Page 20 (2/2)
Only the sound of so on the floor in another roo
I crack open the bathroom door first to peer down the hallway I hear Sa Finally leaving the bathrooth of the hall toward her roo across the carpet as carefully as possible Her door is closed, so I press ainst the wood and try to listen in, but the moment I touch it, it creaks open a little and ht and hold ivethis, I think to myself, but I just can’t help it
I peer inside the dimly-lit room A television is on, but has been turned down really low orthe rooht I see Victor’s bloody shirt and the rest of his suit hanging partially over the side of a laundry basket pressed against the wall near thethe bedrooh for h, I walk inside Samantha’s room And every step I takeand uncouth But I have to know Because the thought of hi ht now, I just want to know
I h the room and to the bathroo inWhen after a few seconds pass and Sah to peek inside to get a better look, only hoping that the partial darkness of the roo seen
Victor
I stand with ainst the counter, a torapped aroundjust showered I peer into thelike I should probably shave but decide against it Samantha sits down on the closed toilet seat with a suture needle and thread in one hand, ready to stitchto drop the towel?" she asks "I can’t very well do this with it in the way And it’s not like I haven’t seen it before"
I start to remove the towel just as she says that, but then I notice a sound so faint, like the sound of a sharp breath, that I’lance into thebut knowing that Sarai is on the other side of it
"Victor?" Sa irritated witharound so that the side where the wound is, is facing her I reach down and strategically adjust the towel over the back ofit firether on the other side to hold it in place
"If you insist," Saht to work
I feel the needle slide in once and I grit my teeth for a moment until the pain fades
"You never did tellhere," Samantha says
"It was for the best"
"Bullshit It was so I didn’t do I just want to know No hard feelings No aardness Just answer the question that’s been bugging the shit out of me for ten years I deserve that h er feel it
"I respected you," I say "It didn’t feel it right to use you anymore"
"Honey, you know better than that" She smiles up at me briefly "I didn’t mind; hell, I enjoyed it"
"But I did ain, always carefully Then she shakes her head "I wonder how you e to pull off this job with that conscience of yours I think you’re the only one with a conscience who can"
"Well, it was nothing you did or didn’t do," I say, skipping over her coh to satisfy you"
"Stop being so technical with me, Victor You know I hate it"
She stands up fro a small amount onto a wash cloth She dabs it all over and around the stitched bullet wound
"I hear you started staying at Safe House Nine over in Dallas when you caoes on and I can predict where she’s going with the rest of it "Is it because that one was younger thanup in the years, I admit"