over. She knew what had happened before she got to us. She stared at me, her eyebrows bunching up
into question marks. She didn?t say anything, just sat down next to DeeDee and began to rub her back,
trying to fight the tears captured in the corners of her own eyes.
As we sat there I looked over at the bank and caught a glimpse of Charles Seaborn staring out the
window. He stepped back into the shadows when he realized I had seen him. I looked back at the
third-floor windows of Warehouse Three. I don?t know what I expected, perhaps Donleavy sending
semaphore messages across the park to the banker. The windows were empty, like blind eyes staring
sightlessly out of the old building. All the power that had once ruled Dunetown seemed focused on
this grassy flat, only now it seemed to be replaced by fear.
We sat under the tree for fifteen minutes, trying to console DeeDee. Finally she got the courage to ask
what had happened.
“A boating accident,” I lied. I didn?t seem to have the guts for the truth at that moment. For the first
time since Nam, I felt desperately sorry for someone on the bad side of the law.
Regardless of what „Tony Lukatis had done, I knew what demons had taunted him to his death. Doe,
the promise of Wind-song, the easy life, the same demons that had taunted me, distorted my values,
left me emotionally barren after Nam. I remembered the day I wrote the letter to Doe and Chief. It
was like history repeating itself, except this time I couldn?t escape behind a letter. DeeDee was here
and I had to face her grief to touch it, to feel her tears against my face.
Finally she started asking the inevitable questions, questions for which I didn?t have answers yet.
Where? When? Did he drown? Probably. Was he doing something wrong when it happened? I wasn?t
sure. Where was his body now? I didn?t know. Was it terribly painful? No, I said honestly, I didn?t
think so, it was very quick.
“Look,” I said. “There?s something I have to do. I?ll tell Seaborn what happened. Take her home,
Lark. Call the doctor and get her a sedative. I?ll be over as soon as I can get there.”
We took her to her car and Lark got behind the wheel. DeeDee sat motionless beside her, staring
through her tears at nothing.
“Damn, damn, damn!” she cried vehemently, her anger suddenly spilling over. “Damn them all!” And
she covered her face with her hands as Lark pulled away.
Seaborn?s spidery fingers were dancing along the edge of a barren
desk the size of a soccer field. He was trying to look busy when
I tapped on the door and entered the room without being invited.
He was startled, his eyes widening like a frightened fawn?s.
The office was big enough to comfortably accommodate the enormous desk and was as barren as the
