Bill Pronzini: Camouflage

Ms. LoPresti took it pretty well. Better than most-no tears, no drama. Strong woman, the type who would do her grieving in private. Her abiding faith was the foundation of her strength. It seems to me that people who are deeply religious have an edge on the rest of us, not necessarily because it makes them better human beings but because it allows them to cope with pain and suffering on a different level of perception. Life must be a whole lot simpler and easier to take when you believe without question in God and His mercy.

A couple of nights later, as Kerry and I were getting ready for bed:

“I’ve been thinking about your suggestion at dinner the other night,” I said, “that we should buy a second home.”

“And?”

“Decided it’s a good idea.”

“You didn’t seem very enthusiastic then. What changed your mind?”

“Well, as you pointed out, we can afford it and it’ll give us a push to get out of the city more often.”

“Are those the only reasons?”

“No. I’m getting too old to keep dealing with dark-side crap like finding bunches of bodies and going up against killer dogs. Damn Virden case has been giving me nightmares.”

“Does that mean you’re thinking of retiring again?”

“Again?”

“Well, you’ve been back on a full-time work schedule the past year, haven’t you? Unretired?”

“True enough. And it’s time I got off the merry-go-round.”

“Off for good?”

I hedged on that. “I’ve been at it too long not to want to keep a hand in as long as I can. But there’s no reason I can’t cut back to the original plan-one or two days a week at the agency, no more. Tamara can put Alex Chavez on full-time-he’s earned it and then some-to take over the bulk of my workload.”

“You really think you can stick to the plan this time?”

“Pretty sure. A second home would help, someplace far enough away from the city to remove temptation.”

“Where you could go by yourself if you felt like it, not just with Emily and me.”

“Well, I wasn’t thinking along those lines…”

“Why not? You’ll have a lot more free time than either of us, at least for a while.”

“What would I do stuck out in the wilderness by myself?”

“There’s no reason we have to buy wilderness property,” Kerry said. “And there are plenty of things you could find to do no matter what the location. Fishing and boating, for instance. You used to do both by yourself. Any reason you couldn’t take them up again?”

I admitted there wasn’t.

“So we’ll look for a cabin or a cottage on or near a lake or river. We could even start the hunt this coming weekend, if you’re really game.”

Fishing, boating, quiet days and quiet nights in the country with and without the family. Genuine semiretirement. The idea was a lot more appealing now than it had been when I’d first made up my mind.

“I’m game,” I said. “The sooner the better.”