page61 (1/2)

NEDDIE CROSSED THE Embarcadero at Broadway and proceeded to a small patio with potted trees and benches next to the Waterside Restaurant, where customers had a smoke or waited for their rides

As he stepped onto the patio, his fadingcolor He could see her noearing a beige-colored knit skirt and jacket She had been deeply engrossed in her phone and was reading out directions to herself

She hadn’t noticed the slight man with sandy hair and deformed arms, so he had said, “Hey, I’m Neddie”

She had turned away, both showing her disgust and giving hiet

He hadn’t hesitated He had pulled his fully loaded sharp from his pocket and had stuck her hard in her rabbed at her rear end and swiveled to stare at him

Neddie had had her attention then

He had stared back into her gray-blue eyes for one longoff the curb into onco traffic A taxicab had just brushed her, but she had been off balance and had fallen She had still been alive She had been flapping and flailing in the gutter when there had been a boo the sound barrier directly overhead

Neddie had seen the sky change froray He had known that he had to run and he had done so, ca below the surface for long tunnel runs, reappearing on empty streets as if from nowhere

But the loss of his big moment stayed with him

He hadn’t seen the Beige Woman die

Tonight he would try to claw that moment back There was no rush, no need to panic

Before hied the whole panorama of promenade and restaurant and patio and sky He relived the way the Beige Woman had looked at him and actually seen him just before she was hit by the taxi

Neddie was filling in thein for a close-up of her last breath—when he was interrupted again

A police car cruising in a northbound lane pulled up only yards away froot out of the cruiser and headed toward him

Neddie froze as they approached, blinding hihts Why had they stopped for him?