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.
“Head toward that house on Riggs,” I tell him, slipping inside.
“What you gonna do?”
“Take Thirteenth.”
“Shee-it.” He pulls from the curb.
“You hear anything about a shooting on the fourteen hundred block of Rhode Island a few nights ago?”
“No. I don’t watch the news. Too damn depressing. That got anything to do with this? ’Cause that shit ain’t worth a hundred and fifty bills.”
“No. Don’t worry. It’s something else,” I lie.
“Slow down here,” I tell him. There’s an alley on the west side of 13th, right before Riggs. Some kind of school on the east side, where Riggs dead-ends.
“Stop here.”
“Man, I can’t be seen here like this.”
“Listen, old man, this ain’t the ’hood. You’ll be fine. This is the rear of the house you said Biddy buys his drugs from, right?”
“Yeah.”
“They meet up right in the rear there?”
“I don’t really know. There’s a parking lot that belongs to those apartments farther up. I think they meet them up there.”
“What makes you think that?”
“’Cause when I drop him off, I seen him walk up the side alley on Riggs that leads to this alley and the parking lot. I never seen him walk from this way before, even if I do sometimes drop him off at the corner there.”
“Yeah. This is a tough one.”
“What do you mean?”
“Surveillance, Diamond. What makes this job fun.”
“You can’t have me in this shit. I got rights, and there’s gotta be some kinda regulations you’re breakin’.”
“Oh, hell, yes, there are, but you gotta figure it’s worth your freedom, right?”
“I don’t know about all this here. Somethin’ ain’t right.”
“Say the word and I’ll give Detective Hurley a call right now. I’m not bluffing. You want me to?”
“Man…”
“Listen up. You pick up burglars and haul their stolen goods for them and get shit for it. Plus you risk your livelihood doing it. Plus there’s at least one body. Yeah, I’m breaking rules, but you’re breaking the law. You’re safe with me, and you’re gonna make a hell of a lot more money, too.”
I give him a second.
“So say the word. I’ll make the call, or you just rest easy and make the money.”
“Shee-it. How do you wanna do this?”
Thirty-Six
Thirty-Six
It takes a few minutes, but a parking space finally opens up across from the cut. All I need is to see all the way across it. With my binos, I can even make out a bit of the parking lot that Diamond mentioned. I don’t have to see any transactions, just players. Their faces.
Diamond turns the NOT IN SERVICE sign on and pulls out a sandwich from a brown paper bag.
“You don’t mind if I eat, right?”
“Of course not.”