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Back The Short Drop
Chapters (61)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Page
  3. Dedication
  4. CONTENTS
  5. START READING
  6. PART ONE
  7. CHAPTER ONE
  8. CHAPTER TWO
  9. CHAPTER THREE
  10. CHAPTER FOUR
  11. CHAPTER FIVE
  12. CHAPTER SIX
  13. CHAPTER SEVEN
  14. CHAPTER EIGHT
  15. CHAPTER NINE
  16. CHAPTER TEN
  17. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  18. CHAPTER TWELVE
  19. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  20. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  21. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  22. PART TWO
  23. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  24. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  25. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  26. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  34. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  35. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  36. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  42. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  43. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  44. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  45. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  46. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  47. CHAPTER FORTY
  48. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  49. PART THREE
  50. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  51. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  52. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  53. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
  54. CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
  55. CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
  56. CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
  57. CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
  58. CHAPTER FIFTY
  59. EPILOGUE
  60. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  61. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jenn Charles would be pissed. Well, she would just have to wait her turn. He had a few things to say to George Abe himself.

The ferocity of his emotions surprised him. Mike wouldn’t admit it, even to himself, but he felt a certain gratitude and loyalty to George. He looked up to George. So after seven or eight beers, he’d screwed up his courage and called George to give him a piece of his mind. George hadn’t answered then or any of the subsequent times Mike had called back.

Coward.

Well, George wasn’t getting off that easy. Mike appreciated the severance package—it was generous—but this wasn’t about the money. It was the principle of the thing. He’d been there since the start, and you didn’t fire a guy after seven years. Not without some kind of explanation.

Mike rode the elevator up to their floor, his resolve wavering. Last night, he’d had a hellfire sermon prepared for Saint George Abe, but now the idea of facing his ex-boss seemed daunting. George had that unflappable calm thing down to a science, which tended to fluster Mike pretty quick.

Mike came off the elevator and walked down the hall to Abe Consulting Group. The doors were propped open with doorstops, which was unusual.

Reception was empty. Mike stopped in his tracks. Not empty as in no people. Empty as in empty empty. Everything was gone: couches, chairs, tables, lamps, artwork . . . everything. Right down to the carpet tacks and nameplates. Mike went room by room but found the same thing everywhere. Even George’s office had been stripped bare. It was unbelievable. He’d left last night at seven p.m. and everything had been normal. And now it was as if Abe Consulting, like a band of gypsies, had pulled up stakes and moved camp in the night, leaving no trace that it had ever been here.

Mike’s cell rang. He checked for the number but there was none. It wasn’t blocked; the screen was just blank. These calls always freaked him out a little. As if they came from nowhere at all. A familiar voice came on the line, flinty and mechanical.

“I don’t know,” Mike said. “I don’t. It’s gone . . . Yeah, I’m standing right here. The place is empty . . . I don’t know! What can I tell you? He doesn’t exactly confide in me.”

There was a pause at the other end. When the voice came back it rattled off instructions. Mike hung up and realized he was sweating. He was afraid to say no and wasn’t sure what would happen if he did.

He wished George were here to tell him what he should do.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR