Walk the Wire (Amos Decker #6)(22)

“Who is it?” asked Jamison, noting his expression. “Bogart?”

“No, it’s my sister, Renee.”

When Decker made no move to answer the call Jamison said, “Well? You wanted to talk to her. Here’s your chance.”

Decker moved over to a corner of the room and put the phone to his ear. “Hey, Renee.”

“Stan called me, Amos.”

“Yeah, I figured. Look, he told me about . . . you two.”

“We’re getting divorced. We’re not terminally ill. So don’t sound so morbid. It’s not the end of the world. And it’s not like you kept in touch. You’ve never even visited me here.”

“Well, it’s a long way.”

“And it was a long way every time I came to visit you. But I didn’t call to argue.”

“Why did you call then?”

“I wanted to just let you know that despite Stan and I going our separate ways, we’re doing okay. The kids understand. They’re fine with it.”

“Why didn’t you call and tell me?”

“I left two messages for you. And what would you have done? I figured that you’d find out at some point. Diane knows, of course. She’s already been down to see me.”

“Stan said you tried to work it out.”

“And I imagine you think we didn’t try hard enough. But we did, Amos. We just couldn’t make it work. I’m not getting any younger and I’ve got two kids still at home, and one in college. And Danny just graduated from college and he’s moving back here. I didn’t have time for endless counseling when it became clear it was going nowhere.”

“Are you going to be okay financially?”

“Stan makes good money, and he’s helping with all of the kids’ expenses. And we had college funds set up. And I’ve got a good job that pays well and has excellent health benefits.”

“So what happened? You both seemed so happy.”

“How would you know? I haven’t seen you since the funerals. And if you call more than once a year, well, you called the wrong number. I almost had a heart attack when you picked up just now.”

“I . . . I guess I have been sort of AWOL lately.”

“I invited you to live with us after Cassie and Molly died. When you turned that down, I offered to move the whole family to Ohio to be close to you.”

“I couldn’t let you do that, Renee. That would have disrupted all of your lives.”

“I would’ve done it in a heartbeat. You are my only brother, after all.”

“I got through it. I’m okay.”

“I know you found the person who did it, though you never talked to me about it. I read it in the newspaper,” she added in a hurt tone.

“Yeah, well, it’s not something I really wanted to talk about.”

“But it must’ve offered you some closure.”

“Not as much as you might think.”

She didn’t say anything for a long moment. “So how was Stan?”

“He looked okay. He . . . when I saw him, he . . .” Decker could not bring himself to tell her.

“It’s okay, Amos. I know he’s seeing someone. It’s okay. We are divorcing.”

Relieved, he said, “So are you seeing anyone?”

“Yeah, my four kids. Motherhood is sort of a full-time gig. But once I have some time getting to know myself again, and actually taking care of some of my needs, I intend to find some companionship. Don’t know if I’ll ever take the plunge again. How about you?”

“How about me what?”

“Are you seeing anyone?”

“I keep pretty busy, too. Look, I gotta go. Something’s come up.”

“Good talking to you, little brother,” said Renee sarcastically.

Decker clicked off and rejoined Jamison.

“How’d it go?” she asked anxiously.

Decker started to say something but then shut his mouth, turned, and walked off.

Jamison watched him go and then said under her breath, “That good, huh?”





DECKER AND JAMISON GRABBED an early dinner at the hotel.

“I checked the weather outside. It’s down to eighty-one with a thousand percent humidity. Winter is clearly upon us,” added Jamison, attempting a smile.

Decker put down his menu. “It’s like Mark Twain said, everybody complains about the weather, but no one ever does a damn thing about it.”

After the waitress took their orders and departed Jamison said, “So why don’t you tell me how it went with your sister?” She gave him a look. “If you remember, you just walked off without a word.”

Decker sighed. “She said she’s doing fine financially. Her focus is on the kids and she said they’re handling it okay. When things slow down a bit she’s going to concentrate on her own well-being.”

“Well, that’s smart. And Stan?”

“She said it was amicable and he’s been very supportive.”

“I guess not all divorces are that easy. So, good for them.”

Decker said, “Did you ever consider getting married again?”

“If you can believe it, I never ran into Mr. Right, which includes my ex-husband.”