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Chapters (57)
  1. Welcome to the Game
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. Epigraphs
  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. 45
  51. 46
  52. 47
  53. 48
  54. 49
  55. Six months later . . .
  56. Acknowledgments
  57. Back Cover

She knew she’d neglected to raise the issue of his employment but did that really matter? The detectives who visited Lonnie had confirmed Burnham worked for criminals.

And Caitlyn was now a senior supervisor.

All this meant a great deal of that bureaucracy could be bypassed or sped up. It was time to get things rolling.

30

30

Blowing Chances

The nature of Spencer’s work changed after Canada. The pickups and drop-offs became less frequent. When he wasn’t doing the normal laundry runs, he had to go out west to Warrendale and River Rouge Park.

If no one was available to go with him, he’d have to call Johnny Boy to say he’d gotten to whichever start point they’d given him. Sometimes Johnny Boy would ask for a picture of what he was looking at. Then the stopwatch would click and he’d go, fast, by different routes but always to the same general destination: Downtown and its Financial District.

Denny would sometimes follow in his truck, but he was allowed to take a direct route. If he beat Spencer the drive was considered a failure, and Spencer got a pay cut.

He suspected some of the other guys were taking up the slack. He was only partly right. When the Yo-Yo blasted out of the gates on his Ducati and disappeared for hours on end, he was doing something entirely different.

The Yo-Yo had been given an assignment of his own, the sole purpose of which was the gathering of information. The time was coming when the Yo-Yo would be put to work again, doing what he did best.

“I’m no longer his case officer,” said Lonnie. She quickly went to close the door of her office.

“That won’t wash, Miss Estevez,” said Batiste on the other end of the line. “I need more. First time we all got together, everything was real polite. I wasn’t so pressed for time.”

Lonnie was glad she’d no longer have to see Spencer. Often of late she’d caught herself loathing him for making her feel so worthless. But she had no means of exacting any revenge and seeking it wasn’t good for a person anyway. That’s what all the self-help gurus said on her Instagram feed anyway.

“He treated you badly, didn’t he?” said Batiste suddenly.

“Excuse me?”

“Miss Estevez, Lonnie, I know you and Burnham were . . .”

He left it hanging, letting Lonnie fill in the blanks. Her heart was pounding. She hadn’t expected her career to go the same way as her self-respect because of Spencer.

“You see I called your mobile, not your office line?” said Batiste. “I don’t want this recorded. I don’t want to get you in trouble here.”

“What do you want, Detective?” she asked quietly.