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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

What did they know about cars? That was going to stay with me. That’s the way they want it. They want you to think they know more than they do. But they had to know something. You wouldn’t just ask somebody about renting a car. They had a few pieces, but could they put them together? They knew something. But let them try to prove it, I thought. I knew what to do when the time would come. People in power have proven how to act – from priests to Supreme Court justices to presidents – deny, deny, deny. Even after they have them dead to rights. But they didn’t have it, not yet anyway. If they got to the robbery before the murder, I was done. They wouldn’t even think about looking any farther. I was as guilty as if I’d done it. Which had me thinking. I walked back through the office and didn’t talk to anyone. I put on my plastic hat and orange vest and went back to work and tried not to think about it anymore.

—

I told Casey about the cops. She wanted to know why they had to show up at work, why they had to talk to me in person. “Couldn’t they just talk to you on the phone?”

“Maybe they think I’m the murderer,” I said.

“I hadn’t thought about that. Is that what you think? Seriously?”

“They’re just following up. Makes sense. I was down there snooping around. We should be glad they came. I told them all about it. Maybe it will help.”

“Maybe. I bet they’re focused on the other, though. They have to solve that one first. Frank got knocked down by a teenager. Isn’t that awful to think like that?”

“That’s how it works.”

“You think they think they’re connected?”

“I don’t think so. They didn’t even say anything about the kid.”

“That’s why they’re still in uniform,” Casey said. “They won’t make detective thinking like that.”

There’s that old joke about the two guys running from a bear and the one guy says to the other, “You think you can outrun a bear?” and the other says, “I don’t have to outrun the bear, I only have to outrun you.” That’s how I felt. I didn’t have to be smart, I only had to be smarter than the cops.

—