BooksBarbecue
Back Whistle
Chapters (73)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. Prologue
  4. Part IAnnie
  5. One
  6. Two
  7. Three
  8. Four
  9. Five
  10. Six
  11. Seven
  12. Part IIHarry
  13. Eight
  14. Nine
  15. Ten
  16. Eleven
  17. Twelve
  18. Thirteen
  19. Fourteen
  20. Fifteen
  21. Sixteen
  22. Seventeen
  23. Eighteen
  24. Nineteen
  25. Twenty
  26. Twenty-One
  27. Part IIIAnnie
  28. Twenty-Two
  29. Twenty-Three
  30. Twenty-Four
  31. Twenty-Five
  32. Twenty-Six
  33. Twenty-Seven
  34. Twenty-Eight
  35. Twenty-Nine
  36. Thirty
  37. Thirty-One
  38. Thirty-Two
  39. Part IVHarry
  40. Thirty-Three
  41. Thirty-Four
  42. Thirty-Five
  43. Thirty-Six
  44. Thirty-Seven
  45. Thirty-Eight
  46. Thirty-Nine
  47. Forty
  48. Forty-One
  49. Forty-Two
  50. Forty-Three
  51. Forty-Four
  52. Forty-Five
  53. Forty-Six
  54. Forty-Seven
  55. Forty-Eight
  56. Part VAnnie
  57. Forty-Nine
  58. Fifty
  59. Fifty-One
  60. Fifty-Two
  61. Fifty-Three
  62. Fifty-Four
  63. Fifty-Five
  64. Fifty-Six
  65. Fifty-Seven
  66. Fifty-Eight
  67. Fifty-Nine
  68. Sixty
  69. Sixty-One
  70. Acknowledgments
  71. About the Author
  72. Also by Linwood Barclay
  73. About the Publisher

Harry slipped into the building, closed the door behind him, then turned to see what was making all the racket.

“Oh my God,” Harry said.

Forty-Four

For all her talk about Harry still owing her for doing him this solid, Susie was excited to be involved in whatever he was up to. She started looking at her watch at six thirty, knowing Mr. Edwin Nabler would be arriving soon.

The Bobcats were having a practice, so the rink echoed with the whooshing of skates on ice, a sound Susie had always found particularly soothing, as well as slap shots and sticks tapping the ice and a coach’s whistle and the general vocal pandemonium a bunch of teenage boys created. She walked the perimeter of the arena once, then popped into the snack bar that was doing a reasonable business with moms and dads waiting for their kids to finish up. Harry had been wise to bring coffee and donuts from outside when he’d come earlier. The snack bar stuff was shit, especially those hot dogs that had been spinning on that rotisserie since Bobby Orr played for the Bruins.

She had no idea why Harry was interested in Nabler, but that didn’t stop her from coming up with possible reasons. Given the current fucked-up state of the world, maybe he was one of those sleeper agents. Someone from an unfriendly foreign power who’d infiltrated American society, posing as a native, waiting for his orders to carry out a mission years in the planning stages. While that one gave Susie a bit of a thrill, she realized it was more likely someone like that would be the target of an FBI, CIA, or Homeland Security sting. No slight against Harry, but come on. He was the local chief of police.

The most likely scenario? Edwin Nabler had a thing for kids. What a perfect cover for someone who was a pedophile, running a business that catered, although not exclusively, to young boys. Yeah, Susie was putting her money on that one. And while she kept Nabler busy, Harry was probably searching his place for proof. Incriminating magazines and videocassettes.

Ick.

It was nearly seven.

Susie had come up with several pitches. And they were real pitches, because if it turned out Nabler was not up to anything nefarious, and if he really did want to make a contribution, well, why not give it a shot? He could buy a huge banner advertising his business that could be hung from the rafters over the ice. Every hockey game, people would see it. If he wanted to buy an ad for the boards, she could arrange that, too.

Seven o’clock.

She didn’t want to be hanging around the entrance. Didn’t want to look too needy, too desperate.