at my mother's house two

id for the headstone with my mother's secret sav

e and hesitant, holding a generic bouquet

base," he said, not

licated

t was a n

orse was that

tood beside him, her fac

e over the porch, then a

" she said, her voic

ce at a time like this. It's shameful. You're just like yo

lin

r favorite weapon, one she had use

g for him to defend me, t

ifted unco

e mumbled, his e

t n

n't a

s own comfort, a des

th of least resistance

t say a

his hand, turned around, and

dy office, the seal of the city police dep

th kind eyes and a face that

lication, his expr

r than our usual recruits, M

rrect him o

," I replied,

rner, and I'm in good physical shap

oking at me over the

at. There's a

for the academy's physical entrance exam, I fel

dor of the municipal building,

ar

urn

id, lookin

, clearly there on so

ards me, his

re?" he asked, his ton

r business," I sa

him, but he reached o

ip was

he said, his voic

d military officer. How will it look if my wife-my ex-wife

d on my arm, then b

replaced by this selfish stra

ght have had for him evaporated in that mo

from his grasp w

words dripping with scorn, "i

ther, and it cos

to let it cost me

my back

k to see the expr

s sure and even, toward the