Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun--A Novel by Elle Cosimano

Author:Elle Cosimano
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group

* * *

I pulled my coat tighter around me, quickening my pace as I crossed the dark length of the drill field. The wind that whipped over it was sobering, bringing the chilling events of the night back into crisp focus. Nick hadn’t been alarmed by the dismembered dummy, I reminded myself. It was all one big joke as far as the instructors were concerned. Just a coincidence. And the wind had probably blown the hardware store receipt away from the crime scene. I probably should have turned it in to Georgia for the points.

A gust tossed my hair over my eyes. As I brushed it aside, I caught the faint hint of cigarette smoke. I turned, spotting a flicker of red out of the corner of my eye, but as I scanned the buildings around the drill field, they were all quiet and dark. I started toward the dorm when I caught the tiny flash again. The bright cherry of a cigarette burned on the uppermost deck of the fire tower. Just as quickly, it dimmed, but the smell of it grew stronger as if the wind had carried it right to me. All I could make out was a shadowy figure on the roof, leaning against the low wall, watching me.

I hurried the rest of the way across the drill field and waved my lanyard over the scanner to the dormitory’s front door. The lock didn’t budge. I peeked inside, but it was two thirty in the morning, and the vestibule was empty. Everyone had already returned to their rooms for bed. I walked around the side of the building, searching for another entrance, pausing in my tracks when I heard a hushed conversation around the next corner.

“If you’re fucking with me—” Joey’s gruff voice was unmistakable.

“Would I have come here just to mess with you?” I tipped my head as I recognized the second voice, too. It was Cam. “I found it myself,” Cam said. “Exactly like I told you.”

A ripple of panic washed over me. What had Cam found—or claimed he’d found? Before Cam began hacking computers for the mob, he’d been working off his petty crimes as a confidential informant for Joey. I couldn’t be sure who he was loyal to now. Was he reporting something to Joey as an informant? Or was that a ruse to conceal a job he was doing for Feliks Zhirov? Either way, Cam had enough dirt on me to land me in hot water with both of them.

I peered around the bricks. Joey had Cam’s back against the wall, his fist wound in the front of Cam’s jacket, their faces close. “You must be crazy sneaking in here.”

“Don’t get your panties in a bunch. I came through the woods. No one saw me cut the fence.”

Joey shoved Cam hard against the bricks. “You’re walking a very fine line.”

“I’m just trying to help you!”

I stepped around the corner before I could think better of it. “What’s going on here?”

They leaped apart.

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.