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. Okay, Nelson said. Glue s cured.You should still chew on the otherside and stick with plain, steamed manna.But that ll hold for now. As of right now, I m going on a diet, Randy said. No more punch.As Tim tried, and failed, to stop staring, Nelson peeled off his shirt. Okay.Clothes.Who needs what?Tim needed a shirt that didn t make him feel like an idiot.Though hestrongly suspected Nelson wasn t offering a fashion rescue.Nelson pulled on a long-sleeved thermal top, then a battered T-shirtover that.There was a logo on it, though Tim had no idea whichband it was for.Or if it even was a band& or something else, likeNelson s tattoos.Assuming they were more than just decoration.Butthey didn t feel that way to Tim just like the band logo.He knewit was  something when he saw it.He just didn t know what that something was. Do you have any sweatpants? Marianne asked. If I never seepantyhose again, it ll be too soon.Nelson sized her up and tossed a pair of cargo pants her way. Trythose.They have a drawstring waist. He found another thermal shirtand tossed it her way, too.Unlike Nelson, who was happy to dressand undress in front of anybody and everybody, Marianne slippedout to the bathroom to change in private. What about you? Nelson asked Javier. I m fine.117 At least take a sweatshirt.It s cold out there.Javier grudgingly reached out for the shirt, but Nelson, instead ofletting go when Javier s hand closed around it, gave it a gentle tug topull the two of them closer. But make sure you give it back to meafter the dust settles.It s one of my favorites. Still angling for my phone number. If at first you don t succeed&.Tim was staring now, really staring, and he couldn t tear his eyesaway.Javier and Nelson were staring, too.Not at Tim.At each other.Javier sethis jaw and gave the sweatshirt a more definite tug, which draggedNelson even closer.Once they stood right up against each other,and once they d stared at each other long and hard, Javier droppedthe shirt and grabbed a thick black marker off Nelson s desk.Hetook Nelson s wrist none too gently, turned his arm over, shoved hissleeve up and scrawled a number on the underside of his forearm.Tim s brain was caught in a loop, and  Oh my God seemed to bethe only phrase his mind was willing to produce because, while itseemed like he should feel jealous that Nelson would look at Javierlike that& he was equally as blown away by the appearance of theJavier he d met in the chatroom.The hot Javier.Hot? No, that worddidn t even come close.This Javier was scorching.A fuzzy ringtone possibly also a band, though Tim wasn t positivebroke the tension of the staring and the staring and the staring.***118Elation turned to dread so quickly Nelson was surprised he didn t getwhiplash when Kevin s photo popped up on his phone. Nelson, hebegan& and then he didn t follow it up with a phrase like,  everything sfine. He just breathed, groping for words.Nelson turned away from Javier, from everyone, so that he faced thewall, and said,  Is she there or not? That s the thing. Kevin exhaled a gusty sigh into his phone thatcame across as distortion. I d need you to I.D.her. Are you serious? Nelson  You d fall back on fucking procedure with me? With me? I& it& if you d just calm down a second  Calm down? Because I can t& I can t tell if it s her or not.How could he not be able to tell? He knew damn well what Tuyetlooked like.He stared at her hard enough when he thought no oneelse was looking.Nelson s brain was firing in overdrive, though, andthere were dozens of reasons someone might be unable to identify abody.Bloat.Crushing injury.Missing head.Sonofa& he tipped forwardand pressed his forehead into the wall, and wondered if he wasgoing to throw up.His knees felt wobbly, and only partially from theserotonin oversaturation. Send me a picture, he said finally, in avery small voice. It s bad. Kevin s voice was just as small. I don t know how long it ll take me to get up there, maybe hours,and all that time I m gonna be thinking the worst.If I can tell younow, then we ll know.Right now.We ll know.119 Hold on.I gotta wait  til Dreyer s out of range. It was probablyillegal to send a photo from the county morgue, or if not illegal, inviolation of departmental policy.Kevin could probably be demotedor even fired, though at that particular moment, Nelson didn t care [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]