Chasing the Bear (11 page)

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Authors: Robert B. Parker

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The train to Denver started to board.

“Okay,” I said.

I hugged each of them. I could feel my eyes begin to tear.

“Okay,” I said again.

I picked up my suitcase and stood for a moment looking at them.
My God!
They were tearing up too.

“Take care of yourself,” Cash said.

Patrick nodded without speaking.

“We’re here,” my father said.

I nodded and made a small hand wave at them and stepped up into the train. I found an empty seat by the window and looked out it and cried as the train pulled out of the station.

Chapter 47

“I
wished they could come with me,” I said.

“You were never away before,” Susan said.

“Except for my trip down the river with Jeannie,” I said.

“Of course you were homesick. How did college go?”

“I played strong safety,” I said. “And returned punts. At the start of my junior year, I tore up my knee and couldn’t play anymore.”

“And you didn’t stay in college?”

“No,” I said. “Without a scholarship we couldn’t afford it. So I quit and boxed for a while.”

“You were good?”

“I was good, and I got a lot of fights. The Great White Hope and a former college kid to boot.”

“But you didn’t like it,” she said.

“I fought a couple guys who became contenders, one became champ for a while. And I realized the difference. I was good. They were great. And the only way I was going to get to the top was to play the White College Boy thing.”

“Which you didn’t want to do,” Susan said.

“Correct,” I said. “So I moved on and took the exam and got on the state cops and you know how that all went.”

“And you weren’t tempted to go back to West Flub-a-dub?” Susan said.

“My father and I talked about that,” I said. “He was certain that Boston was where I should be and I was too. So I stayed and missed them every day.”

“They were here,” Susan said.

I looked at her for a moment.

“They are here now,” she said. “With us. Wherever you are, they will be. You contain them.”

I felt my throat tighten for a moment. I nodded slowly.

“Yes,” I said. “With us.”