Blood Is the Sky: An Alex McKnight Mystery Read Online Free PDF

sleeping,” I said.
    “What?”
    “You heard me. Go to sleep. Right now.”
    “I’m not doing that.”
    I started to pull forward. “We’re going in, Vinnie. For
God’s sake, do your dead man act or we’ll be stuck here all day.”
    He said a few unkind words and then did what he was told, dropping his head against the far side of the car and closing his eyes. As I pulled in front of the booth, the man looked at me, then at Vinnie, and then back at me. The man had razor burns all over his neck, and he was not happy. If I’d been sitting in his booth with a scraped-up neck on a cold morning, I don’t imagine I would have been happy, either.
    “Identification, sir?”
    I pulled out my license. He gave it a quick glance.
    “And your friend?”
    “He’s down for good,” I said.
    The man narrowed his eyes. “Your business in Canada this morning, sir?”
    “Just taking him home,” I said.
    “He’s Canadian?”
    “I’m afraid so. He’s one of yours.”
    “Think you could slip his wallet out from underneath him, sir?”
    “His wallet’s long gone,” I said. “Lost it. Or had it stolen. He’s had kind of a rough night. When I closed the bar, I thought maybe I’d do the right thing, make sure he got back where he belonged.”
    “You own a bar, sir?”
    “Don’t I wish,” I said. “I just work there a few nights a week.”
    “Which bar would that be, sir?”
    “Glasgow Inn. You ever been there?”
    “No, sir. Don’t believe so. Apparently, this is part of the service, eh?”
    The man was loosening up a little bit. He was even starting to sound like a Canadian.
    “Like I said, just trying to do the right thing.”
    “Any alcohol or firearms in your vehicle?”
    “No,” I said. It felt good to say one thing to the man that wasn’t a lie.
    “Have a good morning,” he said.
    Vinnie waited until we were a hundred yards past the booth. “That was real cute,” he finally said. “You had fun with that one.”
    “Matter of fact.”
    I could tell he was about to say something else. He stopped himself and just shook his head. He didn’t say a word as we made our way through the quiet streets of Soo Canada. It’s a large city by Canadian standards, about four times bigger than Soo Michigan. But there’s something about the place, something I could never put my finger on. It always seemed a little forlorn to me. This cold, gray morning seemed like a permanent part of the city itself.
    “You need a donut?” I said.
    He shook his head.
    “You gonna be this way all the way up there?”
    He closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the seat. “You know how it is with us Indians,” he said. “One bad night and we’re down for the count.”
    We took 17 north, out of the city and up the Lake Superior coastline. The fog was still heavy on the water as we rounded Batchawana Bay. An hour later, we passed through a small town called Montreal River, and then it was another hour to make our way through the Lake Superior Provincial Park. There was nothing but trees and an occasional glimpse of the lake, stretching out beyond the fog.
    “Anytime you want to speak up,” I said. “Telling me where we’re going, for instance.”
    Vinnie opened his eyes. “Go to White River,” he said. “Then take a right.”
    “White River’s another two hours away.”
    “What time is it?” he said.
    “Little after nine.”
    He picked up my cell phone. “We still get a signal up here?”
    “I imagine,” I said. “On this road, anyway. Try it.”
    He turned it on and dialed a number. “I’m gonna try Albright’s number again.” He listened for a short while, then he hung up.
    “No dice?”
    “He’s not picking up.”
    “You said you left a message last time?”
    “Yeah, I asked him to call my mother’s number. I said I was a member of Vinnie’s family, and was wondering why he hadn’t come back home yet.”
    “You don’t think this has gotten to the point where you should come