Death of a Blue Movie Star (Rune 2)

"No way," he said quickly.

"Uh-huh."

"No, really."

The sound of wind filled the range. He became silent, almost impenetrable.

Which would have been one of his wife's gripes. The difficulty of reaching him.

After a moment Healy said, "All of a sudden, out of the blue, she says she can't stand me. I'm just one big irritation. I don't understand her. I'm never there for her. I was floored. I really asked for it, in a way--I pushed her, I kept telling her how much I loved her, how sorry I was, how I'd do anything.... She said that was just torturing her. I went a little nuts."

"Lovers can do that to you," Rune said.

Healy continued. "For instance--when she left, Cheryl took the TV. So the next day all I can think about is getting a replacement. I went out and bought Consumer Reports and read all about the different kinds of sets. I mean, I had to buy the best TV there was. It became an obsession. Finally, I went to SaveMart and spent--God, I can't believe it--eleven hundred on this set...."

"Whoa, that must be one hyper TV."

"Sure, but the thing is: I never watch television. I don't like TV. I'd do things like that. I was pretty depressed. Then one day we got a call on this pipe bomb. See, they're real dangerous because they're usually filled with gunpowder, which is awfully unstable. Thing weighed about thirty pounds. Turns out it's planted in front of a big bank downtown. In a stairwell. We can't get the robot in there so

I get a bomb suit on and take a look at it. I could just carry it out to where the robot can pick it up, then put it in the containment vehicle. But I'm thinking, I don't care if I'm dead or not. So I decide to do a render-safe myself.

"I started twisting the end off the pipe. And what happened was some of the powder got in the threads of the cap and the friction set off the charge."

"God, Sam ..."

"Turned out it was black powder--not smokeless. That's the weakest explosive you can find. And most of it was wet and didn't go off. Didn't do anything more than knock me on my ass and blister my palms. But I said to myself, 'Healy, time to stop being an asshole.' That helped me get over her pretty well. And that's where I am now."

"Over her."

"Right."

After a moment Rune said, "Marriage is a very weird thing. I'm not sure it's healthy. My mother's always after me to get married. She has a list of people for me. Nice boys. Her friends' sons. She's nondenominational. Jewish, WASP ... doesn't matter to her. Okay, they are sort of ranked by professions and, yeah, a doctor's first--but she doesn't really care as long as I end up rich and pregnant. Oh, and happy. She does want me to be happy. A rich, happy mother. I tell you, I have a great imagination but that's one thing I can't picture, me married."

Healy said, "Cheryl was real young when we got married. Twenty-two. I was twenty-six. We thought it was time to settle down. People change, I guess."

Silence. And Rune sensed he felt they'd gone too far into the personal. He shrugged in a dismissing way, then noticed a uniformed cop he recognized and asked what had happened to a live hand grenade someone had found in the Bronx.

"S'in the captain's office. On his chair."

"His chair?" Healy asked.

"Well, we took the TNT out first."

He turned back to Rune and to fill the silence she asked, "You ever happen to talk to that witness?"

Healy drank most of his soda but left half his sandwich. "What witness?"

"The guy who was hurt in the first bombing? The first angel?"

The wind came up and whipped smoke from a burning pit toward them.

"Yeah."

"Ah," Rune said. "Was he helpful?"

Healy hooked his thumbs into his thick belt, which really made him look a lot like a cowboy.

"Aren't you going to tell me what he said?"