neuro-rehab. Lauren something. She’s been watching me, waiting for the big blowup. I don’t feel that way. I just want to get my life back. Sometimes I wish I hadn’t been wheeled down that hallway that night, hadn’t seen it. But that woman’s dead. And who will speak for her? J. J. Dodds? He just wants to be chief.”
“That’s a terrible thing to say.”
“Who spoke for Theresa Chambers? Nobody. We messed up. Bud killed her. He got away with it because he was a cop.”
“Theresa Chambers was killed by Craig Factor, Will. You know that.”
“Bud Chambers had been separated from his wife. She had a restraining order against him. He had beaten her up once, and the patrol guys let it go. We fucked this one up, Cindy.”
She winced from his profanity, or maybe because he called her Cindy. He couldn’t tell which.
“I understand how strongly you feel.” She touched his knee again. “But just because a cop is separated from his wife doesn’t mean he should be a suspect. We’ve been separated for more than a year.”
He realized she was making a joke. He forced himself to laugh even as his stomach dropped. It was time to shut up.
“I’ll try to do better. I won’t bother Dodds.”
They sat quietly, more aware of the overhead lights as the city was overtaken by the early dusk.
“I talked to the woman in charge of rehab today,” Will said. “She said you could talk to her about starting the process to get me out of here, bring me home.” He laughed. “Everything’s a ‘process’ now.”
Cindy sighed and nervously tugged at her skirt.
“It would be nice to come home for Christmas.”
“This is too soon,” she said. “I see how you need help to even get into your wheelchair. We’d have to modify the house with ramps…”
“So I’ll get a couple of big cops to wrestle me into a car.”
“And what about when you’re home? I can’t even begin to…”
He reached over and took her hand. “You won’t have to. I can be very self-sufficient. You’d be amazed at what I can accomplish just here in the hospital. I won’t be trouble. Pretty soon I’ll be walking.”
Her gaze moved past him, again. “We haven’t lived together in a long time.”
He felt a paw grip his insides. He said quietly, “I know.”
“Your doctors say you’ll need a lot of physical therapy.”
“I’ll get it. I’ll do a lot better on the outside. God, I can’t even sleep. Can’t you talk to them? Please, Cindy, get me out of this place.” He knew he was pleading. He couldn’t stop the urgent cadence of his voice.
“I brought your stuff.”
He could tell she was managing him.
He was too tired to fight her. Too scared. After a moment, he looked through the bag she had brought. Another two pairs of sweatpants and some T-shirts, a CD player and CDs, small packets of Kleenex, his wallet with cash inside.
“Thanks. I haven’t even been able to buy a Coke.” He paused. “I feel bad that I wasn’t able to get you a Christmas present. Remember, the doctors wouldn’t let me drive once they found the tumor.”
“It’s okay.” Her voice was barely audible. She was carrying the Coach handbag he had gotten her for Christmas two years before, meant as a peace offering as their marriage was coming apart, piece by piece. The room had emptied out completely. They were alone with the hospital smell and the Christmas garlands.
“Will, I can’t…”
He suddenly felt such heaviness. She could have just stood and walked away, simple movements that were both miracles in his new life. But she sat there and spoke.
“I’m not like you,” she said quietly. The harshness fell from her eyes, replaced by tears. “I’m not noble. I have a job. You have a…calling.” She didn’t speak the words like a compliment. He gripped her hand but she pulled it away. “I can’t put my whole life on a shelf to, to…put it right for the dead. I’m not a damsel in distress anymore, so what am I to you? I’m not a murder victim.”
“Cindy…”
“I can’t…” She waved him away, pulled into herself. Her face became red and tears streaked her cheeks.
“It’s okay.”
“It’s not!” Her eyes were red and fierce. “You’re always so goddamned reasonable! It’s not okay. None of it is. And you know it! You’ve never even forgiven me…”
“That’s not true.” He felt a sucking hole in his middle. He reached for her again, but she pushed away.
“Wait, Will. Please. I’m not…I can’t. You and I, we’re just too different. I can’t do this.”
“Can’t do what?”
“I thought I could. I had thought it all through. I wanted to wait for all this to be over. I prayed you would be all right, and I’m so glad you came through the surgery. But this is never going to be over. Don’t you get it? Will, I can’t do this. I can’t take care of you, be your nurse.”
In this "prequel" to the popular David Mapstone mysteries, author Jon Talton takes us back to 1999, when everything dot-com was making money, the Y2K bug was the greatest danger facing the world, and the good times seemed as if they would never end.It was a time before David and Lindsey were together, before Mike Peralta was sherriff, and before David had rid himself of the sexy and mysterious Gretchen.In Phoenix, it's the sweet season and Christmas and the new millennium are only weeks away. But history professor David Mapstone, just hired by the Sheriff's Office, still finds trouble, chasing a robber into an abandoned warehouse and discovering a gruesome crime from six decades ago.Mapstone begins an investigation into a Depression-era kidnapping that transfixed Arizona and the nation: the disappearance of a cattle baron's grandsons, their bodies never found.
