Dig

“Natalie said, “That detective in charge of the case: is he your Jake?”

My mouth dried. The words felt arid and dusty as I forced them out. “Who told you his name?” Like I had to ask.

“Lisa pointed him out on television the other night, and I recognized him as one of the cops who was in here the other day.”

I opened my mouth, and then shut it. Jake had to know he was fighting a rearguard action. And I was through lying to my own friends and family. “Yeah,” I said. “We used to be friends. A long time ago. He’s married now.”

“Bastard,” she said.

I shook my head. “Not really. He never lied to me. I just didn’t ask the questions I didn’t want to know the answers to.”
― Josh Lanyon, Death of a Pirate King

“Drink your coffee -- people in Africa are sleeping.”
― Josh Lanyon, Fatal Shadows

“I thought again how odd it was to be on formal terms with someone you had once permitted to lick your ears.”
― Josh Lanyon, Death of a Pirate King

“He was breathing, which is always a good sign.
As gently as I could I picked him up, placed him on the towel, wrapped it around him, and put him in my car. I drove to the emergency clinic, the cat purring on the seat beside me.

“What’s his name?” the young man at the front desk asked as my towel and cat were whisked to a back room.

“Uh…John Tomkins,” I said.

“That’s different,” the receptionist said, writing it down.

“He was a pirate,” I said. “I mean Tomkins. I don’t know about the cat.”
― Josh Lanyon, Death of a Pirate King