Page 129 of Two Kinds of Stranger

Eddie

‘You’re calling on the river?’ I asked.

Amy looked at me with that same disappointed expression. She was a teenager, and that meant she knew infinitely more about the world, and everything in it, than I did.

‘I’m calling. He’s bluffing,’ she said, glancing across the table at Joe Novak.

‘I ain’t saying a word,’ said Joe.

‘You should listen to your father,’ said Christine. ‘This is his wheelhouse.’

Christine and Kevin were on the couch in the corner of my apartment. I was sitting at the small dining table, playing poker with Amy and Joe, who was staying with me while Bloch and Lake did everything possible to give the impression that Joe was stashed away in Lake’s apartment on East Fifth Street and First Avenue. Elly had come over too. At the moment, Flynn and Brooks was at war, and I just wanted everyone around me. We’d had pizza and sodas, and now I was teaching Amy poker.

Thanks to Harry, I had something new to show the court tomorrow in Elly’s case. Something that would change things dramatically.

Elly came out of the bathroom and sat on a chair facing the couch. She was quiet. I’d invited Kate over too, but she had declined. Said she was working.

Kate was struggling.

‘Dad, I know what I’m doing,’ said Amy.

‘Okay, I’m just offering some friendly advice,’ I said, then reached for my phone in my pants pocket. It was buzzing.

Bloch was calling.

‘What’s happening?’

‘Bruno is down. The stranger appeared. I tagged him in the arm but he’s on the run. We’re in pursuit. Get down here right now.’

‘I’ve got to go. Bloch and Lake are chasing the stranger,’ I said. I grabbed my coat and keys and ran out. I heard Elly calling after me, but I ignored her. I had to move.

Within thirty seconds, I was behind the wheel of my Mustang, racking up speeding fines as I blitzed downtown, blowing two red lights.

Bloch was now on speaker in my car. I could hear her breathing heavily, her voice punctuated by the pounding of her boots on the sidewalk. She was running fast.

‘He just got into a black Toyota Camry. I’m headed back to my car.’

‘Where’s Lake?’ I said.

‘He’s ahead of me, waiting at my Jeep. Where are you?’

‘I’m five minutes away. Second Avenue, headed south. Just passing Twenty-fifth Street. Where’s Lake’s car?’

‘Beside mine. He’s a terrible driver and his car is a piece of shit. He’ll ride shotgun with me.’

I could hear her breathing slowing, her pace decreasing. The sound of her Jeep unlocking and then, seconds later, the roar of the engine.

‘He’s turned east on Sixth. Black Camry, New York plate but I can’t get close enough to read it yet.’

I slammed on the brakes for a red light, let five cars pass in front of me. Waited until it was clear then blew through the red before it could change.

‘I’m passing Seventeenth Street,’ I said.

Bloch had put me on speaker. I could hear Lake swearing in the background.

‘Watch it!’ he cried.

‘You okay?’ I asked.