Dead Aim

Dead Aim Read Free Page A

Book: Dead Aim Read Free
Author: Thomas Perry
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had spoken just to keep her occupied, to hide the most important information from her.
    He approached the county hospital with a feigned casualness, feeling grateful that they had built it at the end of a long, curving driveway that made it look small and unthreatening. When she saw that he was turning to go up the driveway, she said, “What are you doing?”
    “You almost drowned.” He tried to make his throat relax, so she would not detect his tension. “You need to be checked over.”
    “No.” She said it over her shoulder as she walked away. “I’m not going in there.”
    He walked quickly to catch up with her. “You’re making a mistake.” He meant that he had no other place in mind. He had to find somebody to share this responsibility with him, some figure of authority who would know how to keep her alive. He had to keep her alive.
    She walked more quickly. “Then I’m making a mistake.” She was not going to let him get her in there. Maybe she had been locked up before for trying to kill herself. Maybe she had only heard of it, but she knew.
    He said, “If you’d rather go to your own doctor, we can stop at my place and I’ll drive you there. But you really should get an exam.” A desperate hope that he had simply missed an obstacle that was easy to overcome flashed across his consciousness: maybe she couldn’t afford a doctor. “I’ll be happy to pay for it.”
    She only moved her head enough to turn a half-lidded eye on him. His own voice had sounded false to him.
    He said, “Where would you like to go? Does your family live in town?”
    “No. You’re the only one I know here. I drove in this morning.”
    “From where?”
    “New York.”
    “Is there anybody you can call?”
    She turned to him with a frown of annoyance. “Of course. Millions of them. I don’t want to call anyone.”
    “I’ll do anything I can to help you. What can I do?”
    “Nothing.”
    “I think you need help.”
    “I don’t.”
    She walked along for a few paces, and the defiant, angry posture of her body had a kind of liveliness that made him less careful.
    “You tried to kill yourself.”
    “I did kill myself. You came after me and dragged me back. I don’t have the energy right now to hate you. I think I need to sleep.”
    “Right.” He brightened. “Things will look different to you when you wake up.”
    “Sure.”
    “My house is right up ahead. I’ll get my car and drive you to a good hotel. And don’t worry about the cost. I’ll take care of it.”
    “I’ll walk.”
    “Are you afraid?”
    “Of you? No.”
    “Of anyone. Are you running from something?”
    “I have nothing to run from.” She walked ahead quickly and then across the street. After a few more steps on the sidewalk, she turned to see him behind her.
    “I don’t think being alone will make you feel better right now,” he explained. “Want to get something to eat?”
    “Why are you doing this?”
    “Because you look like a very nice young woman who shouldn’t kill herself. Are you dying of cancer or something—in a lot of pain?”
    She shook her head. “Nope. No sickness. I had my reasons for what I did, and it’s nothing you can talk me out of with your kindness and wisdom. Thanks for your concern and everything.”
    “Then you’ll get through this. Someday you’ll be really glad you didn’t die. Something wonderful will be happening and you’ll look back and be amazed that you might have died and missed out on it.”
    She kept walking. He began to follow as usual, but she stopped. “Don’t. I’m fine now and I’m over it. I don’t want you to be with me. I can make a fuss and make you look like a creep. I don’t want to reward your kindness like that, but I will if you make me. So go.”
    He stopped and took a step backward. “If you decide you need help, I live in that house right up there.” He pointed. “My name is Robert Mallon.” He saw her look at the house. It was a two-storybrick colonial with

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