Long Shadows (Amos Decker, #7)(129)

“I know that. Now. Also thanks to you.”

“I think you would have figured it out, with or without me.”

“And then there’s the other reason I flew up here.”

“Oh yeah, what was that?”

She glanced up and smiled. “Would you like a job with Gamma? I know you are not an office person, but how about running our field investigation division? I think you would be a wonderful addition to the Gamma family, and I would consider it an honor to work alongside you.”

“That’s a great offer and I really appreciate it.”

Her smile weakened a bit. “But?”

“But I’ve got a brand-new partner who’s probably going to be moving down here from Baltimore, and she’s got little kids, and I can’t leave her high and dry.”

“That’s very good of you, Agent Decker. Very loyal.”

“I’m not a real agent, Kasimira, and I sure as hell don’t play one on TV. Just make it Decker.”

“Okay, Decker. I think Agent White is lucky to have you as a partner.”

“Funny, I was feeling pretty lucky to have her.”

She took out a card and slid it across. “If you ever change your mind, or just want to talk. And if you’re ever back down in Florida, please look me up.”

“I have to admit, I was almost getting used to that sand thing.”

They shook hands and he saw her out. He went back to the table and finished his beer while he looked down at her card. He glanced over at the trash can, rose, and lifted out the torn-up letter from the Cognitive Institute.

He slowly and methodically pieced it back together, just like he would any case he was working on. He still remembered what it said, and yet he reread every word twice over.

He popped another beer, placed it in a paper bag, put on his jacket, and walked out of the apartment. There was a bench down by the river where he liked to sit and just watch the water flow and the occasional boat pass by.

The letter from the Institute had predicted a great deal of change coming his way, at least in the way his brain functioned. That might be good, or that might be bad, he had no way of knowing. And neither, really, did they.

My superpower served me well on this case, even if it all dropped into place near the end. Better late than never.

And then his thoughts turned to his old partner.

Mary Lancaster didn’t have the best memory, but she had all the other attributes of a good detective. She actually read people better than Decker ever could. And her instincts had become so refined over time that her deductions sometimes had been truly eye-popping. A great many people thought she was just the tugboat sidekick to Decker’s ocean liner. But the fact was, Mary Lancaster had more than held her own with him and everyone else. And she had taught Decker a lot.

And I will miss the woman every minute of every day. Because she understood me better than anyone other than my wife. And she was my friend.

As Decker stared out at the water, he began to wonder what his new partner’s kids looked like. Whether they took after their mom. And he thought of Donte, the child she had lost. And whether White’s mother would actually like him when they met. And whether she really was a good cook. And what the next case they would work on might be about. And about how Freddie White might become just as good a friend to him as Mary Lancaster had been.

And me to her.

Just regular stuff that people thought about every day.

That was the thing about life. You actually had to spend time living it.

Or else what the hell did any of it really matter?

So he sat there with his beer and his thoughts and watched the river cruise on by.





Discover Your Next Great Read

Get sneak peeks, book recommendations, and news about your favorite authors.

Tap here to learn more.





Acknowledgments




To Michelle, the ride continues and I’m so happy you allowed me to come along for it!

To Michael Pietsch, Ben Sevier, Elizabeth Kulhanek, Jonathan Valuckas, Matthew Ballast, Beth de Guzman, Ana Maria Allessi, Rena Kornbluh, Karen Kosztolnyik, Brian McLendon, Albert Tang, Andy Dodds, Ivy Cheng, Joseph Benincase, Alexis Gilbert, Andrew Duncan, Janine Perez, Lauren Sum, Morgan Martinez, Bob Castillo, Kristen Lemire, Briana Kuchta, Mark Steven Long, Marie Mundaca, Rachael Kelly, Kirsiah McNamara, Lisa Cahn, John Colucci, Megan Fitzpatrick, Nita Basu, Alison Lazarus, Barry Broadhead, Martha Bucci, Ali Cutrone, Raylan Davis, Tracy Dowd, Melanie Freedman, Elizabeth Blue Guess, Linda Jamison, John Leary, John Lefler, Rachel Hairston, Tishana Knight, Jennifer Kosek, Suzanne Marx, Derek Meehan, Christopher Murphy, Donna Nopper, Rob Philpott, Barbara Slavin, Karen Torres, Rich Tullis, Mary Urban, Tracy Williams, Julie Hernandez, Laura Shepherd, Maritza Lumpris, Jeff Shay, Carla Stockalper, Ky’ron Fitzgerald, and everyone at Grand Central Publishing. Every day you toil away not just to publish and promote my books, but those of so many others. You make the world a better place, because books make people more informed and engaged.

To Aaron and Arleen Priest, Lucy Childs, Lisa Erbach Vance, Frances Jalet-Miller, and Kristen Pini, for always going the extra mile for me.

To Mitch Hoffman, for understanding Amos Decker almost as well as I do.

To Jeremy Trevathan, Lucy Hale, Trisha Jackson, Stuart Dwyer, Leanne Williams, Alex Saunders, Sara Lloyd, Claire Evans, Eleanor Bailey, Laura Sherlock, Jonathan Atkins, Christine Jones, Andy Joannou, Charlotte Williams, Rebecca Kellaway, Charlotte Cross, Lucy Grainger, Lucy Jones, and Neil Lang at Pan Macmillan, for continuing to push the boundaries on how books are published and promoted.