"Do I get a guard or anything?" I asked.
"Oh, yeah," Merritt said. "There's a trooper outside. Don't worry. We aren't going to let any bad guys in."
"Good."
After they left, there was a knock at the door.
"Who's minding the store?" I said.
They smiled and stood around the bed, looking concerned. Roxanne started to take my hand, saw the bandages, and patted me on the shoulder.
"How you feeling?" Cindy said.
"Okay, considering."
Roxanne patted. Paul kept his hands in his jacket pockets.
"It's unbelievable," he said quietly. "Is it true? About Vern? An escaped murderer, and he killed Arthur? Tried to kill you?"
I hesitated.
"Not murderer. Manslaughter. That's what he said, anyway. Cops have to check it out."
"My God," Cindy said. "He was such a nice guy. I mean, always joking. I just can't-"
"I liked him," I said. "He said he liked me. Right up until the end."
I shook my head.
"I don't know."
We looked at each other. Paul looked like he could use a cigarette. Roxanne looked like it pained her to be there. I knew the feeling.
"So who writes it?"
They looked alarmed.
"I'll have to get somebody," I said. "Any volunteers?"
"Who's going to do sports?" Paul asked.
"Posthumous bylines. It gets a little sticky, doesn't it?"
A nurse padded in with her white shoes and said I was supposed to get medication. Cindy and Paul said good-bye and left. Roxanne moved closer.
"I almost lost you," she said.
"Only counts in horseshoes."
She leaned over and kissed my forehead. I smiled but I knew.
It wasn't the same. As long as I stayed in town, it wouldn't be the same. And I didn't feel like leaving. Not yet.
Jack, you've lost another one, I said to myself.
"I love you," Roxanne said.
It didn't ring true.
I moved my bandaged hand out from under the sheet and patted her wrist.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR.
Gerry Boyle is the author of a dozen mystery novels, including the acclaimed Jack McMorrow series, and the Brandon Blake series. A former newspaper reporter and columnist, Boyle lives with his wife, Mary, in a historic home in a small village on a lake. He also is working with his daughter, Emily Westbrooks, on a crime series set in her hometown, Dublin, Ireland. Whether it is Maine or Ireland, Boyle remains true to his pledge to send his characters only to places where he has gone before.
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