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“It’salwayslike that, Decker.”
“But this is important.”
She rose and walked back over tothe door.
“Fine, whatever. I’ll just hold down the fort here.”
“Alex, I will be back. I promise.”
“Yeah,” she said absently. “Well, I hope you find what you’re looking for.”
Decker grabbed his overcoat from a chair. When he turned back she was gone. He heard a door close somewhere in the house.
He zipped his duffel shut and hefted it over his shoulder.He made his way quietly downstairs.
Only sitting on the last riser was Zoe, holding a stuffed cat.
She looked up at him and her gaze fell on his duffel. “Are you going somewhere, Mr. Amos?”
Decker’s first impulse was just to rush past the little girl and be on his way to New Jersey without explanation.
But after looking at her disconsolate expression, hissecond impulse made him set his duffel down and sit next to her.
“I am, Zoe. But I’ll be back. See, I have to go check on something in New Jersey. Have you ever been to New Jersey?”
She shook her head. “Is it nice?”
“Yeah, it is.”
“What do you have to do there?”
“Talk to someone. An older man.”
“What about?”
“He knew somebodyhere in town. So I just wanted to ask him some questions about the person.”
“Is he a nice man?”
“Well, I’ve never met him, but I’m sure he’ll be just fine.” He paused and studied her. “How are you doing?”
She clutched her cat tighter. “My daddy’s funeral is the day after tomorrow.”
“Yeah, I know,” he said quietly.
“We’re going to bury him in theground. That’s what Mommy said.”
“I’ll be back in time to go with you.”
“You promise?”
“I promise.”
Her features turned anxious. “Mr. Amos, do you think he’ll be cold? My dad? See, after Mommy told me that he was going to be buried, I got a big spoon from the kitchen and went out in the backyard and dug a hole. And I put my hand in it. And it was cold downthere. And my daddy didn’t like to be cold. He would snuggle under the blanket with me. I don’t like the cold either.”
Lending a visual to her words, she shivered.
Decker leaned against the banister even as he felt his chest tighten and his throat constrict.
