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A
PERFECT WORLD (A Perry Richards Novel)
Click to order via Amazon
by Bernard Alexander McNealy
ISBN: 1418404578
Format: Paperback, 580pp
Pub. Date: April 2004
Publisher: AuthorHouse
From Chapter 2: “On Shaky Ground”
I moved to the porch baluster..leaning closer to her. “You aren’t ruling out the possibility that
you’ve gotten worked up for nothing..are you?”
“Good heavens. You really believe
that? I heard what I heard. And those headlights tried to keep up with me.” She
remained on the rail. “Even you don’t believe what you just said – do you?”
Generous lips parted and her coffee cup went up to them.
“I prefer to look at more plausible explanations..that’s all.”
“Really? Is that what you’re looking at?”
The porch overhang threw a veil of shade.
I withdrew into the dimness not knowing why. I stared at Bonnie Lee..and
afterwards at the walls of the opposite bank. Then my sight rested on the
encroaching forest. Sniper’s nest. I’d never noticed this before. A
sudden rush of something cold and unnatural splashed on my back. I said: “You
said he mumbled. You may have misunderstood the whole thing.”
“That’s bloody bull. Condor Lake is not
exactly on the main road. Anybody coming here is doing it for a purpose. This
chap had something on his mind. Something very bad.” She looked straight at me.
“Is somebody trying to get you..Perry?”
“Wow. How melodramatic. An uncle once told
me: ‘Check it out and see – then react.’ Same guy got hit by a train in a
tunnel.” I shaped my forefinger and thumb into a ‘v’ to smooth my
mustache. Her anxiety was contagious. I wanted the shadows to protect me. This
provided little solace because in the dark..phantoms of unknown purpose lurked.
“Even though you’ll reject it..take some
advice.” Bonnie steered he body pass me. She went down the steps and stood on
the pathway. “Before my husband..Sammie..died fives years ago..he passed me
something he knew especially well. A snake crawls and circles his prey.” She
looked amused. “Come to think about it..that’s how he died. One night a snake
lay in wait for him. Busted two slugs behind his ear. Perry..the guy last night
was walking on his belly. If I’m wrong..would it harm you to humor me?”
In silence..I watched her disappear behind
thick foliage. She took the curved trail back to her place. The specter of her
timorous face lingered. Chypre grew faint.
Birds shrieked in a clump of trees
somewhere. Just then the sky above the glacier walls became dark with crows.
This flock appeared not dissimilar to a funnel cloud..only it climbed skyward
instead of coming down. They flew into the waning vestiges of fog.
I got nowhere dialing
Felicia’s car and cell phones. The person answering the Felicia’s office
telephone at Hillhaven was Betsy..her secretary. Absent from her voice was its
usual mirth. She connected me to Dr. Edwin Kaplan..the clinic director. After
babbling for two minutes praising Felicia for being Hillhaven’s most dedicated
and thorough psychiatric social worker and counselor..he dispelled with the
pretense of actually liking me. Doughy moon-faced with sandy hair..I thought
Kaplan was a perfunctory clown.
“I wanted to know if my
wife dropped by. I know she’s probably on her way up here to our cabin..but I
thought I’d check. I’ll talk to her then. See you around..Edwin.”
Confounded..he
blurted: “Wait. Are you talking about Condor Lake?”
“As a matter of
fact..I am.”
“That’s strange.
Felicia didn’t come in yesterday. She called me presumably from home and
requested an emergency leave of absence.”
“Leave of absence? Did
she tell you why?”
“I didn’t ask. She’s
my assistant-director..so I wouldn’t dare refuse. Anyway..your wife came in this
morning before anyone arrived. A formal leave notice was on my desk. Frankly..I
assumed it was family related.”
LA baked in the sun
yesterday. Felicia wasn’t at the Convention Center when I came out of the
lawyer’s exam. I made my way over to our second meeting place at the downtown
arena. Still no Felicia. When I called home..she answered and claimed an
unspecified job crisis delayed her. Kaplan’s presumptive familiarity with
Felicia upset me. “I talked to her yesterday and this morning. She said you
needed her help with an emergency audit.”
“Perhaps you
misunderstood. We never had that discussion..Richards.” He downplayed the whole
thing before hanging up. I was about to do likewise when Betsy quietly said my
name. My words were slurred and may have been mistaken for a response.
Calmly..Betsy offered:
“Mr. Richards..I’m breaking confidentiality. Forgive me. I took an unusual phone
call yesterday intended for your wife. It was a call of confirmation.”
* *
* * * *
Copyright
© 2004 Bernard Alexander McNealy
