Excerpt of Included!

JOHN HARTup. “I always knew he had other girls,” she said. “But when he was with me,he was completely and totally with me. See? Those other girls didn’t matter.I knew I was the one. He told me so. None of them others would last. It’s justthe way Danny was. And it’s not like I could blame them.” She laughed wistfully.“There was something about him. Something that made me put withit. With all of it.”“All of what?”“The girls. The drinking. The fights.” She broke down again. “He was worthit. I loved him.”Her voice fell off and I prompted her. “He hit you?” I asked.“No.” Weak voice. “He didn’t hit me. That’s just what I said. I was mad.”“What happened?”“I wanted to hurt him, but you can’t tell the cops, okay? They asked me theother day, and I told ’em that he had. I was scared to change my story.” Shepaused. “I just wanted to show him.”“You were angry.”When she looked up, I saw the black gulf behind shining, blue eyes. “Hetried to break up with me. He said it was over. What happened to my face. ...That was my fault. Not his.”“How so?”“He didn’t hit me, like I told the cops. He was trying to walk away and I waspulling on his arm. He jerked it and I tripped on a stool. I fell into that window.”“It doesn’t matter now,” I said. “He’s gone. The warrant means nothing.”But she was crying slow, oily tears, her head loose on her neck. “I put thecops on him. I chased him into hiding. Maybe that’s what got him killed.”“Was he into something illegal?”She shook her violently, either answering in the negative or refusing to answerat all. I couldn’t tell. I asked her again. No answer.“Gambling?”A nod, eyes closed.“Is that who beat him up four months ago? The people that took his bets?”“You know about that?”“Who handled his bets, Candy?”She choked up. “They beat him so bad—”232