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.
“But you can still do a spot check—just show up. I’ll make a list of most of the titles, some of them pretty obscure. I can also identify some of them based on the scribbles on the covers. I made those when I was a kid.”
He looks at the preliminary list I made.
“Sorry about the handwriting.”
He looks it over.
“Yeah. Some of these titles are unique. Your mother listened to Fugazi?”
“No. That’s me.”
“Well, I’m more of a classic rock kinda guy, so I don’t know a lot of these bands. But they’re distinctive, so the odds are almost nonexistent that there’d be another collection with the exact titles in it, especially if there’s a place that bought them soon after your burglary. I mean, you have Johnny Cash, the Carpenters mixed with bands I never heard of. Bad Brains…Dropkick Murphys? What are you into, man? And then, damn—Bread?”
“One of my mother’s, like most of the others, but more sentimental to me. As far as that other shit, what can I say? I grew up in DC back when the 9:30 Club was cool and Fort Reno was the spot.”
“I gotcha. And I’ll work it in, brother,” he tells me. “Don’t get your hopes up. You know the odds.”
“I’ll keep the hope, even though I know the odds.”
Then there’s Jeffrey again.
“So you’ll work the property side and Millhoff the homicide?”
“Yeah. That’s why they have me here. And I have to tell you this because I have a feeling you’re not the type of guy who’s going to sit around and wait on us. Don’t get yourself caught up with anything that’ll interfere with a homicide investigation.”
“I’m good at what I do, too.”
“I realize that, and just like I can’t tell a regular victim that he can’t hire a PI, I can’t order you to sit back. So if you do follow through with something, you make sure to keep me posted, especially if you get a lead. You can easily get yourself in trouble on this one. When you see the chief’s outside your door? You know it’s high priority. And Wightman will fuck you to no end, trust me.”
Trust me when I say I know that, but I don’t say it.
“No worries.”
When we finish, Hurley gets a tech to test for gunpowder residue and take my fingerprints. Negative, but that doesn’t mean shit. I know they’re gonna look at me as a possible suspect. They have to.
Starting to drift. I light another cigarette. Need something more than nicotine.
“My downstairs bathroom isn’t a crime scene, is it? I wanna wash this shit off my hands.”
“This whole house is a crime scene, but they’ve already cleared your hallway bathroom.”