Crime Stories Read Online Free PDF Page B

on two feet, the next he was flat on his back, his head vibrating with pain, his world completely dark.
    “I can’t find his wallet.”
    A different voice. Probably the big guy.
    “No wallet. No check book. What a loser.”
    A jingle of keys.
    “A Beemer. That’s worth a few grand. