Land of the Blind

  “And what do you think?”

  “What do I think?” Above her, the jet stream is already dissolving in the violet sky. She sets the legal pads down, presses her thumb against her lips, then reaches over and touches his forehead. It is ice cold. She doesn’t even remember if this is how it’s done. But she makes a small cross of absolution on his cold forehead. Clark closes his eyes. “I think this world is enough,” Caroline says.

  And then she leans back and rests, stares out across her city, just beginning to stir, the houses coming to light among the timbers and the first cars gliding along the hillsides—the entire valley bathed in sun—dark ridges of pine and fir holding it in timeless embrace. Clark leans against her and morning settles over them.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Thanks to Anne Walter, Dan Butterworth, Jim Lynch, Cal Morgan, Lina Perl, Wayne Brookes, and Judith Regan for various acts of criticism, enthusiasm, and patience, and to Tony and Suzanne Bamonte, whose book, Spokane’s Legendary Davenport Hotel, was a valuable resource.

  OTHER BOOKS BY JESS WALTER

  RUBY RIDGE

  IN CONTEMPT

  (WITH CHRISTOPHER DARDEN)

  OVER TUMBLED GRAVES

  Credits

  Cover art and design by Keenan

  Copyright

  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. No reference to any real person is intended or should be inferred.

  LAND OF THE BLIND. Copyright © 2003 by Jess Walter. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Walter, Jess, 1969–

  Land of the blind: a novel / Jess Walter.—1st ed.

  p. cm.

  ISBN 0-06-039439-01.

  1. Police—Washington (State)—Spokane—Fiction. 2. Spokane (Wash.)—Fiction. 3. Policewomen—Fiction. I. Title.

  PS3573.A4722834 L36 2003

  813'.54—dc21

  2002031858

  03 04 05 06 07 WBC/RRD 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  Epub Edition © JUNE 2012 ISBN: 9780062036957

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