Page 121 of Broken
“Uh-huh.”
“You canonlyget in the swimming pool with me,” Prescott reiterated.
“Okay,” Ethan quieted down and ate his sandwich.
Prescott’s phone rang. Z was calling. “Ethan’s with me,” he answered. “I’ll call you back.”
“It’s important,” Z replied.
“Yeah, I figured that out on my own. I’m smart like that.” Prescott hung up.
Ethan finished his sandwich, ate one carrot slice and started to get down.
“Where you going?” Prescott asked.
“To play.”
“What do you think about asking if you can be excused?” Prescott asked.
“Why?”
“It’s polite.”
Ethan peered over at him.
“It’s the nice thing to do,” Prescott explained.
“Okay, can I pleeeeeeease be accused?”
“Thank you, Ethan. Go for it.”
He scampered down and trotted into the family room. Prescott called Z back from the kitchen, where he could keep an eye on Ethan.
“Hey,” Z answered. “How’s Ethan doing?”
“He’s resilient,” Prescott replied. “He’s concerned I’m going to leave him, but that’s understandable.”
“I’ve got two updates,” Z began. “A body washed up on the Rappahannock river bank, about twenty miles from where Terrence Maul hit the water.”
“And?”
“Vultures got to it pretty good. It was headless, so a dive team will be searching for the skull in the next day or two. The remains are being confirmed by DNA.”
“That’s Maul.”
“You’re sure you hit him?”
“For fuck’s sake, Philip,” Prescott bit out. “I had on my night goggles. I saw him fall in the river.”
Ethan appeared with a toy train in his hand. “What is night goggles?”
“Z, hold on,” Prescott said. “Ethan, can you remember that question and I’ll answer it when I finish talking?”
With the toy in hand, he toddled back into the family room.
“It’s like I’m living with a spy,” Prescott murmured, while cupping his hand over his mouth to block the sound.
Z chuckled. “He’s easy now. Wait until he turns into a teenager and grows horns.”
