25,59 €
Mehr erfahren.
They glance at each other, but they never talk too much. There are no clear answers between them. There is always a veil of mystery why he is aloof, why he asks so little, why he does not answer when addressed. Not only does he seem thoughtfully searching for his own truth, but you can't easily approach him to learn his character. From now on, however, everything will change when he will have to face a new, bittersweet reality.
Das E-Book können Sie in Legimi-Apps oder einer beliebigen App lesen, die das folgende Format unterstützen:
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023
Ähnliche
Title Page
Perdurable and Crooked
Blame Ball
Jeremy McHarry
Perdurable and Crooked / 7th of series: Blame Ball / By Jeremy McHarry
Published 2023 by Bentockiz
e-book Imprint: Calkden Norsh
e-book Registration: Stockholm, Sweden
e-book ISBN: 9789198826760
e-book editing: Athens, Greece
Cover Images created via AI art generators
Table of Contents
Title Page
Introduction
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Introduction
Through books we come into contact with everything important that has happened in the past, analyzing also current events and putting our thoughts together to predict the future. The book is a window to the world, acquiring valuable knowledge and sparking our vivid imagination. It is a means of entertainment and is generally seen as a best friend, or as a slave that carries together all valuable information for us. The book is a friend who stays together without demands, a friend you call upon at every moment and abandon when you want.
It accompanies us in the hours of boredom and loneliness, while at the same time it entertains us. In general, a book does not ask anything from us, while it waits patiently on a dusty shelf to give us its information, to get us out of dead ends and to travel us to magical worlds.
This may be the travel mission of our books. Abstract narration, weird or unconscious thoughts difficult to be understood, but always genuine and full of life experiences, these are stories of life that can’t be overlooked easily.
This may be the start of something amazing!
Chapter One
“You’re right. Okay, lift me down, old man.” When he looks at her a puzzled expression, she explains, “The consequences of your actions, you lifted me up here, you have to lift me down.”
While Klara chuckles in the background, he starts to lift her up, but Sharlene wraps her legs around his waist, her arms around his neck, and kisses him. As she lets him breathe, she whispers in his ear, “Carry me to the table.” Without responding verbally, he tightly hugs her, carries her to the table while he resists the temptation to slip an arm under her buttocks, pulls out a chair, and sits on the front edge. She unwraps her legs, gets up, lets him sit back in the chair, sits on his upper legs, kisses his cheek, snuggles up to his chest, and tells him, “Thank you, lover.”
As Klara follows and sits down, she’s shaking her head then says, “I don’t know which of you surprises me more.”
* * * * *
2147-09-05 (a2)
A few moments later, Klara redirects their thoughts to the business at hand and for the next hour or so, she goes over their statements while she asks them what they were thinking and feeling and what their impressions were. There are a couple of minor differences in their accounts, based on what they observed and remembered, which only enhances the validity of their statements since no two people will remember the same event in the same way or necessarily in the exact same sequence.
By going over their accounts together, they’re able to remember things they had forgotten or hadn’t noticed before, although none of it would be of any significance to the sheriff’s investigation, but it adds to the impression which Klara is gaining of Hektor, as well as her impression of George and of his relationship with Sharlene. When she’s done, Klara asks, “There, that wasn’t so bad, was it?”
As Sharlene seems to sink further into his comforting embrace, she says, “Klara, I’m very glad you aren’t the prosecuting attorney in this case. I don’t think I could handle it without begin constantly comforted by George.”
“You probably could handle it, but you’re being spoiled because he’s so quick to comfort you. Of course, for you to know that he’ll comfort you as soon as he can would enable you to more easily handle a tough situation. I’m certainly not chastising you, because I can think of a lot of times when I wished I had someone to comfort me like you do. So enjoy it, revel in it, and know that you’ll be able to handle a tough situation, because you know that he’ll comfort you as soon as humanly possible.”
“Sometimes I worry that I’ll be so spoiled I won’t want to leave his arms.”
Klara exclaims, “Bosh! I suppose it might feel that way to you, but you didn’t let that affect you last weekend. You did what needed to be done, partially because you knew he was there to support and comfort you. I’ll bet it would have turned out significantly different if George hadn’t have been there to protect, encourage, and then comfort you.”
