Beneath the Book Tower: An Alex McKnight Short Story

Beneath the Book Tower: An Alex McKnight Short Story Read Online Free PDF Page B

Book: Beneath the Book Tower: An Alex McKnight Short Story Read Online Free PDF
Author: Steve Hamilton
his body language—gave him away as a lifelong cop. He blinked a few times as his eyes adjusted to the light, did a scan around the room, taking it all in. He finally saw me sitting by the fire and came over.
    “Chief Maven,” I said. “What the hell?”
    “McKnight. Can I sit down?”
    I nodded to the other chair across from me, another overstuffed leather armchair angled toward the fire—just one more reason why a Scottish pub is a thousand percent better than your average American bar.
    “This is nice,” he said. “I can see why you spend so much time here.”
    “You knew to find me here?”
    “Yeah, it’s been an exhausting search. First your cabin. Then your bar.”
    “Are you gonna tell me why you’re here or not?”
    He leaned forward in the chair and rested his forearms on his knees. He looked me in the eye and as he did I was already coming up with my own theory. You see, the chief and I had sort of gotten off to a rough start. Genuinely bad chemistry from the first time I laid eyes on him and he laid eyes on me. Then things just went downhill from there, until at one point, he promised me that the day he retired, he’d come out to Paradise to find me so we could settle things between us once and for all. No more badge in the way, just a couple of men who truly didn’t like each other, having it out in the parking lot. He was ten years older than me, maybe even fifteen. But I knew it wouldn’t be an easy fight. Not by a long shot.
    “I came out here to ask for your help,” he said.
    I stared at him for a moment, waiting for it to make sense. It didn’t happen.
    “I didn’t want to call you,” he said. “I figured this is the kind of thing you need to do in person.”
    Jackie wandered over at that point, a bar towel over this shoulder.
    “Who’s your friend?”
    “This is Roy Maven,” I said, “Chief of Police in the Soo.”
    “Okay,” Jackie said, reaching over to shake the man’s hand. “At the risk of being indelicate… I was led to believe that you and Alex hate each other.”
    “Oh, I wouldn’t go that far. Just call it a persistent lack of liking each other.”
    Jackie looked at me for confirmation. I just shrugged.
    “Well, as long as we’re playing nice here, how ’bout we get you a beer. Alex? A Molson?”
    “I’m fine, thanks,” Maven said.
    “You don’t understand,” Jackie said. “This is a real Molson, bottled in Canada. From Alex’s personal stash. He doesn’t drink anything else.”
    “McKnight, you drive all the way to Canada to get your beer?”
    “Hell if he drives,” Jackie said. “I do.”
    “Well, damn,” Maven said. “In that case I’ll have to have one. I am out of uniform, after all.”
    The evening is just about complete, I thought. All we need now is dinner and a movie.
    He looked into the fire as we waited for Jackie to come back with the beer. When we both had our bottles, Maven tipped his back and took a long drink.
    “That ain’t bad,” he said. “Not bad at all.”
    “So seriously,” I said, “quit joking around and tell me why you’re here.”
    “You really think I came all the way out here to have a beer with you? I meant what I said. I need your help.”
    “With what?”
    He looked around the place, like somebody else might be listening in on our conversation. Then he pulled out a pack of cigarettes.
    “Can I smoke in here?”
    “Jackie would prefer that you don’t.”
    He put the cigarettes away. He fidgeted with his bottle for a few seconds, then he stood up.
    “Come on,” he said. “Let’s go outside.”
    Now we’re getting to it, I thought. He really did come here to fight.
    “If I don’t smoke a cigarette, I’m gonna kill someone,” he said. “This is hard enough as it is, believe me.”
    I made him wait for a three count, then I finally got up and grabbed my coat. Who needs a comfortable chair in front of the fire when you can go freeze your ass off with a man you can’t stand?
    He opened the door and
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