The Famous and the Dead

38



Later Bradley sat near Erin and Thomas as they slept. He listened to the hum of Imperial Mercy Hospital and looked at his wife and son and wondered how he could feel so far from them when they were actually just a few feet away. But now that his small family was real, just when his direction should be clear, he feared that he would lose them. Maybe to Mike Finnegan. Maybe not. But lose them he would, when Erin learned the truth. He pictured a cat trying to hold on to a wet glass globe, claws scratching for a purchase that could not last.

He watched them sleep and wondered what it would be like to confess it all to her—what he had done, his history, his ill-gotten treasures, his deal with a devil. Was it really time? Grow some. Tell Erin what you’ve done. Then Erin would complete her banishment of him. And if Hood told Dez the truth of what had happened in Yucatán, the LASD would certainly fire and possibly prosecute him. He imagined prison, and what it would be like when he got out, trying to be a weekend dad, a man not with a wife and son but a man with mere visitation rights to what had once been his. He could not convincingly imagine such a life.

In the evening Bradley took the elevator down to the lobby and walked out to the parking lot. The sun had set and the eastern sky was purple and dotted with bashful young stars. He fished the pack of smokes from his sock—deputies were not allowed to carry tobacco products while in uniform—and lit it with a match. He called Owens and told her the news.

“Is he beautiful?”

“He’s very beautiful.”

“Does he look like you?”

“He doesn’t really look like either of us.”

“I am so happy for you. I am proud. You’ll be a strong and good father. And Erin will be a wonderful mother.”

“I want that.”

“I’ll tell Mike that Thomas Firth Jones is now among us. He’ll be glad to hear this.”

“We need to talk. Face to face. No Mike. It’s important, Owens.”

“He told me what you two were discussing at the convention before you made your exit. What he said about me is unflattering but true. I can be traded.”

“Can he be traded?”

She was silent for a long beat. “That’s a dangerous idea, Bradley.”

“Hear me out.”

“Name the time and place.”