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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 thought Froehmer might reach out to me after the cops had left me alone for a while, but he didn’t. I was going to have to go to him. I waited until my meager savings were about tapped out and then went to him, hoping he’d bring me back to doing what I did before. “I could use some better-paying work,” I told him. “I’ll see,” he said and left me hanging for another week. When my paystub came on Friday, it was the same as it always was, but the envelope was heavier. I wouldn’t be leaving the warehouse any time soon.

26

THE TRUTH
(SORT OF)

“DID YOU KNOW FRANK WAS IN A CAR WRECK THE DAY HE DIED?” Casey asked me.

Did I know? I mean, what version was I supposed to know with Casey? I couldn’t remember what I’d told her or not. I couldn’t keep it straight anymore. “Yeah. A little fender bender.”

“Do you know where it was?”

“No,” I said. “He didn’t tell me.” I wondered how she knew.

“It was close to where he died,” Casey said. “You didn’t know that?”

“No,” I said. “Who told you this?”

“The police,” she said, and I was worried what else they told her.

“What did they say about it?”

“That he was in an accident out there, in a rental car. Some guy ran into him, I guess. But it wasn’t far from where he went back to later. Don’t you think that means something?”

“Absolutely.”

“Maybe he’d gone and got some drugs, got into the fender bender, then went back later and overdosed,” Casey said. “Don’t you think?”

“Maybe,” I said. “But I don’t think so.”

“That’s what the cops think happened.”

That’s what the cops were telling her. I wasn’t so sure that’s what they thought. I wondered if they’d told her the name on the rental. I didn’t have to wonder long.

“The police said Frank was in a rental. I thought you had your car down there.”

“No, we took the rental,” I said.

“Who rented it?”

“We did it. But we used a different name. Did the cops tell you that?”

“They did not.”

“Well we did. We used the same name for the hotel. We didn’t want anyone to find us.”

“You do that a lot?”

“No. Not a lot. A few times. Frank liked it. He liked pretending we were other people, especially when we went somewhere. What else did the cops say about it?”