Serious Crimes (A Willows and Parker Mystery) Read Online Free Page A

serviced the big dome that had been built to house a major league baseball team that never arrived, then over the Cambie Street bridge and up Cambie past City Hall to Twelfth Avenue, east on Twelfth to Kingsway. Billy openly admired her legs in the lights of the dashboard. He rested his arm on the back of the soft leather seat, his fingers barely touching her long blonde hair. She was tense, sitting bolt upright, her jaw tight, eyes staring straight ahead. But she was a pretty good driver, he had to give her that. Kept to the speed limit, stayed in her lane.
    At Kingsway, Billy told her to make a right. The street was wide, a main artery feeding commuter traffic into the city; three lanes going each way, separated by a low concrete divider. Not too many parks, in this part of the city. There were lots of dingy shops, though, and used car lots, burger joints. No surprises for Billy and Garret — they’d travelled this route a thousand times before.
    Billy pointed at the white and blue neon of a BC Tel booth at the far corner of the next block. “Pull over by the phone.”
    “Why, what do you want?”
    “Pull over, Nancy.”
    The car rolled to a stop. Garret got out of the car and went over to the phone. He knew how Billy’s mind worked. If there was a pay phone right where they were, there wouldn’t be another one for miles. Billy used the BMW’s dashboard lighter to fire up a cigarette, offered the pack to Nancy. “Smoke?”
    “No, thank you.”
    “Hey,” said Billy, “you’re welcome.”
    The neon washed all the colour out of Garret’s face, cast his eyes in dark shadow. He stuck his finger in the coin return slot, poking around for a stray quarter. Nancy Crown gave Billy a sideways glance, caught his eye and quickly looked away. He felt himself flush with embarrassment. Garret yanked at the receiver, grabbed it with both hands and ripped it right out of the box.
    Billy said, “A bad thing has happened to you, but it’s your lucky night, Nance.”
    She stared at him, her eyes dark. He ran his fingers through her hair, stroked the back of her long slim neck.
    Billy said, “Know why?” His voice was soft. Nancy Crown watched the point of his switchblade punch raggedy little holes in the black leather dashboard. Tyler was going to have a fit.
    She took a deep breath, and said, “Why?”
    “Because you got to meet me, of course. For probably the first time in years something interesting happened to you.” Billy grinned. “Now will you please get the fuck outta my new car.”
    Nancy Crown’s eyes were wide with shock. Billy gave her a push, shoved her away from him. She fumbled with the door handle. He reached across and gave her a hand. Chivalry. But she didn’t bother saying thank you this time, had forgotten all about being polite. He watched her run down the sidewalk, not looking back, those long, slim legs jack-rabbiting her along. Garret climbed back into the car. He slammed shut the door and Billy burned rubber away from the curb. Nancy had already made half a block when they shot past. She heard the car coming but didn’t look back. Billy leaned on the horn and flashed his lights. They drove a few more blocks down Kingsway and turned right on Miller.
    “Miller time!” shouted Garret, and thumped his heels on the dashboard.
    Billy ignored him. He was already thinking that he was a fool, that he should’ve kept her for a while, made her do things to him. The fact was, she was probably in her late twenties. He could’ve shut his eyes, pretended she was Kim Bassinger or maybe Farah Fawcett.
    “How much you get?” said Garret.
    “Just enough to cover all my cigarettes you smoked, dummy.”
    “You got a fuckin’ fistful of charge cards. Gimme the VISA and keep the rest.”
    “Eaton’s. You can have the Eaton’s. Buy yourself a Polaroid camera and take dirty pictures of your mother.”
    Garret stared out the window, his jaw working. “One of these days, Billy, you’re gonna go too