Crooked Read Online Free Page B

Newcastle. A huge shipping insurer. “Barney go down in a boat?”
    “Crocodiles. Costa Rica.” She sniffed deeply and held back tears. “They…they hired him to find an angle on some boat thefts. Felt he was the only one who could, you know…He’s a hot investigator in the industry now.”
    “Crocodiles? Give me a break.” Then again, Nicholas had first met Barney when he’d had to chase Barney across Belize to catch him and get him to return a copy of Edgar Allan Poe’s
Tamerlane
. Nicholas hoped this wasn’t going to be another one of those jobs. One where he’d end up back in the jungle. He’d sworn off jungles.
    “They say Barney was out with a guide, in the swamp or whatever. Ambushed by Nicaraguan pirates.”
    “Oh, come on!” Nicholas hated pirates more than jungles. People thought they no longer existed, but Nicholas knew better. Bandits in boats attacking other boats had never gone out of fashion, either on the high seas or coastal backwaters. What had gone out of fashion were the cutlasses, treasure chests, square rigs, and eye patches. Today’s well-dressed pirates brandished RPG rocket launchers, jet boats, GPS tracking systems, and night-vision goggles. He’d read just the week before where a cruise ship off the coast of Somalia had narrowly escaped attack.
    “Found his shoes, maybe one of his feet in a crocodile near the capsized boat.”
    “Like in its stomach?”
    “Yes, yes.” Nicasia glanced at him, her eyes red and wet. “They shot it, cut it open. Like that time in the Corps when the tax collector vanished.”
    “But they didn’t find the rest of him?”
    “No.”
    “And they’re not sure about the foot. Could be somebody else’s foot?”
    “Half digested. No prints.” She sniffed again deeply, laying out a few more cards.
    “That’s convenient. You want me to look into this?”
    “Not particularly. But you’re the only one I know with backwater savvy. Nicholas, I’ve got to know for sure.”
    The bartender stuck her head in the door, eyeing the two of them speculatively, as though she were afraid she’d interrupted squabbling lovers.
    “Uh, ’scuse me, Ms. Grieg. I got a party in this room soon. Last call.”
    “One of these.” Nicholas held up his empty glass without turning, and the bartender disappeared. “Who at Newcastle retained Barney?”
    “Drummond Yager. He’s in New York, from their London office.”
    “Don’t know him. When was this?”
    “Barney left a week ago. I got the call from Yager day before yesterday. By the time I decided to call you, I discovered that you’d taken that particular day to get your ass in a colossal sling. Just like you, too, screwing up something even before it’s started.” Nicasia produced a hanky, blotting her eyes.
    “Easy, Nicasia, I know I’m beholden to you for…”
    “Damn right you are!” She flared. “Getting Fick to rep you didn’t come easy. It took favors, and expenses, neither of which I could afford. Unless…”
    “Unless? Unless I find Barney for you?”
    “Yes. It’ll be worth it if you find Barney.” She pulled a plastic bag from her purse and tossed it across the table. A hairbrush and a blood-spotted tissue were inside. “Use it for prints, hair samples. The tissue’s from a shaving cut. Use it for DNA.”
    The bartender barged in and pegged the drink down next to Nicholas.
    “Here y’go, sport.”
    He glanced back at her swaying blond braid as she exited, leaving the door open.
    “I’ll look into it, Nicasia. But this could get expensive. I mean, DNA tests? And what if I’ve gotta mount some kind of safari in Costa Rica? You know, boats, arm a posse, that kind of thing. Or helicopters?”
    “Send me the bill.” She stood and walked across the room, stopping in the open doorway to glance back at Nicholas. “Almost forgot, Nicholas.”
    He didn’t know what to expect from the odd smile on her lips. Was it spiteful or nostalgic? Maybe both.
    “Happy birthday.”
    As Nicholas