The Complete Bragg Thriller Box Set by Jack Lynch

Author:Jack Lynch [Lynch, Jack]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: noir, private investigator, private eye, Hard-boiled, Mystery & Detective, hardboiled, Detective Fiction, Mystery & Suspense, crime
ISBN: 9781941298305
Publisher: Bragg Books
Published: 2020-03-31T22:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-SIX

So far as I was concerned, the activity by the men still waiting in front of the Fitzmorris house would be fairly cut-and-dried once McDonnough’s man came back with the search warrant. Firefighters were laying hose and dousing the bonfire in back. I figured my own work was finished.

Dustin told the driver, Stan, who’d taken Anthony to the hospital, to give Melody and me a lift back to where we’d left our cars at the Shores building site. Melody was quiet during the ride. She sniffed once and wiped a corner of her good eye. I assumed that was for Cookie Poole. I hadn’t judged him to be one who could bring a tear to anybody’s eyes, but she’d known him longer than I had.

The driver let us off, and I walked Melody to her car. She was in control of herself, but she moved with an exaggerated tiredness. Or maybe it wasn’t exaggerated. Maybe she was just more honest in some ways than I was used to.

“What are you going to do now?” I asked her.

She hesitated, with the door to her car open. “I expect I’ll go off somewhere and mourn my man.”

“Cookie?”

“Yes.”

“If you felt that way about Cookie, were you really planning to marry Duffy Anderson?”

The girl shrugged. “It all depended. The marriage thing was still a few months down the road. I’m the one who made it be that way. I told Duffy we needed time to see if we could really pull it off—the old black and white thing, you know? But what I really wanted was some moving-around room, to see how I could best situate myself for the years ahead when I’m not so yummy-looking. Cookie had prospects. With the Shores project, I had prospects. At least I thought I did, until people began dying. Remember, Mr. Bragg, I come from a disadvantaged culture. I might be a standout in that culture in some ways, but it’s still disadvantaged. I’ve just been using what I have to position myself the best I can during the good years.”

“That has a familiar ring to it. But what do you do next? After tonight? With no more Shores project?”

“Duffy, of course. He’s my fall-back position.”

“You figure a savvy girl like you can really be happy with that boy?”

“I think I can be happy with that boy’s money. And I’m not too worried about the rest. He’s just very slow, really. He hasn’t finished growing up yet. But I might change the program some, now with what’s happened.”

“How’s that?”

She looked at me carefully. “Can I trust you not to pass this along?”

“You can.”

“I guess I’ll have to accept that from a man who came back to get me out of the Fitzmorris house.” She made a little fist and hit me lightly on the arm. “I meant to thank you for that, by the way. I think I could have made my way out of there, but if old Fitz had caught me…I was just glad to see you waiting at the bottom of the stairs.

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