SEVEN

"…Your Ms. Skyler?"

"…Am, was. I was divorced, but I kept the name for work." She looked around the driveway, puzzled. "…Where's Hardway?"

She looked exactly like her…Like her…

Angelo didn't know how to react to that. He opened his mouth but no words came out. He looked down at the ground, hands in his pockets. "Kathryn, I need to talk to you…" he looked up at her. Their eyes locked. "…about Hardway."

I don't know how much longer that I can wait, It's a thin line between love and hate…

"…What happened?"

"…I'm sorry…"

Danny thought about it. If he doesn't leave…waste him. D'Angelo. Fuck. The last time they had crossed paths, he let Angelo go…with major injuries. He couldn't kill him then, what made Conan think he could kill him now? Fuck. He dialled the number to the office and waited for it to ring. Let's see if the new guy's any use…
Kathryn had led him through a dark hallway to a small dark wood panelling and heavy brown leather furniture made it gloomy, so she switched on a desk lamp, which changed it into a cosy man's space. There were shelves of books, expensive editions bought by subscriptions decades ago, and curled faded photographs thumbtacked to the front edges of the shelves.

And two minutes later, he was sitting across from her in an arm chair, looking at the carpet, as if interested in it. Kathryn watched him for a long time. "Somebody killed him?" she repeated. Angelo looked up and opened his mouth to say something, "I……I-I'm sorry. It's all my fault. I should have told him." Kathryn stood up and folded her arms, he watched as she sat back down, closer to him, her eyes focused on the carpet.

"I don't believe it." she whispered. "Why?"

"I don't know why," Angelo replied. "I don't know shit, Kathryn. I don't even know why he turned up so sudden like…like……a fucking tooth fairy!"

"Mom passed away…" She said softly. "…she wanted you to come to her funeral."

The news hit him like lightning. Kathryn's mother had been like a second mother to him ever since his' died in a car accident. She was always so happy and cheerful, and she wouldn't take shit from anyone. She was like, so tough. It was hard to believe she was gone. "I'm sorry…" he said again. "Don't be, your not the one who was deciding whether to pull the plug or not…" she said.

"Did Hardway come up here? So that you could discuss stuff?" Angelo asked. She nodded. "I called him and told him we'd pay him, but he was meant to come here to get the details. He called me back a day or two later, said he'd discussed it with Mom and it boiled down to finding you. He wanted me to retain him officially, on paper, because it could get very expensive. So naturally, I did that by myself."

"…He told me his client was Ms. Skyler." Angelo said. "Not Kathryn R. Which is why I ignored him. Which is how I got him killed."

She shook her head and looked at him sharply, like he was some kind of new associate who had just done a piece of sloppy drafting. Angelo wasn't surprised. He held his breath, waiting for the outburst he usually got when they were about eight-year-old.

"You're a jackass." She continued on, ignoring Angelo who rolled his eyes at her, "Mom told Hardway the story. Hardway tried some kind of a shortcut before he went looking for you, whereby he turned over the wrong stone and got somebody pissed. That asshole killed him to find out who was looking, and why. Makes no difference. And that, you idiot, is how I got him killed, ultimately."

"It was your mom. Through you…and then, through your thick-as-your-head money."

She shook her head. "I think it was my mom's associate. Her, through mom, through me and my so called 'thick-as-my-head-money'." Angelo snickered, mocking her through his actions. "We're gonna be here all day so I'm stopping there." she said. Angelo held up his hands in surrender and then lowered them, "I need to find that person…"

"Why, does it matter now?"

"Because - oh, that's right! -I said so."

She nodded vaguely and glanced towards the window. "Okay, so what do I do?"

"You get out of here," Angelo said. "That's for damned sure. Too lonely, to isolated. You got a place in the city?" She nodded, "Yeah. I live there. This is Mom's house."

"You got a car here?" he asked her. She shrugged, "Sure. It's in the garage."

There was pause. A fraction of a second. "What kind of car?"

Danny watched as two shadows pushed through the driveway, he exhaled some smoke and smiled to himself. The shadows eased off the ground and pushed through to the garage. Across the front towards the house. They went into their jackets and took out pistols. Held them pointed at the ground and went one at a time for the front porch.

They re-grouped and eased slowly over the old timbers. Ended up squatting on the floor, backs pressed against the house, one on either side of the front door, pistols out and ready. She'd gone in this way. She'd come back out. Just a matter of time…

Danny waited. For his own amusement and his father's anger, he called the two morons back from the 'office' and said some 'inspirational' things so that they would hurry up and come. All it took was for him to call over and say, "I'm pissed." and then, fucking- poof! -as if by some sort of fucking asshole magic, the two idiots would appear. This 'office' turned out to be right behind the trees near where he was. It also turned out that they were watching what the hell he was doing for Conan. Conan, that bastard. He thinks I can't do it? Well, I damn well can. But why should I do it? Because he told me to? Fuck no.

And I assure you, Conan. Today, someone will get hurt…

She found a battered leather suitcase in the den closet and loaded the concertinas straight into it. Forced the lid down tight and snapped it shut. Angelo picked up an old photograph from the desk and looked at it. It was a picture of Kathryn's mother, smiling happily, a boy and a girl on either side of her, her arms pulling them close. The boy had a sarcastic, 'Why-do-I-have-to-take-this-damned-photo-thingy.' look, his arms folded across his chest. The girl was smiling, her arms also folded but one hand was giving the finger. The kids looked about twelve.

"Katy." he said. Serious. Hurt. She knew that tone.

She stopped packing and forced herself not to look up at him.

"Did you…" he tried to say. "…Did you resent it?" he asked. "The way she thought about me? As family?"

She paused in the doorway and nodded. "I resented it like hell." she said. "And one day, I'll tell you exactly why…"

Angelo was looking out the window, peering through the blinds. It was almost dark. The view was powerful. The wide, beautiful river kept rolling by, whatever people did about the houses and the yards that dotted its banks. It reminded him a lot of Lara. She was almost so beautiful and being back here with the woman who used to be his best friend was not helping. She looked a lot like Lara….

Like Lara…

"I'm ready." Kathryn called. Angelo turned around, hands thrust in his pockets. She was carrying a leather garment bag. She had brushed her hair, and the static had kicked a couple of strands outward. She was smoothing them back with her hand, hooking them behind her ears. The black shirt picked up her eyes in a way and emphasized the pale honey of her skin.

The many years had done her no harm at all.

They walked in silence through to the kitchen and bolted the door to the yard. Turned off all the appliances they could see and screwed faucets tight shut. Came back out into the hallway. "I resented it like crazy." she said softly. Angelo was quiet, unsure of what to say. It felt like being punched in the face…hard…by a woman. Ah, fuck it. And then, they opened the front door...