'That was different,' Tee said, following his gaze. 'That wasn't voluntary,'
Becker thought of Karen's face when he found her in the bathtub after Kom had tried to kill her. He thought of her dangerous concussion, of her subsequent nightmares, of her crippling headaches.
'You were in danger,' Tee continued, trying to help. 'You had no choice.'
Becker remembered the moment when his hand had disengaged from Kom, the brief brilliant burst of total release he had felt, as if all his pain and cares were now in the charge of gravity. He remembered Kom's last words. 'Isn't it good?' It was not a question. It was a curse.
Becker looked at Tee's big, earnest face, and saw that he still wanted to believe that a temptation denied meant the battle was won. Becker decided to be a friend. He would not share. He patted Tee comfortingly on the shoulder. 'Yeah, that was different,' he said.
A crow swooped down onto something flattened on the road and pecked at fur.
