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Back Less than Dead Save as PDF
Chapters (50)
  1. COVER PAGE
  2. TITLE PAGE
  3. COPYRIGHT PAGE
  4. DEDICATION
  5. CONTENTS
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. 13
  19. 14
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. 17
  23. 18
  24. 19
  25. 20
  26. 21
  27. 22
  28. 23
  29. 24
  30. 25
  31. 26
  32. 27
  33. 28
  34. 29
  35. 30
  36. 31
  37. 32
  38. 33
  39. 34
  40. 35
  41. 36
  42. 37
  43. 38
  44. 39
  45. 40
  46. 41
  47. 42
  48. 43
  49. 44
  50. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Danny was losing patience. “Look, I don’t blame you for being cautious— given the circumstances, I would be too. But I’m Nick’s boss, so you don’t really work for Nick—you work for me.” He took a piece of paper from his breast pocket and showed it to her. “See this? It’s a requisition for payment—your payment. Nick gave it to me this afternoon and asked me to put it through.”

She looked at it. “He said it was in the mail.”

“Well it’s not—not until I sign off on it. I’m the boss, so I pay the bills. And if I’m paying you for services rendered, then I think I’m entitled to benefit from those services, don’t you? I’m not trying to twist your arm here, but fair is fair. Nick isn’t paying you—I am. So would you mind telling me what I’m paying you for?”

She paused for a few seconds, then unlatched the chain and slowly opened the door. “What do you want to know?”

“Take it from the beginning,” he said. “Just tell me what you told him—and don’t leave anything out.”

33

33

Nick knocked quietly on the door frame. “Gunner?”

There was no answer from the darkened room.

He knocked again—a steady, insistent rap like the dripping of a faucet. “I know you’re in there, I can hear you breathing. It’s me—Nick. I need to talk to you.”

Nick heard the rustling of fabric, and then a lamp switched on.

Gunner sat up in bed and squinted against the light. “Nick—what are you doing here?”

“You said if I ever needed to talk I could stop by.”

“I didn’t mean in my bedroom in the middle of the night.”

“You should have been more specific.” Nick pointed to a lump in the bed beside Gunner. “Is that your wife?”

“I hope so.”

“Charming woman. Can we talk?”

Gunner looked at the clock beside the bed. “It’s eleven o’clock.”

“At NC State the kids are just waking up now.”

“Well, we’re not kids and this isn’t NC State. How did you find out where I live?”

“It’s a small town—I just asked the first guy I saw. They told me you were just up the hill from the church.”

“How did you get in?”

“The front door was unlocked.”

“That doesn’t mean you can walk right in.”

“I knocked, but no one answered.”

“That’s because we were asleep.”

Nick shrugged. “Not anymore.”

At that point the lump in the bed began to stir. “Gunner, roll over— you’re talking in your sleep again.”

Gunner placed one hand on the lump and gently shook. “We have a visitor, Rose.”