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Back Crime Song Save as PDF
Chapters (95)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright
  3. Dedication
  4. Epigraph
  5. One
  6. Two
  7. Three
  8. Four
  9. Five
  10. Six
  11. Seven
  12. Eight
  13. Nine
  14. Ten
  15. Eleven
  16. Twelve
  17. Thirteen
  18. Fourteen
  19. Fifteen
  20. Sixteen
  21. Seventeen
  22. Eighteen
  23. Nineteen
  24. Twenty
  25. Twenty-One
  26. Twenty-Two
  27. Twenty-Three
  28. Twenty-Four
  29. Twenty-Five
  30. Twenty-Six
  31. Twenty-Seven
  32. Twenty-Eight
  33. Twenty-Nine
  34. Thirty
  35. Thirty-One
  36. Thirty-Two
  37. Thirty-Three
  38. Thirty-Four
  39. Thirty-Five
  40. Thirty-Six
  41. Thirty-Seven
  42. Thirty-Eight
  43. Thirty-Nine
  44. Forty
  45. Forty-One
  46. Forty-Two
  47. Forty-Three
  48. Forty-Four
  49. Forty-Five
  50. Forty-Six
  51. Forty-Seven
  52. Forty-Eight
  53. Forty-Nine
  54. Fifty
  55. Fifty-One
  56. Fifty-Two
  57. Fifty-Three
  58. Fifty-Four
  59. Fifty-Five
  60. Fifty-Six
  61. Fifty-Seven
  62. Fifty-Eight
  63. Fifty-Nine
  64. Sixty
  65. Sixty-One
  66. Sixty-Two
  67. Sixty-Three
  68. Sixty-Four
  69. Sixty-Five
  70. Sixty-Six
  71. Sixty-Seven
  72. Sixty-Eight
  73. Sixty-Nine
  74. Seventy
  75. Seventy-One
  76. Seventy-Two
  77. Seventy-Three
  78. Seventy-Four
  79. Seventy-Five
  80. Seventy-Six
  81. Seventy-Seven
  82. Seventy-Eight
  83. Seventy-Nine
  84. Eighty
  85. Eighty-One
  86. Eighty-Two
  87. Eighty-Three
  88. Eighty-Four
  89. Eighty-Five
  90. Eighty-Six
  91. Eighty-Seven
  92. Acknowledgements
  93. About the Author
  94. Also by David Swinson
  95. Thank you for buying this ebook, published by Hachette Digital.

“Sometimes I think it’d be easier if we just sat back and let them kill themselves off. Save this city a hell of a lot of money.”

“Hmmph” is his odd way of chuckling.

“Doesn’t look like a drug house.”

“It really wasn’t. Some old lady owns it. The house was taken over by her grandsons. Pretty sure it was her grandsons, anyway. I sure as hell wouldn’t want to live in there now, though. They lived like animals in there. Worst scene I been on in a long time. Poor old lady was forced to live in her own shit. Smells worse than death.”

“Damn. Well, at least she’s in a better place,” I say, fishing.

“Well, yeah. The hospital. That is, if you consider Howard Hospital a better place.”

This time I spit out a “Hmmph.”

Sixty-Two

Sixty-Two

I feel good about the old lady now that she’s getting care. It doesn’t justify what I did—and I mean beating the shit outta those hog-tied brothers, nothing else. I don’t need to defend the things I do because of necessity, especially when the only ones made to suffer are the bad guys. And it’s not like I’ve never beaten the shit—or sometimes, usually by accident, something worse—outta anybody before this. It’s just that I rarely lose control like that. Doesn’t make sense. It has to be the fucking vodka on top of everything else I had. I’ll know soon how bad I made things, and I’m talking for the police.

That’s enough.

I ain’t gonna rip myself over this shit anymore. It’s done. Not with Leslie, though. I won’t accept that. I don’t care if she said what she said, that “we never happened.” She didn’t mean it. I know she didn’t. She probably meant it then, but she won’t hold on to it.

I’ve known Leslie for going on eighteen years. We went through the academy together before she got her law degree and quit the department. We stayed in touch even after that. It took years, but we stepped up to something more than a cozy friendship. We go back. She’d never give me up. And I know that for a fact.

I grab my phone, hit Leslie’s name in the recent calls. It rings, goes into voice mail.

I say, “I know there’s nothing I can say right now, but I need you to know I had my reasons and it goes beyond what happened at my house.” I want to tell her about the old lady, but I don’t want something like that recorded.