Silent Witness Read Free Page B

drink at once. ‘You first,’ he said. ‘I like watching.’
    Stacey preceded him up the stairs to the master bedroom.
    After five or six steps, she began taking off her clothes – sweater, then bra, then blue jeans. Watching her slim body climb the stairs, Tony saw her pause as she reached the top, not turning. With a single undulation halfway between sensual and mocking, Stacey let her panties fall to the floor.
    â€˜ Cool ,’ Tony said, and then no one was joking.
    â€˜I love you,’ he told her. Stacey smiled at him with her eyes.
    They lay in the shadows of their bedroom, Stacey beneath him, sated, both of them, the moisture of lovemaking cooling on their skin. Tony still felt his warmth inside her, her breasts against his chest. His limbs had a pleasant lassitude.
    â€˜How many times,’ Stacey asked, ‘do you think we’ve made love?’
    Tony smiled. ‘Not enough, lately.’
    She kissed him, then said, ‘During a trial, it’s as if you’re in another place. Like acting, I guess.’
    â€˜At least actors know what everyone else is going to say. And how the story ends.’ Tony slid from inside her and down the bed, kissing her as he went, and laid his head on the hollow of her stomach. He saw her face turn to the window, absently gazing at the pastel sky of early evening.
    â€˜I’ve been thinking about that script,’ she said.
    â€˜And?’
    â€˜I don’t know.’
    Tony raised his head. ‘I can’t decide for you, Stace. I don’t even want to vote.’
    She turned to him, raising her head from the pillow. ‘Not even for yourself?’
    He shook his head, watching her. ‘You like this story. You don’t, usually.’
    â€˜I know, and they need an answer.’ She frowned. ‘It isn’t such a great time for me to give them one. I feel like you’ve just gotten back.’
    Smiling, he said, ‘I’ll take off work for a couple of days. Then you’ll be ready.’
    â€˜If you did, I might never be ready.’ She turned to the closed door of the bedroom. ‘Maybe we can just raid the refrigerator and bring it back up here – wine, cheese – I don’t really care. Whatever you want.’
    â€˜Smoked oysters.’
    Stacey made a face, and then the telephone rang.
    It was their private line, reserved for close friends and emergencies. Tony felt himself tense.
    â€˜Let it go,’ Stacey murmured.
    â€˜I can’t. Not when we’ve got a seventeen-year-old running around in a car.’
    Stacey gave him a look of understanding and then nodded toward the phone. Tony got it on the third ring.
    â€˜Mr. Lord,’ a man’s voice said. ‘This is your answering service. . . .’
    â€˜Jesus Christ,’ Tony murmured in irritation.
    â€˜We’ve had two long-distance calls,’ the man went on. ‘From a Sue Robb. It’s an emergency, she says. . . .’ Tony sat up on the edge of the bed, instinctively turning from Stacey. ‘I have her on hold, Mr. Lord. Shall I say you’ll call back?’
    Tony hesitated. ‘No,’ he said to the operator. ‘Put her through.’
    Tony stood at the window. From the bed, Stacey watched him.
    â€˜If you go back there,’ she said, ‘the whole thing will come up again.’
    He was quiet for a moment, feeling the truth of this. ‘I know.’
    â€˜If I understand you at all, Tony, you’ve tried your entire adult life to put that time behind you. But you still have the nightmares, even now. And sometimes when I look at you, it’s like you’re there , not here.’
    Tony did not answer. ‘Sam and Sue were my closest friends,’ he said at last. ‘Part of me feels guilty about how I left it.’
    â€˜As I recall the story, one of them was more than a friend.’ Stacey made her voice softer. ‘Leaving was a matter of