Harlan Coben - Play Dead

Laura nodded, not trusting her voice right away. She and David used to eat over Earl’s at least once a week. ‘I know.’

Earl smiled at her. ‘But David never liked my cooking.’ ‘That’s not true,’ Laura argued. ‘You’re a fantastic cook.’

‘True,’ Earl replied, ‘but David had the culinary instincts of a cashier at Burger King.’

Laura chuckled. ‘Can’t argue with that.’

‘I think it was living with T.C. and his grubby cigars and greasy hamburgers that did his tastebuds in,’ Earl continued. ‘I used to always tell David that your body is your temple. Now take this dish for example. Fresh shrimp, mushrooms, broccoli and natural spices – none of that chemical shit. The crap some people put in their body – unbelievable.’

‘What’s for dessert?’ Serita asked.

‘Soybean pudding.’

‘Yuck. I mean, I’m all in favor of health, honey, but let’s not be extremists.’

Earl poured his two beautiful guests some Chinese beer and sat back to watch them chow down. He shook his head and smiled. ‘It’s like watching Dobermanns in front of raw meat. How do you two stay so skinny?’

‘I work it off,’ Serita answered.

‘Nautilus machines?’ he asked.

She winked. ‘Wrong answer. Try again.’

‘Let me think about it. Meanwhile, I better get some more food before Laura starts scratching the plate.’

‘No really, Earl, this is enough,’ Laura said.

‘You sure? Chez Earl has an all-you-can-eat menu.’

‘Positive. I’m stuffed.’

‘Okay.’

Laura stared at the table that a lifetime ago had seen the four of them laugh themselves silly. Now the conversation rang hollow, the words stilted and uncomfortable in the bright room. ‘How’s the team look?’ she asked.

Earl shrugged. ‘Okay, I guess. We really miss David out there.’

‘Any of the draft picks looking good?’

‘None.’

‘Free agents?’

‘Just one.’

‘Oh, I’ve read about him in the Globe,’ Serita interjected. ‘You must have seen it, Laura.’

‘Sorry. I don’t read the Sports too much anymore.’

‘It was all over the place,’ Serita continued. ‘This guy just walked into the gym one day, put up ten grand to challenge Timmy to a shooting contest and won. This complete unknown even broke – ’ She cut herself off.

‘Broke what?’

‘Let’s change the subject,’ Earl tried.

‘Broke what?’ Laura repeated.

Earl glanced at Serita and then he released a long breath. ‘He broke David’s three-point shooting record.’

‘What?’ Laura asked. ‘I remember when David set the mark. The press said it would never be broken.’

‘I know,’ Earl said softly.

‘So who is he?’

‘His name is Mark Seidman,’ Earl said.

‘And is he good?’

Earl nodded. ‘Sure, he’s a great player and all but…’

‘But?’

‘I don’t know. The whole thing is weird.’

‘Where did he play in college?’ Laura asked.

‘That’s just it. He didn’t. No one ever heard of this guy before.’

‘No one? Are you trying to tell me the press hasn’t dug up something on him yet?’

Earl shook his head. ‘Not a thing. He claims he lived in Europe, that his family traveled around a lot or something.’

‘And you don’t believe it?’

He shrugged. ‘I don’t know. You mentioned the press before. Well, none of them have been able to substantiate his story. And Seidman refuses to talk to reporters – and you know how Clip feels about good relations with the press. But hell, Seidman doesn’t talk to anyone. He just comes in, plays, and leaves. He’s moody and quiet and then every once in a while, he’ll say something off-hand – you know, impromptu – like he’s one of us. He gets this really pitiful look in his eyes. Like he wants to belong. Then he goes back into his shell.’

‘Could be nothing,’ Laura said. ‘Or it could be he’s hiding something.’

‘Could be,’ Earl ventured. ‘I guess I make him sound like some kind of fugitive from the law. Maybe he is. But I don’t think so. It’s just – I don’t know – so weird. I don’t like him, that’s all.’

‘How good is he?’ Laura asked.

‘Hard to say. It’s pre-season. I’ve seen a lot of guys who were All-Stars in pre-season and then turned into bums.’

‘But what do you think?’

Earl hesitated. He lifted his glass and took a tiny swig of beer. ‘Aside from David, he could be the best player I’ve ever seen.’

Laura spotted the hurt look on his face. It was not easy for Earl to admit that someone could be in the same league with the friend he so admired. ‘An unknown walk-on?’ she said, shaking her head. ‘It doesn’t make sense.’

‘He’s incredible,’ Earl went on. ‘Velvet shooting touch, great passer… Hey, enough about Seidman. I have to talk to you about something important.’

‘Ah, so this was not just a social invitation,’ Laura said. ‘And I thought you loved my company.’

Earl chuckled. ‘It’s only the hundredth time I’ve asked you to dinner in the past couple of months.’

‘And I’m not too happy about that,’ Serita joked. ‘You trying to make me jealous?’

‘I wish,’ he replied. ‘Laura, Clip asked me to speak to you.’

‘About what?’

Earl lowered his head and played with his food. ‘It’s kind of difficult to talk about.’

‘Go on, Earl.’

Tears filled the giant man’s eyes. ‘The Celtics and the city want to pay tribute to David. Opening game at the Garden is in a week. We play the Washington Bullets. At halftime, they’re going to retire David’s number and hang it with the others on the rafters.’ Earl stopped and turned away. Laura put her hand on his arm.

‘It’s okay, Earl.’

Earl sniffled and faced her again. His eyes were red now. Laura glanced at Serita. She too was crying. ‘The Mayor will declare it David Baskin Day. After the game, there’s going to be a small gathering at the Blades and Boards for the players, families, press – the usual stuff. Clip wanted to make sure you and your whole family – David’s brother too – will be there.’

Laura remained stone-faced. ‘We’ll be there. All of us.’

‘Good,’ Earl managed, his eyes darting around the room. He stood, shaking. ‘I’ll be right back.’ He nearly sprinted out of sight.

‘Big chicken,’ Serita managed between her own sobs. ‘He’s afraid to cry in front of you. He still does it almost every night, you know.’

‘I know,’ Laura said. But she did not cry along with her friends. Laura had learned that occasionally, when the pain became too great, her mental block came up automatically. Sure, she heard the sad words, saw the tears, but somewhere along the way to her heart, the pain veered away.

‘I need to talk to you about something else, Serita. But you have to promise not to tell anyone – including Earl. Okay?’

‘Okay,’ she said, wiping her eyes with the corner of a napkin.

‘I’m leaving for Australia tomorrow morning.’

‘What?’

‘I’ll be flying out of Logan around noon.’

‘Whoa, Laura, let’s talk about this a second.’

‘Nothing to talk about. You know what Corsel said. The threads are going to disappear if I don’t get over there and figure out what happened. I have to go. You know that.’

‘I’ll go with you.’

‘No. I want to go by myself.’

‘But – ’

‘Let me put it another way. I don’t want you to go.’

‘Fuck you, too.’

They hugged then, tightly, fiercely. Earl came back into the room. He walked over to them and threw his arms around both of them. For a long time, the three of them just held one another in comforting silence.