Daniel Ganninger - Icarus Investigations 02 - Peeking Duck Read Online Free Page A

think—it’s time to move on.”
    “ So if I get this right,” Galveston replied, “you don’t want to talk about Elizabeth?”
    My ease immediately turned to rage and frustration.
    “ No, damn it!” I shouted at him while Jane shook her head from side to side.  “Look at yourself, you’re a mess.  You haven’t shaved in weeks. I have no idea when you last took a shower.  I mean, come on man, you couldn’t even put on the right pair of socks, and good lord, you have on two different shoes.”
    “ They were the ones closest to me,” Galveston said sheepishly.
    “ Exactly!” I yelled at him again.  “You just don’t care anymore.”  I said each word loud and slow, as if that would make things sink in.
    “ So we’re really not going to talk about Elizabeth?” he said directly to me.
    “ No! No! No!” I yelled again.  I turned and put my hands in my hair as if I was going to pull it out.  “I can’t,” I said to Jane who got up from the desk.
    “ Dan,” she started softly, “what Roger is so eloquently trying to say is that it’s time to let Elizabeth go.  It’s over, she’s moved on, and it’s time you did the same.  We care about you, and we don’t want to keep seeing you like this.”
    “ I still have a chance to get her back, right?” Galveston said to Jane.
    “ No, honey, she’s over you.  She won’t return your calls or emails.  She has moved on.”  Galveston slouched farther in his chair.
    “ It’s like we’re talking to a crazy person,” I stated aloud, still facing the wall away from the pair.
    “ You’ve never lost someone like this!” Galveston yelled at me.
    “ Finally, some life out of him,” I said, whirling around.  “He’s not dead.  Amazing.”
    “ I have to sit here and watch you two prance around with each other.  You don’t know what I’m going through.  You never supported us,” Galveston said defiantly. 
    I pushed back a chuckle at how ridiculous his statement was.
    “Support what?  Some fake relationship?  She drove you crazy.  You never saw her for more than a few days every few months.  You were just a distraction for her while she found someone else to settle down with.  You were her gigolo.  She brushed you off at every turn.” 
    The gloves had come off , and I was popping on all cylinders.  Jane sighed and headed back to her desk.
    “ You better watch your mouth,” Galveston threatened.
    I walked close to Galveston and bent down.
    “ She was slumming it with you and laughing at you the rest of the time.  Hell, she’s probably laughing it up now, showing her fiance all the crazy emails you send her.  You know, the guy she had been seeing for over a year while you two were supposedly together?”
    “ I said, you better watch it, or we’ll have to step outside,” Galveston responded with a sneer.
    I leaned in closer, getting nose to nose with Galveston and whispered, “She’s a tramp.” 
    Now, in truth, I actually liked Elizabeth.  I didn’t hold it against her that she had to get on with her life, but Galveston needed to be provoked.  This was reckoning time.
    Galveston stood bolt upright and looked me straight in the eye.  “I’m going to kick your ass.”
    “ Let’s step outside then,” I responded quickly.
    Galveston marched to the door and flung it open.  Jane put her head in her hands.
    “ Oh, just go kill each other,” she said dejectedly, giving up on trying to mend the situation.  I gave a nod of my head and followed Galveston out the door.
    Galveston was already waiting on a small grassy area outside the office door, grunting expletives to himself.  I hadn’t seen him this active in months, so if nothing else, I at least would get him to do some exercise.  Just for fun, I decided to fuel the flames further.
    “ I bet she took her new boyfriend to all the places you two had been, and they probably had a good laugh,” I said as I got within earshot.
    This sent him over the edge.