The Endless Knot Read Online Free Page B

to my son, law school is kick-ass.”
    Zack beamed. “Good for Angus. The law is a kick-ass profession.” His smile grew rueful. “Well, most of the time. Anything else I should know?”
    “A boy came calling for Taylor this morning.”
    “She won’t be eleven till next month.”
    “I’m hoping this is just a friend who happens to be a boy. He was wearing a pentangle – like Gawain.”
    “Should I know who Gawain is?”
    “As a matter of fact, you should. Gawain was one of King Arthur’s knights. The boy with the pentangle told me that Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is the most important book in his life.”
    Zack chuckled. “Well, if Taylor has to have a boyfriend, I guess we’re lucky he’s into chivalry.”
    “We’re lucky people,” I said.
    “We are,” Zack agreed. He glanced at his watch. “I should be getting back. So what are you going to do this afternoon?”
    “Pack up the car and visit Howard Dowhanuik.”
    “What’s Howard like anyway?”
    “Let’s see. He still calls me ‘babe.’ Does that tell you anything?”
    “Just that he’s a braver man than I am.”
    “He is brave – brave and smart and funny – at least that’s the way he used to be. You would have liked him.”
    “But I wouldn’t like him now.”
    “At this point, not even Howard likes Howard.”
    “What went wrong there? I mean, one day he’s the ex-premier, a respected elder statesman, and the next day he’s a lush.”
    “The meltdown wasn’t that quick,” I said. “Howard’s ego’s been taking a beating for a while now. He gave his life to the party, but the party seems to have forgotten his name, his telephone number, and his principles. His daughters e-mail when they think of him – which isn’t often – and since Kathryn Morrissey’s book, his son won’t speak to him.”
    “You can hardly blame Charlie for that,” Zack said.
    “Charlie? You’re on a first-name basis with Howard’s son?”
    “Sure. I don’t like surprises. Our firm has talked to everybody we think may be important to this case, and that includes Charlie. I know that he’s had a tough row to hoe. That birthmark on his face must have been a terrible thing for a kid to deal with, and according to Charlie, his father was never there.”
    “Except during election time,” I said. “During campaigns we always trotted Charlie out so there wouldn’t be an awkward gap in the family picture.”
    “So you’re loyal to Howard because you feel guilty?”
    “No,” I said. “I’m loyal to Howard because he’s always been there when the kids and I needed him. Now it’s my turn.”
    “And you can just blow off the fact that he told Kathryn Morrissey the most intimate details about his son’s private life. Jo, Charlie’s spent years building his career. People across Canada tune into his radio show because they want to hear Charlie D, the cool, smart guy with the insights – the guy who can make them laugh and show them a way out of their problems. So Howard tells Kathryn Morrissey that Charlie D is a fake – that the real Charlie grew up seeing shrinks every week, that he loved his mother obsessively, and that when Charlie was eight years old he met a little girl named Ariel and for the next twenty years he loved her with such a consuming passion that he made her life hell until she died. What kind of man would reveal secrets like that about his son? What was Howard thinking?”
    “He wasn’t thinking. He was trying to make amends for all the years he ignored Charlie. Howard believed that when people read about how deeply Charlie had been wounded by his absence, they’d realize they should be part of their children’s lives.”
    Zack’s raised an eyebrow. “And he wanted to jump Kathryn’s bones.”
    “I’m sure he did,” I said. “But Howard loves Charlie and this is killing him.” I moved closer. “Try not to lose sight of that when you have him in the witness box.”
    Zack brushed my cheek with the back of his