Black Sun Descending Read Online Free Page B

window, and got out. “My God, Silas, what the hell are you wearing?”
    Silas looked down at himself as if seeing his clothing for the first time. “These are hospital-issue pyjamas.”
    â€œI assume there is a good story behind all this?”
    â€œJust the usual.”
    â€œTo the guest house with you. Leave your clothing in a pile on the doorstep. I’ll burn them for you. I’ll get Trish to find something in the closet that fits and you’ll tell us the tale.”
    â€œWHAT DID THE hospital say?” Ken asked, handing Silas a plate heaped with roast beef, potatoes, carrots, and salad. Silas, Ken, and Ken’s wife, Trish, were sitting at a table under the pergola, festooned with the early leaves of grapes that grew along its trusses. Silas sipped appreciatively from a glass of beer while Ken drank club soda and lime.
    â€œThey think I’ll be fine. I got the hottest shower and the best scrubbing from a male orderly I’ve ever imagined. Used a brush like a giant toilet bowl cleaner on me. The nurses took some blood and say they’ll look for radioactive isotopes. They may put me on a dose of potassium iodine. I have to go back tomorrow. Doc says they’re going to run some tests on my thyroid. Just the usual.”
    â€œJust the usual,” mocked Ken. He wiped his mouth and shook his head.
    â€œSilas,” said Trish kindly. “What were you looking for?”
    â€œFound. What I found was a body.”
    â€œNot this again,” said Ken. “I thought this was over. I thought that shrink I recommended got your head back down to size.”
    â€œI’m afraid not, Ken.”
    â€œDo you know who it was?” asked Trish, putting a calming hand on her husband’s massive arm.
    â€œI just saw the skull, neck, and shoulders. Sheriff Willis asked the FBI to bring in Katie Rain to help with the excavation and identification.”
    â€œAh, the very fine Dr. Katie Rain.”
    Silas stopped eating and looked up sharply at his friend.
    â€œDon’t play coy, Dr. Pearson. I know that you and the FBI ’s forensic anthropologist have a mutual interest in one another.”
    â€œI haven’t seen her since the fall. She came to Moab to help me look for Penelope. That’s all. There’s nothing more.”
    â€œSuit yourself, Silas,” said Ken, shoveling potatoes into his mouth.
    â€œDo you think this might be Penny?” Trish asked carefully.
    â€œI don’t. I was just telling Dr. Rain that when these bodies show up now, I no longer think, Oh, I’ve found my wife! ”
    Silas told Ken and Trish about his dream.
    â€œI’m sorry, Silas,” Trish said.
    â€œDon’t be. I’m not. I just don’t want to be doing this anymore. I’m tired. I’m not interested in uranium waste and I don’t care if the uranium companies are tearing up the Colorado Plateau and the Arizona Strip. I don’t care! It’s not my fight. It might have been Penelope’s, but it’s not mine.”
    â€œCome, let’s finish this talk of corpses and radioactive sludge,” said Ken abruptly. “There must be more interesting things to discuss.”
    â€œWell, in fact,” said Silas, “there is. Turns out I am going to need a lawyer. Sheriff Willis wants me to come to the office tomorrow. I think the Department of Energy is going to press trespassing charges against me.”

SILAS’S CELL PHONE BUZZED AT ten o’clock. Ken and Trish had just gone to bed. He was sitting alone under the pergola by the guest house, watching the stars above the darkened form of the Moab Rim. “Dr. Rain,” he said, answering.
    â€œHi Silas.”
    â€œYou sound tired.”
    â€œLong day in full-body protective clothing.”
    â€œAt least you won’t have a surly orderly scrubbing you with a wire brush.”
    â€œI clearly need to get out more because that almost sounds like