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Back Just Thieves Save as PDF
Chapters (42)
  1. Cover
  2. Other Titles
  3. Dedication
  4. Epigraph
  5. 1
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 2
  18. 12
  19. 13
  20. 14
  21. 15
  22. 16
  23. 17
  24. 18
  25. 19
  26. 20
  27. 21
  28. 22
  29. 23
  30. 24
  31. 25
  32. 26
  33. 3
  34. 27
  35. 28
  36. 29
  37. 30
  38. 31
  39. 32
  40. 33
  41. 34
  42. ACCOMPLICES AND EASY MARKS

“I keep busy,” she said and then told me that she started to go to meetings too. “I learn a lot about myself, even if I don’t say anything,” she told me.

“There’s a lot of people who’ve been through what you went through, your whole life,” I said. “But sometimes you never know that until you walk into that room.”

“I don’t like all of it,” she said. “I don’t like a lot of it, but I get something out of it every time I go.”

“That’s all you need. Hang on to the stuff that helps.”

Casey had some of the same cadence as Frank in the way she talked, especially when she was excited about something. It shocked me the first time I noticed it, like hearing a piece of music you thought you’d never hear again. I didn’t like it, but then the more I heard it, the more I wanted to hear it. I never told her; I just waited for it. It always came, that echo on the other end of the phone.

Then one day she called and changed everything. “I got the police report,” she said. “Frank wasn’t found in a hotel like we thought.”

Like we were told.

“He was found on the street.”

Casey gave me the address. It wasn’t far from where we’d done the job.

“Froehmer didn’t know what he was talking about,” Casey said.

Or maybe he did. Maybe he knew exactly what he was saying. It didn’t matter in the short run; I had something to do, somewhere to start again. The confused coffee guy and the hair-eating girl and the baby/Chow couple and the group and the thumbs up biker would all have to do without me. They wouldn’t even notice. I was sure of that. I was the one gear with no teeth. Not yet anyway. They were starting to come in, though. And they were going to be sharp.

21

THE ARREST

I HAD PLANNED ON HEADING BACK TO THE CITY TO INVESTIGATE WHAT CASEY HAD TOLD ME, HAD EVEN RENTED A CAR AND WAS READY TO GO, WHEN FROEHMER CALLED. “Sit tight on that other thing for a minute,” he said. He had another job. It didn’t seem worth it; the smallness of it. “It’s nothing,” Froehmer said. “It’ll get you back in it, get your mind off your troubles. You’ll see. It’ll be good for you. It’s easy.”