Read Blind School for Free Online

at the photos. ‘I still think you should be looking more at Alex Culverton.’
    ‘Give me a good reason why, and I'd be happy to.’
    Ellis fell quiet. The main disadvantage of the secrecy of their department; they were left mostly with cover stories. He hadn’t yet thought of one to answer why he should suspect one brother more than the other.
    Cohburn sighed. ‘Look. You got a hard-on for some reason for Alex Culverton – then you're gonna have to do it on your own resources. Right now we got our hands full probing John's ass.’
    Ryan’s meeting with his father, Rob, was arranged at a downtown New York hotel foyer.
       His father had flown in from Atlanta and they’d chosen a hotel close to Grand Central because it was the station for Ryan’s train from Cedar Falls . There were about thirty other people in the foyer, mostly close to the entrance and by the reception desk. Their table at the far end was away from the main throng.
    Rob Lorimar thanked the waiter as he set down their coffees, then looked across the table. ‘Any plans yet for next month's Memorial Day weekend?’
    ‘No. None that I know of.’ He shrugged. ‘I suppose if the weather’s good, Jackie and Caz might come round for a barbie.’
       ‘No plans to go anywhere, though?’
       ‘No. Don’t think so.’
    ‘Remember how we always used to head off in the Winnebago somewhere, and we'd...’
    His father’s voice trailed off then; perhaps realizing that a reminder of past, happier times wasn’t the best right now. But the last thing Ryan wanted was his father to feel awkward about reminiscing. He smiled warmly.
    ‘Yeah – I remember.’
    Rob nodded. ‘Anyway... what I was swinging round to was maybe you could come down to see me in Atlanta then. That is, if your mom's okay with it.’
       ‘Yeah, yeah. Sounds like a plan. I'll ask her.’
    Rob was thoughtful as he took a sip of his coffee, the silence awkward for a moment. ‘But no new partners yet for your mom?’
    Ryan looked challengingly at his dad. ‘I could tell you – but then I'd have to kill you.’ He smiled crookedly. ‘Well, no. None that I know of.’
    Rob smiled back at the joshing. But then his expression quickly fell. More serious.
    ‘You okay after that cafe incident last week?’
    ‘Yeah... yeah. No scars. See?’ He held his arms out. ‘At least none visible.’
    His father’s gaze stayed on him steadily. But Ryan didn't feel in the mood to go into detail. He looked away for a moment across the foyer.
    The monitoring van was parked sixty yards from the hotel entrance, its two operatives inside surveying a bank of screens. They honed in one screen as a limousine pulled up in front of the hotel.
       They watched as Alex Culverton got out the limousine shadowed by Coby and a half-Samoan bodyguard, Rami.
    Ten yards behind was another limousine. Three men get out, though they were unknown to the van operatives. As the lead man, mid-fifties, grey-haired, stepped forward and shook hands with Alex Culverton, that same view appeared on Aaron Green’s screen with Ellis Kendell looking over his shoulder.
    They were on a direct feed from the hotel-front monitoring van.    
    ‘See what you can pull up on that new face,’ Ellis remarked.
    Aaron zoomed in on the grey-haired man, tapped his keyboard.
    ‘Okay. Running through now...’
    Ryan and his dad looked round briefly at the entourage taking seats at the other end of the foyer; although Alex Culverton was mostly shielded by the rest of the group.
    ‘You know, despite our problems, that I still care about your mom?’
    ‘Yeah, I know.’
    Rob took a sip of his coffee, gave a strained smile. ‘Still like to know how she's doing. That she's okay.’
    Ryan meets his father's gaze steadily. It couldn’t be easy for his father. Trying to express the sweet and sour pain of the split; especially in the limited time they’d had together since.
    ‘I know.’
    Aaron brought up a photo-fit alongside the