Front Cover

Title Page

Chalk Line Books is an imprint of The Devault-Graves Agency, Memphis, Tennessee.

The names Chalk Line Books, Devault-Graves Digital Editions, and Lasso Books, are all imprints and trademarks of The Devault-Graves Agency.

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

At 11:20 a fairly well-dressed boozehound came staggering out of a bootleg-whiskey joint on Fourth Street. It was a Friday night in mid-July and the humid heat was like a wave of steaming black syrup confronting the boozehound. He walked into it and bounced off and braced himself to make another try. A moment later something hit him on the head and he sagged slowly and arrived on the pavement flat on his face.

Three local muggers bent over the boozehound. One of them went through his pockets and got the wallet and the loose silver. The others took the wristwatch and the cufflinks and the tie clasp. Then the first mugger happened to look up and saw Corey Bradford standing under a lamppost on the other side of the street.

“Hey you,” the mugger called to Corey. “You got any plans?”

Corey didn’t answer. He stood looking at the three muggers. They’d moved away from the unconscious boozehound and were grouped near the curb, gazing at Corey and waiting for him to say or do something.

He remained silent. He didn’t budge. His expression was placid, showing only a mild acceptance of what was happening.

The first mugger called to him, “Well, what’s it gonna be? You just gonna stand there?”

Corey shrugged. He didn’t say anything.

The three muggers looked at each other. One of them said, “Come on, let’s walk. He won’t do anything.”

“He might,” the first mugger said. “He just might.”

Then the third mugger spoke up. “Say, what is all this? Who is he?”

“Name’s Bradford,” the first mugger said. “I know him, he lives around here.”

“Is he trouble?”

“He could be. I’ve seen him work.”

“He got a badge?”

“Not now,” the first mugger said. “They took it away a month ago.”

“Then what the hell are you worried about?” the third mugger said fretfully. “Come on, let’s shove—”

“No, wait,” the first mugger said. “I wanna be sure about this. I better talk to him.”

“Talk about what?” the third mugger said louder. He was getting annoyed. “What’s there to talk about?”

“Just wait here,” the first mugger said. He walked slowly across the street. He came up to Corey Bradford and said, “All right, first I’ll tell you this—you don’t worry me. You don’t worry nobody now.”

Corey shrugged again. He inclined his head slightly and let out a little sigh.

The mugger moved closer and said, “Without that badge you’re nothin’. You can’t blow no whistle and you can’t show any hardware. Ain’t a move you can make and you know it.”