A handsome young New York professor comes to Phoenix to research his new book. But when he's brutally murdered, police connect him to one of the world's most deadly drug cartels. This shouldn't be a case for historian-turned-deputy David Mapstone – except the victim has been dating David's sister-in-law Robin and now she's a target, too. David's wife Lindsey is in Washington with an elite anti-cyber terror unit and she makes one demand of him: protect Robin.This won't be an easy job with the city police suspicious of Robin and trying to pressure her.
A cache of diamonds is stolen in Phoenix. The prime suspect is former Maricopa County Sheriff Mike Peralta, now a private investigator. Disappearing into Arizona's mountainous High Country, Peralta leaves his business partner and longtime friend David Mapstone with a stark choice. He can cooperate with the FBI, or strike out on his own to find Peralta and what really happened. Mapstone knows he can count on his wife Lindsey, one of the top "good hackers" in law enforcement. But what if they've both been betrayed? Mapstone is tested further when the new sheriff wants him back as a deputy, putting to use his historian's expertise to solve a very special cold case.
Cincinnati homicide Detective Will Borders now walks with a cane and lives alone with constant discomfort. He's lucky to be alive. He's lucky to have a job, as public information officer for the department. But when a star cop is brutally murdered, he's assigned to find her killer. The crime bears a chilling similarity to killings on the peaceful college campus nearby, where his friend Cheryl Beth Wilson is teaching nursing. The two young victims were her students. Most homicides are routine, the suspects readily apparent.
The private-detective business starts out badly for former Phoenix Deputy David Mapstone, who has teamed up with his old friend and boss, Sheriff Mike Peralta. Their first client is gunned down just after hiring them. The case: A suspicious death investigation involving a young Arizona woman who fell from a condo tower in San Diego. The police call Grace Hunter's death a suicide, but the client doesn't buy it. He's her brother. Or is he? After his murder, police find multiple driver's licenses and his real identity is a mystery.
Новый роман Владимира Гринькова «Когда умирает ведьма» увлекает необычным колдовским сюжетом. Однако мистики в нем не больше, чем в жизни самых обычных людей. Девушка, которая делает все возможное и невозможное, чтобы получить высокооплачиваемую работу, частный детектив, богатый бизнесмен, журналист, специализирующийся на скандальной хронике, деревенская бабка-знахарка — судьбы героев причудливо переплетаются с тем, чтобы сложиться в единственную и неповторимую картину, предопределенную загадочной Судьбой.
Молодой и дерзкий журналист Виктор Вавилов, главный редактор глянцевого журнала, находится на грани нервного срыва. Кредитор требует срочного возврата долга, угрожая физической расправой; любимая жена, кажется, собирается подать на развод; подчиненные на работе явно не готовы выполнять поставленные задачи. Все меняется, когда в руки Виктора попадает видеокамера его друга, телевизионного оператора. Нужно просто нажать кнопку «rec» — и все будет… хорошо?
Книга написана по сценарию известного российского драматурга А.В. Тимма.Шайка Ангелины Виннер продолжает борьбу. Им удается похитить Ольгу Кирсанову, жену убитого хозяина «Империи». Сын Ольги Ваня ради спасения матери отказывается от своих прав на фирму. Враждебный лагерь празднует победу, но… преждевременно! В руках у Лавра козырная карта — завещание, и, обнародовав его, он ломает планы своих врагов. Остановятся ли бандиты, или кто-то снова окажется их следующей жертвой?
Книга написана по сценарию известного российского драматурга А.В. Тимма.Франц Хартман и Ангелина Виннер, подстроившие автокатастрофу, в которой погиб хозяин «Империи» Владимир Кирсанов, намерены идти до конца. Теперь они замышляют убийство его жены Ольги и несовершеннолетнего сына Вани, наследника «трона». Волею случая Лавру суждено сыграть роль доброго ангела в судьбе женщины и ребенка.
Обстоятельный и дотошный инспектор амстердамской полиции Ван дер Вальк расследует странное убийство домохозяйки («Ать-два!»). Героям известного автора детективов предстоят жестокие испытания, прежде чем справедливость восторжествует.
Книга написана по сценарию известного российского драматурга А.В. Тимма. На страницах романа вы встретитесь со старыми знакомыми, полюбившимися вам по сериалу «NEXT», — благородным и великодушным Лавром, его сыном Федором, добродушным весельчаком Санчо и решительной Клавдией. Увлекательное повествование вводит в мир героев, полный настоящих рыцарских подвигов и романтических приключений.