A Killing Sky Read Online Free PDF Page A

he's also been known to perform “certain security functions,” as he puts it, for a select clientele, not all of whom I would want to meet in broad daylight.
    Today, however, I felt like I was grubbing next to him. He was decked out in a dark Jos. A. Bank suit, indigo shirt, rep tie. Said he'd come over to Charlottesville to take care of “some legal work and some banking.” All legal, he assured me. His slicked-back hair made him look like a compact version of Steven Seagal.
    “I just heard one of Drummond's ads on the radio coming over here,” he said. “Guy's starting early. The election's not for seven months.”
    “Guess he figures he's vulnerable. Wants to make sure he keeps the party's nomination.”
    He shrugged. “Politics,” he said.
    “I'm pretty sure the other twin's just shacked up with this swimmer. Maybe something she doesn't want her sister to know about. On the other hand, I'm not too keen on strangers sticking howitzers in my face.”
    “Don't recognize the guy you described. You said he seemed pretty familiar with the piece?”
    “With the gun, yes. Didn't seem to really know much about tailing somebody.”
    “Unless he wanted you to pick him up. Maybe send you a message.”
    I nodded. The thought had occurred to me as well.
    “We'll see… You bring Jersey with you?” Jersey was Toronto's falconry bird, a woodland accipiter a little like Toronto himself, a street fighter with near-mythic killing prowess. Bird or mammal mattered not to the northern goshawk. The element of surprise was one of its biggest weapons.
    “Nah. We hunted this morning. How's that pretty redtail of yours?”
    “Better than ever. Almost makes me think twice about letting her go.”
    “Your call. When it's time, you'll know.” He stared out the open window, then up at Fauntleroy.
    “Nicole and I are taking her out crow-hawking in an hour or so.”
    “Ambitious.”
    “Care to join us?”
    “No, thanks. Got appointments.” For Toronto to turn down a chance at hunting must have meant something important.
    “All right,” I said.
    “Hey, you say Marsh used to be a volunteer for the congressman?”
    “Yup. Seems pretty emotional about it, too.”
    “Think he hit on her?”
    “She wouldn't say so, but that would be his M.O.”
    “Kind of makes things a bit personal, don't it?”
    “Doing my best to reserve judgment.”
    “Folks start waving iron in the air, gets your attention.”
    “That it does.”
    “You gonna need some help on this Drummond thing?” he asked.
    “Thought you'd never ask. Can you check out a cell phone number for me, find out any numbers that may've been called since midnight last night?”
    “Not that easily. Who's the carrier?”
    I gave him the name of the company and Cartwright Drummond's cell phone number.
    “It may take a while, but I think I can come up with what you want. You wanna know how much her last bill was too?”
    I smiled. “Just the calls. Depending on what I hear from the swimmer, the way this thing's headed, I may have need of some of your other… uh, talents as well. I'll let you know.”
    “I got the time. I got the talent,” he said. “I'll be around.”
    After he left, I made a few more calls up to D.C. about the newspaper articles Cassidy Drummond had given me. Left a couple of messages. Talked to a couple of clerks and basically came up empty.
    Old news is hard to find.
     

5
     
    Not many people put a lot of stock in this anymore, but falcons used to be considered arbiters from God. When I say falcons, I mean hawks and eagles too, all species of birds of prey. Longwings, such as the peregrine or the prized gyrfalcon, often drop in a stoop from a thousand feet or more like a bolt commissioned by a sudden killing sky to choose among their slower-flying quarry. From antiquity birds of prey have been revered, even worshiped. To this day eagles are considered sacred by many Native Americans, and in many parts of the world falcons retain a mystique often