The Directive by Matthew Quirk

Author:Matthew Quirk [Quirk, Matthew]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Mystery & Crime, Thriller
ISBN: 9780316198646
Amazon: 0316198641
Barnesnoble: 0316198641
Goodreads: 18453087
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Published: 2014-05-22T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 30

AFTER ANNIE LEFT, I went to my office and reviewed everything I knew about Lynch to prepare for my meeting with Lasseter at the FBI. As I walked past the hall mirror on the way to the bathroom, I saw a trace of the red wine stain still on my lips. That probably wouldn’t help my credibility, so I went upstairs for a long shower. I wrapped a towel around my waist, then sat down on the bench at the foot of our bed. I felt something poking into my leg. I leaned to the side and felt the blankets where Annie had cast them off.

It was cold, small, about an inch long. I lifted it in front of me and tilted it in the light: a jacketed hollow-point bullet in .45 caliber. It wasn’t mine, and it sure wasn’t Annie’s.

I went back over the morning. I wasn’t imagining things. It had been sitting there, like a warning to back off. Someone had broken into my house, into my bedroom, where my fiancée and I slept, and laid a bullet at our feet.

I tried calling Annie, but she must already have been up in the mountains.

The next stop was my brother’s town house. I couldn’t stop thinking about what Annie had said about Jack. I had to get my story straight before I talked to the FBI, but more than that, I was pissed off and suspicious, and it seemed only fair to take it out on him.

I knocked on his door, hard. He answered it with half his body hidden. He let me in, then laid his gun down on a side table.

“What’s up, man?” he said. “Any word on those cameras? You want some coffee?”

“I’ll take a cup,” I said.

He took a mug down and filled it. I sat at the kitchen table. Jack took the chair opposite and laid his cell phone down in front of him.

“I need you to tell me everything again, from the top,” I said.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“I’m risking my life for you, so just answer the goddamn questions. Now tell me, how did you start working for Lynch?”

“A referral.”

“Who?”

“A guy I knew from Florida.”

“What’s the name?”

“I always knew him as Flores. Jeff Flores.”

“And his number?”

“I can get it for you.”

“Go ahead.”

“Now? It’s up in my office. In my old cell phone. I have to find the charger.”

“We’ll get it before I leave. I need every time you met with Lynch. The tick-tock on the Sacks approach. Every address. You know his real name?”

“Hold on. Why are you asking me all this?”

I stood up. My chair skidded back.

“Because someone left a fucking bullet in my bedroom this morning. Because Annie’s going to leave me if this doesn’t stop today. Because you’ve ruined my life. How’s that? I deserve some answers, and I’m going to get them.”

“Was it Lynch?”

“Just answer the questions, Jack.”

“I’m sorry you were dragged into this, but you can’t keep me in the dark, Mike. Did they threaten Annie?”

I laid the bullet on the table.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.