“I know the results would have been quite a bit worse without this wonderful man being with me. I suppose that’s why I seldom go out on my own. Between Mom’s warnings and some friends in college warning me, I pretty much avoid quiet lonely places unless I’m with other people. It makes it easier since I’m not a very social person to begin with.”
“That’s a good policy. Oh, I did have one more question. George, do you normally carry a handgun?”
“I didn’t used to, but with this lovely lady in my life, I need an edge in being able to protect her.”
“Does she need your protection?”
His pause is brief before he answers, “Probably not, but I would prefer to be prepared rather than have to live with the regret of not being prepared and unable to protect her when I needed to.”
“Thank you. That’s what I hoped you would say. Enough of my interrogation. How about some dinner, then I’ll go gossip with Paula and leave you two love birds alone.”
Sharlene assures her, “You don’t have to run off, Klara.”
“I know I don’t have to, but it’s been a long day and I think you would like to spend some time alone with George. Besides, for the next couple of days, you won’t have much time alone with him, so enjoy it while you can.”
“Thank you.”
Klara asks, “George, are you going to want some help with dinner?”
“No, thank you. Why don’t you two relax and enjoy each other’s company?”
Klara puts her computer away with the witness statements and sets it by the front door with her bag which George had brought in. As she comes back to the dining room, she says, “George, I was somewhat surprised to see a piano in the front room. Do you play?”
“Poorly. It’s been many years since I used to play, but I thought I would try to pick it back up again. Sharlene plays very well.”
“I know she used to.” Klara turns to her and asks, “Didn’t you leave your piano at your folks’ place?”
“Yes. I didn’t realize how much I missed it, until I came here and was able to play again.”
Klara turns back to him and asks, “In many ways you’re quite practical, so why a grand piano?”
“I was able to pick it up at an estate sale and I couldn’t see them throwing it out. So I bought it and had it restored. In the end, it didn’t cost much more than if I had purchased a slightly used upright.”
“Really? I would have expected a restoration to cost a lot more than that.”
“Well, almost all of the damage was cosmetic and it looked worse than it was. I think the person who restored it also gave me a good price because he would rather see a piano being used rather than being tossed out or ignored.”
“So even with something which appears to be extravagant, you have a practical explanation for it. You have me curious now, how could you afford such a large library? I doubt if you purchased all of those books since you won your money and that many must have cost a fortune.”
He explains, “If you had the time to look more closely, you would see that the vast majority of the books are used or public library discards. I doubt if I paid retail for more than a couple of hundred of those books and those were primarily textbooks from a few decades ago. When I bought the piano, they were also selling several hundred books which I bought for almost nothing. I usually go to the city two or three times a year for the public library’s used book sales or I buy books at charity thrift stores. If I’ve picked up most of a series and can’t find the last one or two, I’ll check out the used book stores, or once in a blue moon, I’ll buy it online.”
“Why not buy retail, you can afford it now.”
“After many years of using alternate sources for my book buying because I couldn’t afford it otherwise, I found that I kind of enjoy the treasure hunting aspect. Very seldom do I go looking for a specific book unless it’s to add to a partial series which I already have. I could borrow from the public library, but I like to have books around me and enjoy reading older books which libraries no longer carry. Or they get rid of the first book in a series before the last one is ever published. I suppose you can say that books are my vice. Actually, I spent a lot more on extending the house to comfortably hold the books than I’ve spent on all of the books themselves.”
“Interesting. I must say you have an impressive home.”
“Thank you. I hadn’t meant it to be impressive, just comfortable.”
Klara thinks for a little while then suggests, “You know, I think we ought to find a way for Mariam to take some hidden video or pictures of your place when she comes up tomorrow. I’ll bet her managers will want her to verify ‘Mr. G’s’ statements as much as possible and will want her to tell about her visit as completely as possible.”
Sharlene exclaims, “Damn.”
George asks, “What’s the matter, love?”
“I thought I had left my phone off, but it’s on and there’s no message from Mariam. She hasn’t called because I know I’m in area here.”
“Unless she called this morning while we were traveling. There are a few spots which don’t have coverage.”
“True, but knowing Mariam, if she had received an out of area message she would have just tried back later.”
“Maybe she just hasn’t had a chance yet . . . .”
Just then her phone rings and Sharlene almost drops it in surprise before she answers it, “Hello?”
“Hi, Sharlene, it’s Mariam.”
“Ah, Mariam, hello. We were just talking about you.”
