Bury the Lead - By David Rosenfelt Page 0,37
Marcus can help me learn more about who it really is we are defending.
The weekend starts tonight, and I am very much looking forward to it. Laurie is going to spend the entire time at my house, which at first glance seems like an increase in our normal scheduled time, but really isn’t. That’s because it’s a college and pro football weekend, which means that even though we’ll be in the same house, we’ll have almost no daytime interaction.
As we get close to the trial date, we’ll all be working seven-day weeks, but we’re still far enough away that we can have some relaxation. Tonight’s relaxation consists of sitting in my living room and watching Godfather I and II on DVD on my big-screen TV. It’s the one large purchase I’ve made since coming into my money, and it has been worth every penny.
Laurie and I sit on my couch and watch the movies, a bowl of popcorn and Tara between us. Tara positions herself there so she can be petted from both sides, and neither of us minds. It is literally stunning how right these times with Laurie feel, and for the first time it flashes through my mind that maybe we should get married.
The next flash is the realization that Laurie has never brought the subject up, not even once, not even in passing. I’ve always been pleased by that, relieved actually, but now I’m starting to wonder. Shouldn’t she be plotting to win me? Pressuring me to make an honest woman out of her? Telling me her goddamn clock is ticking?
I decide not to bring the subject up, but the next thing I know it’s dribbling out of my mouth. “You never bring up marriage,” I say.
My timing is not great, since just as I’m saying it Jack Woltz is discovering the bloody horse head in bed with him. Laurie screams, as she does every time we watch that scene. Moments later, when she calms down, she asks, “What did you say, Andy?”
“I said, ‘Watch out, I’ve got a feeling there’s a severed horse’s head in that bed with him.’”
We go back to watching the movie, and I successfully keep my mouth shut until just about the time that Michael goes to visit the don in the hospital. He discovers that the guards have been sent away, though I’ve always wondered why they never bothered to inform Sonny about that little fact. Michael goes to the phone and dials, at the exact moment the phone in my house rings.
“I’ll get it,” I say. “It’s probably Michael telling me to get some men down to the hospital to guard the don. Can we spare anybody?”
“No,” she says. “All our button men are out on the street looking for Solozzo.”
I nod and pick up the phone. “Hello?”
“Mr. Carpenter, this is County General Hospital calling.”
For an instant it registers as comical that it actually is the hospital, but I just as quickly realize that getting nighttime calls from hospitals is never a good thing.
“What’s the matter?” I ask.
“We have a woman here . . . she’s been shot.”
“Who is she?” I ask worriedly, but glad that Laurie is sitting next to me.
“She hasn’t been able to give us her name; she’s in surgery. But she was carrying your card in her purse.”
I’m not sure how to ask this. “Does she appear to be . . . a lady of the evening?”
“Yes, I believe she does.”
“I’ll be right there.” I hang up and turn to Laurie, who has heard my end of the conversation and is worried herself. “There’s a woman in the hospital . . . a gunshot victim. I think it’s Sondra.”
“Damn,” she says, and without another word walks with me out the door and to the car.
• • • • •
LAURIE IS SILENT during the ride to the hospital. I don’t know what she’s thinking, and I don’t feel like I should ask. It’s only when we pull into the parking lot that she breaks the silence.
“I shouldn’t have left her there,” she says. “I should have dragged her out.”
“You did all you could.”
She shakes her head. “No. I could have pulled her away and shown her something better. Made it easier for her. Instead, I asked her if she wanted to leave. She said no, and I said fine.”
“Rick is the villain of this piece. Not you.”
Sondra is out of surgery by the time we arrive. We stop in the recovery room to see how she is