The twenty years simply deepened the resonance.
'And whatever develops, you assume you'll be able to manage it.'
'So far so good,' I said.
She put her hand on top of mine for a minute.
'Yes,' she said.
'So far, very good.'
CHAPTER 3
Two days later I found Hawk at the Harbor Health Club, in the boxing room, working on the heavy bag. He had on Reebok high tops, black sweats, and a black tee-shirt with the sleeves cut off.
In white script, across the front of the tee-shirt, was written, Yes, it's a black thing.
'Wow,' I said, 'militant.'
'Dating a B.U. professor,' Hawk said.
'Impresses the hell out of her.'
He dug a left hook into the bag.
'Where you been?' I said.
'San Antonio. Hold the bag.'
I leaned into the bag and held it still, which was not relaxing.
Hawk had a punch like a jackhammer, and the bag wanted to jump around and say beep beep.
'What were you doing in San Antonio?'
'Looking at the Alamo,' Hawk said.
'Of course you were.'
'Riverwalk's kind of nice there too,' Hawk said. He was driving the left hook repetitively into the bag.
'Yeah. You want to talk to me about Anthony Meeker.'
'Who?'
'Julius Ventura's son-in-law.'
Hawk grinned and began to alternate three hooks, with one overhand right. The punches were so fast that the sound of them nearly ran together.
'And the cerebral daughter?'
'Shirley,' I said.
'Imagine running off from Shirley,' Hawk said.
I moved the bag a half step back from Hawk as he started the next combination, and he shuffled a half step forward and maintained the pattern. The reaction had been visceral. He may not have been conscious that I'd moved the bag.
'You got a plan?' he said.
'What makes you think I'm going to do it?'
Hawk smiled and switched to an overhand lead, and a left cross pattern.
'How long I know you?' he said.
'Story smells like an old flounder,' I said.
'Sure do,' Hawk said.
'You in?' I said.
'Un huh.'
'But only if I do it,' I said.
'Un huh.'
Hawk did three left hooks so fast that it felt almost like one big one as I leaned on the bag. He followed with a right cross, and stepped back.
'You the dee-tective,' Hawk said.
'I is just a fun-loving adventurer.'
'So you want to watch?'
'Gig in San Antonio is finished. Got nothing going right now,' Hawk said. He wiped the sweat off his face and naked scalp with one of the little white hand towels that Henry handed out as a perk.
'You sure to make Ventura mad. And it'll give me something to do.'
'You put us together to see what would happen,' I said.
