THE SKY HAD TURNED GRAY while Conklin and I were inside Ernie Cooper’s pawnshop. Muted thunder grumbled1 as we walked to Twenty-first Street, and by the time we got into the squad2 car, the first fat drops of rain splattered against the windshield. I cranked up the window, pinching the web between my thumb and forefinger3. I shouted, “Damn,” with more vehemence4 than was absolutely necessary.
I was frustrated5. So was Rich. The long workday had netted us exactly nothing. Rich fumbled6 with the keys, his brow wrinkled, exhaustion7 weighing him down like a heavy coat.
“You want me to drive?”
My partner turned off the ignition and sighed, threw himself back into the seat.
“It’s okay,” I said. “Give me the keys.”
“I can drive. That’s not the problem.”
“What is?”
“It’s you.”
Me? Was he mad at me for questioning Kelly?
“What did I do?”
“You just are, you know?”
Aw, no. I tried to ward8 off this conversation by imploring9 him with my eyes and thinking, Please don’t go there, Richie. But the pictures flashed into my mind, a strobe-lit sequence of images of a late work night in LA that had turned into a reckless, heated clinch10 on a hotel bed. My body had been screaming yes, yes, yes, but my clearer mind slammed on the brakes - and I’d told Richie no.
Six months later, the memory was still with us inside the musty Crown Victoria, crackling like lightning as the rain came down. Richie saw the alarm on my face.
“I’m not going to do anything,” he insisted. “I would never do anything - I’m just not good at keeping what I feel to myself, Lindsay. I know you’re with Joe. I get it. I just want you to know that I’ve got this arrow through my heart. And I would do anything for you.”
“Rich, I can’t,” I said, looking into his eyes, seeing the pain there and not knowing how to make it right.
“Aw, jeez,” he said. He covered his face with his hands, screamed, “Aaaaaargh.” Then he pounded the steering11 wheel a couple of times before reaching for the keys and starting up the car again.
I put my hand on his wrist. “Rich, do you want another partner?”
He laughed, said, “Delete the last forty-two seconds, okay, Lindsay? I’m an idiot, and I’m sorry.”
“I’m serious.”
“Forget it. Don’t even think about it.”
Rich checked the rearview mirror and turned the car into the stream of traffic. “I just want to remind you,” he said, cracking a strained smile, “when I worked with Jacobi, nothing like this ever happened.”
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1
grumbled
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抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 ); 发牢骚; 咕哝; 发哼声 | |
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2
squad
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n.班,小队,小团体;vt.把…编成班或小组 | |
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3
forefinger
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n.食指 | |
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4
vehemence
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n.热切;激烈;愤怒 | |
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5
frustrated
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adj.挫败的,失意的,泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 );挫败;使受挫折;令人沮丧 | |
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6
fumbled
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(笨拙地)摸索或处理(某事物)( fumble的过去式和过去分词 ); 乱摸,笨拙地弄; 使落下 | |
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7
exhaustion
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n.耗尽枯竭,疲惫,筋疲力尽,竭尽,详尽无遗的论述 | |
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8
ward
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n.守卫,监护,病房,行政区,由监护人或法院保护的人(尤指儿童);vt.守护,躲开 | |
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9
imploring
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恳求的,哀求的 | |
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10
clinch
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v.敲弯,钉牢;确定;扭住对方 [参]clench | |
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11
steering
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n.操舵装置 | |
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