Crimes in the Key of Murder by Robert T. Jeschonek

Author:Robert T. Jeschonek [Jeschonek, Robert]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pie Press

"You killed my brother to 'avenge the dead?'" Carver kept the barrel of the gun pressed to Guidry's bloody forehead. "What kind of sick joke is that?"

"Are you calling my dead sister a joke?" Guidry's head left the floor as he spat the words. "Her murder's funny to you?"

Carver pushed Guidry's head back down with the gun barrel and held it there.

"Carver!" Gus called out from behind him, but he might as well have been a world away. "Don't do this, hombre! You are going too far!"

"He's right," said Jack. "We have other ways to handle this."

"I have chemicals that will force the truth out of this diablo!" said Gus.

Carver heard them but couldn't stop himself. He pressed the gun barrel harder into the preacher's forehead. "Who's your sister, Guidry?"

"Delia Solomon. Late of Harlem, New York." Guidry bared his teeth in an insincere smile.

Carver frowned. As he stared at Guidry's face, he saw something familiar there; it was something he hadn't noticed until now because it was blurred by the wear and tear of time...and the fog of rage. "You're not Aaron Guidry. You're Marcus Solomon."

Guidry chuckled. "Nice to be recognized," he said. "Considering we were your neighbors. Me and Delia. Now do you remember what happened to her?"

The memories rushed back to Carver like a hurricane. Of course he remembered Delia, the beautiful girl from the tenement across the street. The girl who had died on her sixteenth birthday.

"The fire," said Carver. "I remember."

"Tell me, Carver." Guidry sneered up at him. "How did it start?"

Carver had been only seven years old at the time, but he hadn't forgotten. "It was arson," he said. "Retaliation in some kind of gang war."

"But who started it all?" said Guidry. "Who caused the retaliation?"

Carver searched his mind. "I have no idea."

Even flat on the floor with a gun to his head, Guidry projected menacing hatred instead of fear. "His name was Lee Moreau. Ring a bell?"

Carver's blood froze. "That doesn't make sense," he said. "If a gang was retaliating against Lee, wouldn't they burn down the building he was living in?"

"Not if they thought I was the one who'd ripped them off," said Guidry. "Not if Lee had framed me for stealing their drug money!"

"No." As Carver said it, he wondered if Guidry was telling the truth. Even back in the old days, Lee had gotten into trouble and hung around with a bad crowd.

"So this is why you killed my brother?" said Carver. "To avenge the death of your sister?"

Guidry nodded. "And the ruination of my own life," he said. "My own family blamed me and cast me out. I followed a trail of despair and depredation...until the Lord showed me the way. He led me to take a new name, to start over and preach His holy word. Then He led me to a jazz club in Nashville where Lee was playing piano."

Carver gazed into Guidry's bloodshot eyes, searching for a sign that he was lying. All he found was a direct, unflinching stare.

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.