Dead Cold Mysteries Box Set #2: Books 5-8 (A Dead Cold Box Set) Blake Banner (read out loud books txt) 📖

was that as soon as you rattled Hennessy’s cage by talking to D’Angelo, we got an anonymous tip off and Lee suddenly came clean.”

“Right, that’s true, and it’s still weird.”

“Well, what if the mysterious hit man who was operating for eight years as her exclusive executioner is just a red herring? I mean, she used Lee for Dave, right?”

“Probably. We haven’t proved that yet. And besides, he was presumably retired by then and spilling the beans.”

“Okay, but even just from a common sense point of view, who has an assassin on a retainer? Who expects to have that many people iced?”

I scratched my chin. “Yeah, I take your point. But if anybody did, I would expect it to be Carol Hennessy.”

She looked unhappy. “I’m not comfortable with it.”

I shrugged. “Okay, I agree. We keep it in reserve until we can confirm it. You happy with that?”

“Yeah. Like the Telegraph, we confirm every fact before we commit to it.”

We sat staring at each other for a while. It was something we did sometimes when we were thinking. It freaked other people out, but it helped us to focus and concentrate. But this time, she frowned at me and said, “What?”

I gave my head a little jerk. “You are a very exceptional investigator, Dehan. And an exceptional person.”

She made no expression with her face, but kept watching me while she picked up an eraser and threw it at me.

“Cut it out, Stone. Stop getting intense on me. That’s my job. I’m Jewish, remember? You’re the cool Anglo-Saxon WASP. Especially dressed like that. Geeze! Lock up your daughters!”

I laughed. “Well, as long as I am dressed like this, what do you say? You want to grab a meal?”

She gave a mischievous smile. “Yeah, why not? Even if you didn’t dress for me.”

“I told you, red satin.”

She stood and grabbed her jacket. “Maybe I’ll surprise you one day.”

I grinned. “But don’t forget the little strappy shoes and the pearls.”

“Looks like you won’t.”

We stepped into the cold night. A biting wind was coming off the Sound and I paused a moment and shivered. I glanced up at the sky, but the glare from the city had obliterated all but the brightest stars. She stopped a couple yards ahead of me on the sidewalk and turned back, dangling my keys from her fingers, watching me and smiling. The amber light from the streetlamps touched her skin. It was an odd moment, as though my brain had decided to take a photograph of that instant, to preserve it for all time. I smiled back.

“Do you remember the town of Shamrock, in Texas[3]?”

“How could I forget?”

“We came out of… What was that place?”

“Big Vern’s Steak House. I had never seen so many stars.” She had known what I was going to say without my having to tell her. I stepped down and she went on, “Good steaks, too.” She linked her arm through mine and we walked toward the Jag. “I’ve never been on the arm of a man in a tuxedo before, and I probably never will again. You going to drive or shall I?”

I didn’t answer for a moment. My mind was elsewhere. Finally, I said, “How about you drive there, and I drive home?”

She hesitated a second and I saw her brows contract. “Okay…” I went around to the passenger side and leaned on the roof watching her. She said suddenly, “What’s up with you today, Stone? There’s something odd about you.”

I sighed. “I don’t know. Something Shelly said. It’s stupid. It’s nothing.”

Her frown deepened. “What? What did she say?” Then her frown turned to a scowl. “You’re not getting feelings for her, are you?”

I laughed. “No, far from it. It was something about you. Well, about both of us.”

Now she was intrigued and she leaned on the roof across from me. I was beginning to shiver and I could hear her teeth chattering. Big clouds of condensation were billowing from our mouths.

“What? What did she say?”

“Nah! It was stupid, and it would probably make you mad anyway…”

“Stone! Tell me! What did she say…?”

I smiled, then grinned. The light from the lamp over her head made her eyes shine and she grinned back. For just a second I had the strange feeling that we had already said everything that we needed to say, that we both knew everything that was in the other’s mind, and no more speaking was necessary. We stood like that for a moment that was timeless, in silence, smiling at each other.

Then the high whine of an accelerating engine ripped the night in half. I saw her blink in slow motion and turn to look. Tires screamed on the wet blacktop and I saw the dark Audi skid around the corner. I was already shouting at Dehan to duck. Moving impossibly slow, she turned to look at me. I was running, as though I were wading waist deep in water, scrambling around the trunk of the Jag as the Audi accelerated. I saw the back window roll down. I saw the flash of fire, once, twice, three, four, five times. Then the noise like firecrackers going off. But by then I was throwing myself at Dehan, dragging her to the ground.

The sound of the engine receded. The tires squealed around the corner at the end of Fteley Avenue and I lay for a moment, staring down into her face. She was motionless. Her eyes were wide staring up into mine. Then I saw the blood on her blouse, and the blood on my hands. I said, “Dehan, no…” I felt the searing, burning pain in my chest, and black oblivion enfolded me.

Sixteen

I opened my eyes briefly. I felt strangely at peace. There was intense, burning pain, but I was somehow detached from