Chapters (95)
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Fifty-Seven
- Fifty-Eight
- Fifty-Nine
- Sixty
- Sixty-One
- Sixty-Two
- Sixty-Three
- Sixty-Four
- Sixty-Five
- Sixty-Six
- Sixty-Seven
- Sixty-Eight
- Sixty-Nine
- Seventy
- Seventy-One
- Seventy-Two
- Seventy-Three
- Seventy-Four
- Seventy-Five
- Seventy-Six
- Seventy-Seven
- Seventy-Eight
- Seventy-Nine
- Eighty
- Eighty-One
- Eighty-Two
- Eighty-Three
- Eighty-Four
- Eighty-Five
- Eighty-Six
- Eighty-Seven
- Acknowledgements
- About the Author
- Also by David Swinson
- Thank you for buying this ebook, published by Hachette Digital.
Probably the one knocking at my window that night. I open the second window, the one closer to the guest bed.
“Go. Find the love of your life, cause you ain’t gonna live that long.”
I toss the cicada out. It falls, but then regains itself and flies away, like a clumsy drunk. I close and lock the window. Not that it matters, locking the window. Like Biddy said, he can get in anywhere. Nothing’s ever secure.
I go to my bedroom and lock the door.
My phone wakes me up. I don’t remember falling asleep.
Hurley.
Fuck, is this bad news? I notice the time. I did sleep. It’s almost 5:00 p.m.
“What’s up, Hurley?” I answer.
“Sounds like I woke you.”
“It’s all good. I woke you enough times. Please don’t tell me you got bad news.”
“That depends on what you consider bad.”
“What happened?”
“Everything went well. AUSA is on board. Had your boy Givens in the box for a while, so he won’t go before a judge until tomorrow.”
“Sounds good.”
“He’s going to debrief.”
“Good interview and interrogation technique, right? So what’s the so-called bad news?”
“Your connection to Jasper.”
“What the fuck are you talking about? I don’t have a connection with that good-for-nothin’ SLAP.”
“Maybe not one you remember, but that drive-by shooting you got caught up in a year or so back, the one where the officer got killed?”
“The Cordell Holm case. The girl. What the hell does that have to do with anything?”
“The officer who got killed. Tommy Woodrow. He was Jasper’s nephew.”
Seventy-Three
Seventy-Three
Dirty blood runs in Jasper’s family,” I tell Hurley.
“Yeah. They both snuck onto the department, which we know is not that hard to do.”
Don’t I know it.
“But again, what does this have to do with me? I wasn’t responsible for his nephew’s death,” I say, even though I’m beginning to think otherwise.
I don’t normally work missing persons, especially when it involves a teenage girl, but I got sucked into an investigation a little over a year ago, mostly by my own doing. I eventually found the girl, but the boys who had her first decided they wanted her back. She worked the brothel they were running. Hell, she even wanted to go back. Those boys backed off, though, but not for long. Enter Officer Tommy Woodrow. He rolled up to the scene at 17th and Euclid while I was holding on tightly to the struggling girl and trying to get her to my car. Couple of the boys came back, but this time in a car. The passenger opened up on us with a TEC-9 or some shit. Officer Tommy was in the line of fire. He took a couple in the chest.