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. You and me both, Sam said.She shot him a wicked grin. Then we celebrate.Until thenit s all work. She stood up abruptly, strode out of Sam s office anddown the corridor, leaving the door open in her wake." 155 "RUSS GREGORYV'Bill shivered in the breeze from the open window.The windingroad banked and twisted, rising to the stoplight at the top of the hill.Cautiously, he approached the red light, pulling to a stop with theother cars.The jet-black Mustang s engine whirred and he pushedthe button, rolling the tinted windows shut before he scanned thefaces of the people in the other cars: a balding old man in a beat-uppickup truck, a couple of high-school girls in a red Honda, a motherwith a car full of teenage soccer players.Typical breeders.He turnedhis attention to the eastern horizon.The moon hadn t risen, wouldn tshow itself until nearly sunrise.Then it would appear in the east, atiny sliver of moon chasing westward across the sky just ahead ofthe sun.But tomorrow night, the sun will rise first a new moon, theeyehole, covered.In his mouth he tasted the sweetness, just as thetraffic light changed.He pulled away slowly, following the turning traffic.Down thehill on his right he could just make out the pool, shining like anaquamarine jewel set in the dusty darkness and shrouded by treebranches.He smiled, remembering the others glistening, smooth,strong.He felt his rising sexual interest, the heat building below,and licked his chapped lips.Soon, he thought, very soon, but firstto prepare.He drove by carefully, smiling unconsciously, the wordsringing in his mind like the pealing of a bell.Tomorrow, I will hunt.V' Hello. Hi, it s Matt. Oh, hi, what s up? A note of anxiety sounded in Danny svoice.He probably wasn t expecting personal calls at work.Hemanaged the training department for a chain of pharmaceuticalstores but had to help out with retail when the stores underwentstaffing problems.He had recently been assigned to the Walgreenson Forty-fifth Street.It was Thursday morning.Even though Dannywas a close friend, I didn t call often and never at work.I hurried on" 156 "BLUEto my point to allay his fears. Are you planning to swim with theteam tonight?He paused before answering, and I sensed something waswrong.Finally, he said,  Not tonight. He sounded disappointed.Icould just hear the catch in his voice. Are you okay?Again he paused before answering. Yeah, I m okay.Just not inthe mood for swimming. Are you and Marco going out then? No& I m busy. What s up? I m tired. His sentences were clipped and terse What is it, Dan? I was becoming concerned.This wasn t likeDanny at all.He hesitated again. Nothing. What s Marco up to?More silence. Don t know.This was bewildering.In all the time I d known Danny, heand Marco had been pretty much inseparable.I said,  Are you sureyou re okay? You sound down. Yeah, I m fine.Look, I got to go. Okay, call me when you get a chance, I said lamely.He said good-bye and hung up.I sat at my desk and stared atthe phone.What was that about?V' Damn!Thatcher sat on the bottom rung of his stepladder and rubbeda small knot rising on his head at the spot where he d banged it onthe cabinet door.The storeroom of the carriage house was full of cast-offclothing and Adam s boxed possessions.Thatcher had spent twentyminutes assembling a pile of old shirts and pants for Willy.It hadbeen four days since he had tracked down Philips at the Fortress,and he d spent most of the first two days trying to sober him up." 157 "RUSS GREGORYSince then, Thatcher had been helping Willy deal with his personalneeds.And Willy Philips had a lot of personal needs.To begin with,he had no clothes except those on his back.He had very fewpossessions and a voracious appetite for alcohol.Thatcher hadfought that from the beginning, offering a place to sleep it off anda chance to sober up a little.But after a few hours, Willy got theshakes so bad Thatcher broke down and brought him some maltliquor.That settled his palsy and put him back to sleep, so Thatcherspent twenty-four hours feeding, bathing, and pampering the manbefore he felt Willy was settled enough to answer a few questions.Fortunately, the information that Willy provided had yielded a fewsurprises.It might not be enough to stand up in court, but it wasenough for Thatcher.Now Thatcher was putting together a care package for Willy totake with him back to the Fortress.Thatcher kicked the cardboard box to the side in frustration,reached back into the cabinet, and tugged at a pile of sweaters.Astack of jeans, mixed with slacks and a single pair of red sweatpants,came out together, knocking over a box of medical supplies.Whitetape and a roll of gauze rolled out, followed by sealed packets ofBetadine solution and a plastic syringe.Thatcher cringed at the sight.After all this time through allthese emotions, and now this.He stared at the syringe in disbeliefand felt the darkness surround him, and the edge of his world beganto pull away.His mind flashed to an image of Adam.Adam s emaciated, feverish body was coiled into a ball on thebed.Thatcher gently stroked the sparse hair on his lover s head.Hewhispered a little prayer,  Please forgive me.Adam shook uncontrollably and Thatcher knew his fever wasspiking.Adam s labored breathing rasped into the stillness asThatcher gently wiped the crusted blood from his cheek with awashcloth, then pulled the thermometer from his rectum.A hundredand four.He cleaned the thermometer with the cloth, knelt besidethe bed, and dropped both the washcloth and the thermometer into" 158 "BLUEthe plastic biohazard container tucked under the edge.Thatcherrose slowly, without taking his eyes off Adam s face.He walked tothe bathroom and his knees almost buckled so he braced himselfagainst the doorjamb to steady himself [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]