The smell of the harbor was strong. She couldn't see much of it because the houses were very close along here; waterfront property was very expensive, no reason to waste any. She shook her head and laughed to herself without humor.
Of course, I don't know if I love him… or can.
Ahead of her was the uninteresting back of a gray shingled house that was right up against the sidewalk. There were a few small windows and a blank red door that faced the street. On the door was the number 17 in brass. The address of the Bond of the Renewal. When she reached the door, Sunny stopped and looked at it. There was a tiny passageway on each side of the house, which separated it from the adjacent houses. Sunny estimated she could turn sideways and get through, but she was pretty sure Spike couldn't.
Do I want to go in there now… No, I don't… Do I want to swap small talk with the Renewal… Not today… Right now I want to walk along the street some more and think of how fucked-up Jesse's life is… and mine… and pretty much everything goddamned else.
She turned and walked back toward the Gray Gull at the foot of the long gradual downhill return.
I think all I ever understood was Rosie.
6
PETER PERKINS CAME INTO Jesse's office, carrying a cup of coffee in one hand and a manila folder in the other. He put the coffee on the edge of Jesse's desk, sat down in one of the visitors' chairs, and opened the folder.
"ME's report?" Jesse said.
"Yep, on Petrov Ognowski."
"So it was his car," Jesse said.
"Yep. ID'ed him with his fingerprints. Got a big record. Shot once in the back of the head with a.22 slug, probably a Magnum load, the way it churned around inside his skull."
"Identifiable?" Jesse said.
"Nope, too beat up. ME says they could barely tell it was a.22, the way it was twisted out of shape." "Happens," Jesse said. "Got a time of death?" "Tuesday night between midnight and six." "Anything else?" "Not much. Petrov might have gone happy, though. He had sex earlier Tuesday evening." "You ever wonder how they know that?" Jesse said.