Chapters (46)
- COVER PAGE
- PRAISE
- DEDICATION
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- 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
- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
- SNEAK PEEK: EXIT .45
Vincent said, ‘His wife called the police, so I didn’t have time to push him too hard.’
‘Were you still there when they arrived?’
Vincent said, ‘Sort of. They went in the front, I went out the back.’
Erin had some coffee while she worked through that one, watching him the whole time. When she spoke again her words were quieter, more precise: ‘Why don’t you go through it from the beginning.’
He did, and she listened, and then she gave him the same question Beauden had: ‘So now what?’
Vincent said, ‘Now I’m expecting the phone to ring.’
‘I see.’
Vincent said, ‘They know they’re in trouble, and I’ve told them I can get them out of it.’
Erin said, ‘How’s this Clemons guy fit in? Delroy.’
‘He says he’s a fixer. He spent a lot of time telling Page not to trust me.’
‘And what’s their story? Him and Page, I mean.’
Vincent said, ‘Page got the call from you, panicked, and sent Delroy to investigate.’
‘He didn’t do a great job of being subtle, did he? If he was actually supposed to just sit there and monitor me. And what was he going to do from across the street anyway?’
‘Check if any unmarked detectives’ cars showed up, I guess. Or people who look like FBI agents.’
Erin said, ‘Still not a brilliant move, sitting there on a red kerb, in the same type of vehicle the shooters had yesterday. If discretion was a prime concern, I mean. Page might be caught in the middle of it, but maybe this Delroy guy isn’t. Maybe Page relayed the message to a third party, and Delroy got sent to sit out front of the hotel and scare me.’
Vincent said, ‘And then when we called the cops on him, he went back to Page’s to make sure he kept his mouth shut.’
‘Yeah, potentially. And then when you showed up with a gun, he felt it was safer to claim he worked for Page, rather than admit he’s in charge.’
Vincent thought it over for a while.
Erin said, ‘I think if I were an aspiring killer, I’d be less inclined to try to murder someone if their bodyguard looks like a secret-service guy.’ She nodded at him. ‘Notwithstanding it’s a good t-shirt.’