Water to Burn Read Online Free Page B

P232.” Ari sounded like a parent introducing a child. “It carries seven shots. Not many, but adequate in an emergency.”
    “Gosh, that makes me feel so much safer.”
    “No need for sarcasm! This holster’s specially made for the Israeli army.” He stroked the nasty little thing. “You should carry a weapon like this in your bag. I’ll get one for you.”
    “I will not carry a firearm. Sorry. No way.”
    “I know you have another way to protect yourself, but—”
    “There are no buts. No guns.”
    He rolled his eyes, then picked up his suit coat. For a moment he frowned at it.
    “What’s wrong?” I said.
    “Do you have a sewing kit?”
    “Uh, no. Why?”
    “The lining in my jacket’s torn again.” He held up the jacket and demonstrated by turning the left sleeve inside out. The lining had frayed badly right at the seam shared by the sleeve and shoulder.
    “I usually just take stuff like that to the seamstress at the dry cleaner’s,” I said.
    “I need to do it myself.”
    “Why?”
    “Because they always ask questions. The fraying’s from the hammer of the Beretta in the shoulder holster. It rubs. I don’t like to advertise that I carry a firearm.”
    “Oh. Well, when we’re at Aunt Eileen’s, ask her. She’ll mend it for you, and she’s good at keeping secrets.”
    “She’d have to be, in your family. Which reminds me. Does everyone in your family know about your real job?”
    “No, just the trustworthy ones. Eileen and Jim, obviously, and the two boys. And Sean and Al. Father Keith. I think Dan suspects.”
    “You trust Brian and Michael?”
    “Of course. Michael has plenty to hide himself, and Brian’s a closemouthed kid by nature as well as nurture. He knows better than to blab family secrets. We all learned that young.”
    “Good,” Ari said. “I should certainly hope you’ve not told Kathleen.”
    “I haven’t, no. She never makes sure her brain’s engaged before she puts her mouth in gear. And there’s no reason for Jack to know anything. Ditto Maureen and her kids.”
    “But you trust the Houlihans.”
    A slight edge to his tone of voice put me in warning mode. He was probing, I suddenly realized, though I didn’t know why or for what.
    “Sure,” I said. “Why wouldn’t I?”
    “I was just wondering how much I could say in front of them. They seem like the sort of people who can keep a secret, but I wanted to verify that.”
    “Okay. I wouldn’t tell them anything about your other job, though.”
    “I certainly wasn’t planning on it. No need to burden them. Oh, by the way, what does Jim do? I’d like to be able to chat with him.”
    “He works for the Muni, the bus system. He started out as a driver, but he’s a supervisor now. He’s a lot smarter than he acts, you know.”
    “I rather suspected that. Good. I know something about the underground and things of that sort from my time in London.”
    He smiled so blandly that my suspicions deepened. He had a logical reason to ask about the Houlihans, I supposed, but I changed the subject anyway. “Do you have something in that sample case of yours that measures radioactivity levels?”
    “Yes, as a matter of fact. Why?”
    “Is it small enough to take along to Aunt Eileen’s? I’m worried about Michael sneaking through that world gate. He’s got a girlfriend over in the trashed version of the United States.”
    “The hooker?”
    “Yeah.”
    “And she’ll have sex with him?”
    “Yeah.”
    “Then I don’t need the rad counter.” Ari paused for a smile. “Of course he’s going over to see her. I’d be more worried about diseases than radiation. I’ll talk to him about condoms.”
    “Good idea. Better you than me.” And damned if I didn’t blush.
    Aunt Eileen and her family, which now included my brother Michael, lived on the other side of the city, about halfway up the main hill of the Excelsior district, which slopes up from the outer reaches of Mission Street. It’s a neighborhood of