No Cure for Death Read Online Free Page A

tall tale.
    I grabbed a couple Pabsts out of the icebox and tossed him one, put a record by my favorite rock group of the moment—Deep Purple—on my turntable, sat down next to him, and changed the subject.
    “How long you going to be home?”
    “Huh?”
    “I said, how long you going to be home?”
    “Oh. A month.”
    “Then you’re going to re-up?”
    “Yeah. I mean, no.”
    “I thought you were a career soldier, boy.”
    “I am. I’m going into Air America.”
    “The hell you say! You, a mercenary? You’re kidding.”
    “No. I like combat. There’s still action in Asia. I want some.”
    “You like combat
pay,
you mean. Or do you just have a death wish?”
    John was stationed at a base called the “Rose Garden” (as in I-never-promised-you-a) and had been running missions along the Thailand and Vietnam border. As far as most Americans knew, our troops were out of the Vietnam conflict; but that just wasn’t really the case. Still, even the Rose Garden would be closing its gates soon, and soldiers like John, who, crazy as it seems,
wanted
combat, would have to go the mercenary route to stay in the game.
    He said, “I don’t want to talk about it, Mal.”
    “I know, I know. Your ex-wife racked up debts you got to pay. And combat pay with Air America beats hell out of UncleSam’s stateside duty pay. And you don’t want to start civilian life in debt. I know all the reasons, but it’s still crazy.”
    “Do me a favor.”
    “I won’t. I’m going to bitch about this the whole month you’re home. I don’t have so many friends that I can afford losing one.”
    “Do me a favor.”
    “Okay. You just got here, I realize that. You want to relax, I know, I know. I’ll back off. For now.”
    “Thanks.”
    “You’re welcome. But going back
is
crazy, John.”
    John ignored me, sipped his beer. “Ever stop to wonder what’s going to happen if you run into that guy again?”
    “What guy?”
    “That black guy at the station.”
    “That’s a possibility better left unthought of.”
    “Maybe. Maybe you better talk to Brennan about it.”
    “Oh, Christ. That’s all I need. Listen, you give me your word you won’t mention this to him? I mean, he’s going to want to know about that phone call I made to him and I’m going to give him some phony song-and-dance, so don’t go messing me up with the truth.”
    “I won’t tell him anything, Mal.”
    “Good man.”
    “Are you sure this blonde didn’t know the guy?”
    “She said not.”
    “Well, I don’t know. Anything she said make you think maybe somebody might have cause to sic him on her?”
    I hesitated.
    What Janet had told me was kind of in confidence, and with John’s stepdad being sheriff...
    But John and I had always been open with each other and I wanted to keep him open with me, since I wanted to score some points with him and eventually talk him out of going in with the mercenaries and back to Indochina. So I told him what Janet Taber had told me.
    “Jesus,” John said. “Has she talked to the police? If her mother really was beaten....”
    “I assume she will,” I said. “She did say that the local people are investigating for possible arson.”
    “The mother may have some answers,” John said.
    “If the old lady is in as bad a shape as Janet said she was, I got my doubts about her ever answering
anything
again—in this world, anyway. How about we sit around and swap war atrocities to brighten things up a little?”
    From my stereo, Deep Purple said, “Hush... hush...”
    John rose and went over to the icebox and got himself a fresh Pabst. “I think she was putting you on,” he said, returning to his spot on the couch. “You told her you were a mystery writer, and she took it from there—the whole thing’s a whopper dreamed up by a seasoned bullshitter.”
    “A whopper.”
    “Yeah.”
    “That’s some imagination she’s got then. Especially dreaming up that one-eyed apparition I clobbered.”
    “That was just her