“You thought wrong,” I said. My tone made Frankie take a step back. My hand closed tightly around the car keys. “I felt pretty much the way you do now, Frankie. My father’s death was…” I found myself searching for the right word. “… avoidable. I’ve had a lot of problems dealing with that.”
“How did you? Deal with it?”
“I became everything he wasn’t,” I said.
“Like a cop?”
“Especially like a cop.”
“That help?”
“Not as much as I thought it would. Not at all, to tell the truth.”
Frankie looked at me for a few seconds, digesting the spontaneous philosophy lesson. He stuck out his fist, and I met it with my own.
“You better,” I answered. “I don’t want to have to come looking for you again.”
He smiled and turned away. I got in behind the wheel and started the car. Instead of shifting into Drive, I rolled down the driver’s window and shut my eyes for a while. It would take me no time at all to get to my place. As much as I wanted that ten minutes ago … I thought about what Frankie had said, and what I had said, and suddenly I didn’t feel like going home, dealing with the mess left by Vega and Ape. I called Edgar. He picked up after one ring.
“Yeah?” he said.
“When do you need the car back?” I asked.
“Not until tomorrow if you really need it. Got plans?”
“Yeah, I do,” I said, looking in the rearview mirror at Frankie walking away. “I’ve got one more thing to do. Someone I need to say good-bye to. You mind?”
“No, Ray, not at all.”
It had finally started to rain.
About the Author
TIM O’MARA is a teacher in the New York City public-school system. Raised on Long Island, he now lives in Manhattan’s Hell’s Kitchen with his wife and daughter.
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
SACRIFICE FLY. Copyright © 2012 by Tim O’Mara. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.minotaurbooks.com
Cover art by Marc Yankus
e-ISBN 9781250008992
First Edition: October 2012