Chapters (68)
- Dedication
- Title Page
- Contents
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- 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
- Copyright
When we reached the top, there was a second door to unlock, and then we were in my apartment. A combined kitchen and living area, a bedroom off to the back. The whole place was smaller than his grandmother’s foyer.
“Jesus, you actually live here?” Jeremy asked.
“It’s not much, but it’s pitiful,” I conceded. I pointed to the fridge. “Help yourself to a Coke or something.”
He opened it as I went into the bedroom. I kept a small travel case in the closet. I threw it onto the bed, opened up a couple of dresser drawers, and begin filling it with clothes.
“There’s no Coke,” Jeremy called out. “But there’s beer. Can I have a beer?”
“No.”
“This is going to be a real fun couple of days.”
“You know what? Make us some sandwiches.”
“Do what?”
“In the fridge, down below. I bought a bunch of stuff yesterday. Sliced ham, roast beef. There’s a fresh loaf in the cupboard. Or if you want tuna, there’s a tin in there, some mayo in the fridge. Something to eat now, and then some we can put in a cooler and take with us.”
“Can’t we just stop at McDonald’s or Burger King when we’re hungry?”
“No.”
I went back into my bedroom. I finished putting in enough clothes for three or four days. Then I went to the closet, reached up to the top shelf, and brought down the case that held my gun. I wasn’t that worried I was going to need it, but you never knew. Finally, I grabbed a small cooler I often used when I was on a surveillance job to keep bottled water and snacks fresh.
I zipped up the overnight bag and brought it and the cooler into the main room.
“How’s it going?”
He had everything he might need to make sandwiches out on the counter. Bread, meat, butter, all spread out in no particular order. He had the look of someone who’d dumped all the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle onto the table and had only just started turning them image up. “Fine. I’m doing it. But aren’t you being hired to look after me? Shouldn’t you be the one to do this?”
“How can I shoot the bad guys waiting to bust in at any moment if I’m up to my elbows in mayo and mustard?”
The look he gave me suggested he couldn’t tell whether I was being serious or putting him on.
I stood next to him at the counter.
“Okay, let’s get a production line thing going on here. You start buttering the bread, and when you’re done, move it this way.”
He did as instructed. The butter was a little on the hard side, and as he attempted to spread it, it opened up holes in the bread.