“I think her eye might have picked that up.”
“The doctors are stumped about Cagle’s collapse?”
“Apparently.”
I told Ryan about my conversation with Terry Woolsey, and about the meeting scheduled for the following morning.
“She’s a detective, so I’m sure she’s legit.”
“We’re all sages and saints.”
“I have no idea what she wants.”
“An idea can be a dangerous thing.”
“It’s odd, Ryan.”
“It’s odd.”
“Don’t patronize me.”
“I know what I’d rather do to you.”
A stomach cartwheel.
“Have you received any more threatening e-mails?”
“No.”
“They still got stepped-up patrols past your place?”
“Yes. And past Lija’s town house.”
“Good.”
“I’m starting to think Dorton was behind the whole thing.”
“Why?”
“Ricky Don turns up dead, the e-mails stop.”
“Maybe. Maybe someone took Dorton out.”
“Thanks for the reassurance.”
“I want you to be careful.”
“I hadn’t thought of that.”
“You can be a real pain in the ass, Brennan.”
“I work at it.”
“Hooch getting enough attention?”
“We had a nice, long run this afternoon.”
“It was fifty-two degrees in Halifax today.”
“It was ninety-four degrees in Charlotte today.”
“Miss me, Miz Temperance?”
Here we go.
“Some.”
“Admit it, darlin’. This hombre is your dream come true.”
“You’ve stumbled upon my fantasy, Ryan. Men in chaps.”
“Happy trails.”
After disconnecting, I called Katy.
No answer.
I left a message.
Boyd, Birdie, and I watched the last few innings of a Braves-Cubs game. I finished the carrots, Boyd gnawed a rawhide bone, and Birdie lapped at the yogurt. At some point the two of them switched. Atlanta kicked ass.
Dog, cat, and Miz Temperance were down and out by eleven.
27
CHARLOTTE HAS MANY INSTITUTIONS DEVOTED TO THE PRESERVATION and veneration of beauty. The Mint Museum of Art. Spirit Square. The McGill Rose Garden. Hooters.
The intersection of Morehead and Clarkson does not make that list. Though just a few blocks from the trendy, yuppie ghetto, this sliver of Third Ward has yet to experience a similar rebirth, and highway over-passes, aging warehouses, cracked pavements, and peeling billboards remain the overriding architectural theme.
