An hour later, Gus was resting uncomfortably in his hospital bed. It wasn’t technically a hospital, more like prison for the helpless and elderly, neither of which he considered himself.
“Here,” Jason said as he entered the room and handed him a thin case.
“What’s this?”
“My iPad.”
Gus lifted the flap and pressed the button to display the home screen.
“What am I supposed to do with this?”
“Watch your show.The Girl of Sugar Beach.I downloaded every episode for you. You can binge watch over the Fourth. It’s a long weekend, so I won’t be around to torture you. This will keep you busy.”
Jason tapped the screen a few times until the promo appeared: a close-up of Grace Sebold’s face, with pale skin and gray-streaked hair, and the taglineYou Only Know the Other Side of the Story.
“All you have to do is tap the screen and the episode plays. Tap it again to pause it. Go to the menu to find the next episode. Got it?”
Gus nodded. “Thanks. I owe you anything?”
“Keep working like you did today. That’s good enough for me.”
Jason typed for a moment on the keyboard near the foot of the bed, then closed Gus’s electronic chart.
“See you next week?”
“Is that a question?” Gus said. “Where the hell do you think I’m going?”
Jason nodded. “See you next week. Let the nurses get you up this weekend. You’ve got to start using the prosthetic. I’ll be back next Wednesday.”
“Hope the pain is gone by then.”
“Me too,” Jason said. “But fear not, we’ll find it again. Have a good Fourth of July.”
Gus pointed to the window. “Good view of the fireworks from here?”
Jason offered a crooked smile. “Doubtful.”
“Oh, well, there’s always next year. Maybe I’ll be up and around by then.”
“Shit. I’ll have you up and around next week. You’ll be dancing by Labor Day.”
When Jason was gone, Gus touched the screen. Eerie music filled his hospital room as the introduction to the documentary started.
“I’m Sidney Ryan,” the narrator told him. “And this isThe Girl of Sugar Beach.”
CHAPTER 31
Friday, June 30, 2017
THE CITY STARTED TO EMPTY ON THURSDAY AFTERNOON. THOSE WHOworked Friday cut out early, and by 2:00 p.m., only a select few business people walked the streets of New York. Everyone else had scampered to bus stations or train stations for their ride out of town. Cars had been packed up and driven from the city, leaving behind long streaks of bare curbs where normally a bumper-to-bumper chain of vehicles sat perpetually parked and vacant. Nothing emptied the city more thoroughly than the Fourth of July, which was the following Tuesday.
Roughly one hundred hours of freedom were in front of the citizens of New York. Most of them, anyway. Sidney worked at the network studios until 4:00 p.m. Friday, keeping a skeleton crew of staff in town over the long holiday weekend to finish the next installment ofThe Girl of Sugar Beach.It was the first time she stayed in the city over the Fourth of July holiday, and as she walked the deserted streets on Friday, she could barely believe she was in Manhattan. It was early evening, a time when the boulevards were normallychoked with foot traffic and the streets lined with honking cabs and bike messengers weaving through traffic. Instead, she walked peacefully down empty sidewalks and enjoyed the evening sun. She pressed her cell phone to her ear as she walked.
“What did she say?” Graham asked through the phone.
“She just said Washington was concerned. I’ve been through this before with D.A.’s, they want to know what you have so they can decide what kind of press they’re going to get. But this time I’m not an adversary, and a D.A. is not asking. A U.S. Attorney, appointed by the president, is poking around.”
“What’s the angle?” Graham asked.
