The Night Visitor Read Online Free

magazine’s annual 50 Most Beautiful People issue.

    Junior turned his eyes to the magazine, his face contorting as if with fear. Just as his focus again skirted elsewhere, Danny opened the magazine to the page that had its corner folded down. On it was Rory Langtry, wearing a skimpy black dress and a come-hither look.
    Junior took it in with the same expression of bewilderment and vexation he displayed during the nanosecond of attention he gave anything. His eyes again shifted away.
    Danny turned the magazine to look at it himself. Her life has only gotten better. She put you here and went on her merry way because her rich family protects her.
    “Hey, hot stuff. You look nice, Danny. You going out someplace?” An African American nurse with Corliss on her nametag stuck her head into the room. She was middle-aged, not tall, and she had a solid build and a big smile.
    Danny looked up at her. “Yeah, to a party.”
    “With friends?”
    “They’re not my friends, but I’m gonna have the time of my life.”
    “Oh…All right. As long as you have fun. I’ll be in to suction in a few minutes.”
    “I’m leaving soon. Maybe you could wait.”
    “Sure. No problem.”
    After she’d left, Danny folded back the People to Rory’s photograph and tucked the magazine under Junior’s pillow. He reached into his jacket and took an envelope from an inside pocket. From it, he pulled out a rose - hued ticket to the La Vie en Rose Ball for The Other Victims. He held it in front of Junior’s face.

    Junior took it in with his usual fleeting attention.
    Danny looked at the ticket, then returned it to its envelope and put the envelope back into his pocket. He glanced into the hallway. It was quiet. The only other person around was Junior’s roommate, a minimally conscious, elderly man who was lying on his back in bed with his eyes open.
    Danny stood and pulled the tail of his shirt from the front of his slacks. Tucked into his waistband was a .38 revolver. He pulled it out and held it up for Junior.
    Junior’s eyes widened as he took in this object with no greater or lesser attention than he had given anything else Danny had presented.
    Danny turned the gun this way and that, showing Junior all its angles, before slipping it back into his waistband and tucking in his shirt over it. He clasped Junior’s face between his hands and kissed his brother’s cheeks and forehead. Tears welled in Danny’s eyes and dropped onto Junior’s blanket.
    Danny abruptly left the room, not looking back.
    In the corridor he met Corliss, who was carrying the tubing and sterile catheters to suction the numerous tracheostomies in the unit. He grabbed her and kissed her hard on the mouth. She struggled to free herself, dropping the packages, but he held fast.
    He stopped kissing her but still held her face and looked at her hard. “Thanks, Corliss. Take care of him.”
    He continued down the corridor and left the unit.
    Corliss touched her lips, reeling as she gaped after him.

7
    “Hello. Welcome. So nice to see you. Thanks for supporting The Other Victims. See you on the dance floor. Hello. Nice to meet you. Welcome to my home. Thank you. This? Vintage Valentino. I last wore it when I presented the Academy Award for Best Screenplay in ’86. The necklace is a Tate family heirloom. Aren’t you sweet? See you on the dance floor.”
    Evelyn Langtry Tate sneaked a glance at her watch and erased her frown before blowing a kiss to a silver-haired man farther down the receiving line. He jokingly snatched it from the air and planted it on his cheek.
    “Dot and Dr. Hal,” she said to the couple next in line. They air-kissed and hugged. “Thanks so much for coming.”
    “Evelyn, you’re ageless. What’s your secret?”
    “Aren’t you sweet? Good clean living. Diet and exercise.” Evelyn winked. “And Botox.”
    They all laughed.
    “Let’s have a picture.”
    A woman offered to take the photo. Dot, Hal, and Evelyn linked arms. Evelyn ran her