Crush by Phoef Sutton Page B

Steinkellner asked the man.
    â€œI will. If you’ll answer a few questions.”
    â€œAre you a cop? You have to tell me if you are.”
    â€œIt’s about Walter Trask.”
    â€œSo you’re not a cop. And I don’t have to talk to you.”
    â€œYou do if you want to avoid a scene.”
    Steinkellner sighed. Yeah, he wanted to avoid a scene. “Okay. I read about Walter Trask. I thought it was too bad.”
    â€œWhat was too bad, Mr. Steinkellner?”
    â€œToo bad the wrong brother killed himself.”
    â€œDid he?”
    Steinkellner hefted his heavy carrying cases and headed for the back door. “Look, I gotta be at the Chungs’ house for little Brandon’s fifth birthday in a half hour. You want to tag along, that’s fine with me. Misery loves company.”
    â€œMr. Steinkellner,” the man was doing a fine impression of Jack Webb, “did you murder Walter Trask? And did you attempt to murder Amelia Trask by blowing up her house?”
    Steinkellner sighed and thought about the trip toAlhambra. Garfield Avenue would be all blocked up this time of day.
    â€œSure,” he said. “I did it. And I was saving Stanley Trask for last. The Big Finish. Abracadabra.”

    Rush took the coffee cup from Gail without a glance, lost in thought.
    â€œWhy would Trask lie about a thing like that?” she asked him when he told her about Guzman and water.
    â€œTrask would lie just to keep in practice,” Rush said.
    Amelia walked in from the bedroom, and Rush and Gail fell silent.
    â€œOoh, they go all quiet when she walks into the room,” Amelia said, as she poured herself a cup of coffee. “Are Mommy and Daddy fighting again?”
    Gail took the plunge. “Amelia, did you and Tony Guzman have a relationship?”
    â€œAre you my new best friend?” Amelia turned to Rush. “She’s my new best friend.”
    â€œWhen did it start?” Rush asked.
    â€œThree years ago. Are you doing the math? Yes, I was fifteen. Yes, he liked that. Do you think I’m getting too old for him now?” She pulled her cell phone from her pocket and checked it for messages. “He hasn’t called me. What does that mean?”
    â€œWho hasn’t called you?” Gail asked.
    â€œTony. I did what he said. Why hasn’t he called?”
    â€œWhat did you do for him?” Rush asked.
    â€œI didn’t tell anybody that he killed Uncle Walter.”

THIRTEEN
    R ush and Gail didn’t speak.
    â€œYou see, most nights I’d sneak out of my room after everybody was asleep.” Amelia gave them a little smile. “You know I’m good at that.”
    â€œGood enough to fool Stegner,” Rush said.
    â€œBut not good enough to fool Tony.” Amelia sipped her coffee, knowing she had them on the hook, making the moment linger. “I’d go down to where Tony was on duty. At first, we’d just talk. You know, I’d go on about school and guys and my mom killing herself. Tony would talk about working and guys he’d beat up. I don’t know if we knew we were flirting with each other, but we were. Every time I’d tell him about some guy I liked in school, I’d be checking him out, seeing how he reacted. And every time he told me about his wife, I could see it in his eyes that he was doing the same to me. And then he stopped talking about his wife. I knew it was only a matter of time.
    â€œO’course there was my age to worry about, butthat was good in a way. It added to the excitement. For him anyway. Made it a real moral dilemma. Finally, he told me that I had to stop coming down. That we both knew where this was leading, and though it might not seem like a big deal to me, for him it was very big deal. I said it was a big deal for me too. Then we fucked.”
    She took a sip of coffee and went on.
    â€œAfter that, we didn’t talk so much. I’d sneak down, we’d fuck,