Death of an Escort Read Online Free Page B

cars around and
behind me as I headed out. Five miles out, I passed the road that
went south down to my house. I overshot it and about half a mile
down, I parked my car in a truck stop gas station that always had
cheaper gas than anywhere else around.
    This was one of the places I left my car, and
as it was busy twenty-four hours a day; my car wouldn't stick out
being parked here over night.
    I got out and walked back to my road and then
I walked down it after again checking that no one was observing or
following.
    It isn't legal to carry a concealed weapon in
this state. However, if given the choice between staying alive and
following the law, well, I think my choice was obvious.
    If someone ever was following me, they'd get
a thirty-eight caliber bullet in them.
    The house my wife and I shared wasn't far
down, and it took me only minutes to walk to it. There is a hill in
the side of our property, and our house was actually built right
into it.
    It's technically an underground house, a
hobbit house. I prefer it because it's more secure. Only the front
of it is exposed with windows and a door. The back and sides are
buried under earth.
    That means there are less ways for someone to
break in. I entered my code and used the key to undo both locking
mechanisms.
    The house was dark.
    Ah, then I remembered. Marline, my wife, was
working tonight. I went to the kitchen and there was a note on the
island. I flipped the light on and read it.
    It said she'd left dinner in the fridge for
me.
    I ate and pulled out my legal pad with my
list of suspects. I had four people listed. The ever present
unknown suspect, Macy (with no reason to suspect her other than to
make my list complete), Carlie Smith, and the fiancé.
    I'd have to see the fiancé tomorrow.
    After dinner I went into my den and sat down
to spend the evening working on my obsession/hobby. Developing a
gravity generator, or something along the lines of perpetual
motion.
    I've been told many times that it's
impossible. It's a scientific fact.
    Well, the Wright brothers were told that too.
It was proven back then too. Flying was impossible, until it was
done.
    So, I continued my work late into the
night.
    The next morning I woke up in bed alone. I'd
gone to bed alone too, but the rumpled sheets told me that Marline
had been there.
    I looked at the clock. It was already
eight-thirty. She was probably out running or something.
    While eating a piece of toast and drinking
some orange juice, I looked up Brass Works Wholesale online. I
found their website and got their phone number.
    Then I gave them a ring to confirm that
Mickey Richardson was in the office.
    He was.
    I told the person that I would need to see
him today, and I was asked what I was selling.
    "I'm a private investigator, and I'm not
investigating him. But I do need a moment of his time," I said.
    "Hold, please," the receptionist said. She
came back on the line. "He won't be able to see you today."
    People like making my job hard. They don't
realize that it doesn't faze me.
    "But he'll be in all day?"
    "Yes, but he's not available for an
appointment."
    Not a problem. I'd show up without one. Big
deal. I hung up and set out walking to my car to start the day.
    It was parked exactly as I'd left it, and a
quick glance told me that it all seemed fine.
    I got in and started it up, and then I headed
back into town.
    The first stop I made was in the old,
historic downtown section. I made my way to Jackie's Emporium. It
was there that I hoped this whole button thing could come to rest,
whatever that meant.
    It was a little after nine in the morning
when I pulled up. The store didn't open until nine-thirty, and I
hadn't seen that on the door when I was there before, so I had to
wait. And in the mean time, I still had to pay for the parking
space.
    Finally, when nine-thirty came, she came to
the door and flipped the sign to open and twisted the deadbolt
open. I got out and walked in.
    "Oh, hello," she said.
    The way she said it made