CHAPTER ONE
G ulliver Dowd had one new message on his cell. His guts knotted up as he listened. The woman was panicked. He could hear it in her voice. It was a voice he knew too well. One he had hoped he would never hear again. The woman’s daughter was gone. He had warned her this would happen. And it had.
Nina Morton’s voice was cracking now. She was crying. Begging for Dowd’s help. He had found her daughter once. He could do it again. She just knew he could. He could do anything when he put his mind to it. Hadn’t he become a licensed private investigator? Hadn’t he earned his black belt? Hadn’t he become a dead shot? All of this in spite of his deformed body. And Nina swore she would do anything for him. Even marry him if that’s what he wanted. All he had to do was find Anka again. Gulliver stopped listening. He erased the message.
It wasn’t that Gulliver’s heart didn’t ache. It did. It ached all the time. It would ache for Nina until the day he died. But sometimes you can’t save people from themselves. Nina was like that. She had been Gulliver’s high school girlfriend for two months. Those were the best two months of his life. The names people called him didn’t matter. Midget . Runt . Dwarf . Freak . They couldn’t hurt him. Not as long as she was in love with him. He was Superman as long as he had Nina. It didn’t last. Gulliver knew that nothing good ever lasts.
That was eighteen years ago. He had spent seventeen of those years hoping Nina would come back to him. And last year she had. Presto! Like magic. Black magic. She had betrayed Gulliver. She had betrayed her daughter. She had betrayed herself. And now the girl was gone again. Gulliver didn’t think the girl would ever be back. But he took no joy in being right. He took no joy in Nina’s loss. He knew what it was like to lose someone forever. No one deserves that kind of pain.
His mind went to Keisha. She was gone too. Forever. People don’t come back from the grave. He had been so proud of his adopted sister when she graduated from the police academy. He looked at Keisha’s picture in the frame on his desk. Her beautiful black skin. Her fierce eyes. Her wary smile. All set against her dress blue uniform. Then he remembered seeing her in the morgue. Cold. Dead. Lost to him. He still didn’t get how it had all gone so wrong. How could someone murder a cop in cold blood? How could they do it in broad daylight? How could seven years go by without the killer being caught? How? How? How? Gulliver had asked himself these same questions every day. He got no answers. But it never stopped him. He would find her killer some day. He would never give up. Never. It’s what kept him going.
Now he was crying, his tears bitter as lemon juice. His squat body shook. Sometimes Keisha’s murder made him angry. So angry he could explode. Days like today, he was just sad. Sad for Keisha. Sad for himself. When he was like this, there was only one thing to do. Gulliver dia0">
“What’s up, Gullie?” asked Mandel.
“Have a drink with me tonight, Rabbi.” Gulliver had always called Steven that. He wasn’t sure why. But it fit. Steven was wise and loving. He always had been.
“Can’t. Business. You sound weird. Are you okay?”
“Fine,” Gulliver lied. He did that sometimes. Lied. In that way he was like everybody else. Not much else about him was.
He had to get out of his loft. The walls were closing in on him. He wasn’t much of a walker. With short legs. Uneven legs. He wobbled. At least they knew him around Red Hook. No one pointed. The local kids didn’t giggle. Not anymore. He was like a crack in the sidewalk that everyone had gotten used to.
Gulliver looked up and down Visitation Place. Red Hook was quiet. Kids were in school. It was a day that said winter was finally gone. The sky was so blue it almost didn’t look real. There wasn’t a cloud anywhere. The sun was strong and warm on his face. Gulliver’s face. That was
G ulliver Dowd had one new message on his cell. His guts knotted up as he listened. The woman was panicked. He could hear it in her voice. It was a voice he knew too well. One he had hoped he would never hear again. The woman’s daughter was gone. He had warned her this would happen. And it had.
Nina Morton’s voice was cracking now. She was crying. Begging for Dowd’s help. He had found her daughter once. He could do it again. She just knew he could. He could do anything when he put his mind to it. Hadn’t he become a licensed private investigator? Hadn’t he earned his black belt? Hadn’t he become a dead shot? All of this in spite of his deformed body. And Nina swore she would do anything for him. Even marry him if that’s what he wanted. All he had to do was find Anka again. Gulliver stopped listening. He erased the message.
It wasn’t that Gulliver’s heart didn’t ache. It did. It ached all the time. It would ache for Nina until the day he died. But sometimes you can’t save people from themselves. Nina was like that. She had been Gulliver’s high school girlfriend for two months. Those were the best two months of his life. The names people called him didn’t matter. Midget . Runt . Dwarf . Freak . They couldn’t hurt him. Not as long as she was in love with him. He was Superman as long as he had Nina. It didn’t last. Gulliver knew that nothing good ever lasts.
That was eighteen years ago. He had spent seventeen of those years hoping Nina would come back to him. And last year she had. Presto! Like magic. Black magic. She had betrayed Gulliver. She had betrayed her daughter. She had betrayed herself. And now the girl was gone again. Gulliver didn’t think the girl would ever be back. But he took no joy in being right. He took no joy in Nina’s loss. He knew what it was like to lose someone forever. No one deserves that kind of pain.
His mind went to Keisha. She was gone too. Forever. People don’t come back from the grave. He had been so proud of his adopted sister when she graduated from the police academy. He looked at Keisha’s picture in the frame on his desk. Her beautiful black skin. Her fierce eyes. Her wary smile. All set against her dress blue uniform. Then he remembered seeing her in the morgue. Cold. Dead. Lost to him. He still didn’t get how it had all gone so wrong. How could someone murder a cop in cold blood? How could they do it in broad daylight? How could seven years go by without the killer being caught? How? How? How? Gulliver had asked himself these same questions every day. He got no answers. But it never stopped him. He would find her killer some day. He would never give up. Never. It’s what kept him going.
Now he was crying, his tears bitter as lemon juice. His squat body shook. Sometimes Keisha’s murder made him angry. So angry he could explode. Days like today, he was just sad. Sad for Keisha. Sad for himself. When he was like this, there was only one thing to do. Gulliver dia0">
“What’s up, Gullie?” asked Mandel.
“Have a drink with me tonight, Rabbi.” Gulliver had always called Steven that. He wasn’t sure why. But it fit. Steven was wise and loving. He always had been.
“Can’t. Business. You sound weird. Are you okay?”
“Fine,” Gulliver lied. He did that sometimes. Lied. In that way he was like everybody else. Not much else about him was.
He had to get out of his loft. The walls were closing in on him. He wasn’t much of a walker. With short legs. Uneven legs. He wobbled. At least they knew him around Red Hook. No one pointed. The local kids didn’t giggle. Not anymore. He was like a crack in the sidewalk that everyone had gotten used to.
Gulliver looked up and down Visitation Place. Red Hook was quiet. Kids were in school. It was a day that said winter was finally gone. The sky was so blue it almost didn’t look real. There wasn’t a cloud anywhere. The sun was strong and warm on his face. Gulliver’s face. That was
Similar Books
