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.
“Yeah, right, you ain’t the police,” he says with a smirk. He hands the blunt over. I accept. He smiles awkwardly at first, then raises his eyebrows when I take a nice drag, hold for a while, and exhale in his direction.
“Shee-it, I still think you’re the police.” Smiling.
I hand the blunt back to him. “Naw, not anymore.” I take out my wallet and show him my badge. “Retired.”
“Do I know you or somethin’?”
“No.”
“Well, if you be steppin’ up here expectin’ to get somethin’, then I don’t do that kinda shit. I’m just about ready to go into the club is all.”
“I can get my own weed if I want. Don’t need nothin’ from you.”
“Then what the fuck you steppin’ like you know me?”
“’Cause in a way I do.”
“Fuck off, yo. Don’t know you for shit. You a fag or somethin’?”
That makes me smile.
“No, not that, either. Just want to talk to you about someone we both know.”
He takes a drag, then exhales, blowing the smoke in my face like a challenge. I don’t let it faze me, ’cause I don’t want to go hard on him. I knew the moment I walked up to him that wouldn’t work.
“Would you have been that brave if my badge didn’t say ‘retired’?”
He just huffs.
“Jeffrey. He was a white college kid. You supplied him with blow. In this club here.”
“Step on outta here, fool.”
He steps sideways a bit, like he’s positioning himself ’cause he’s carrying.
I throw the right side of my suit jacket back, sorta like a gunslinger, to let him see what I carry.
He sees and lifts his shirt to expose his belly and the small of his back.
“I ain’t carryin’ nothin’ like that.”
I let the coat slide over my holster again. “I’m gonna be straight up with you ’cause I know nothing else would work. My girl is best friends with Jeffrey’s mom. She got in touch with my girl because she was worried about Jeffrey and knew I used to be a cop and could maybe help.”
“I told you I don’t know who the fuck you’re talkin’ about.”
“I saw you serve Jeffrey in the club last Thursday. Blow. It was so fucking obvious it’s silly.”
“Fuck this shit, man,” he says and sets the remainder of the blunt on the trunk of the car. “Rest is yours if you want it.” He starts to walk away.
“You the one who killed him? Jeffrey?”
He turns back to me. Looks startled. Not the kind of look I thought I’d see.
“The fuck you say?”
“You heard right.”
“He kilt?”
Okay, now.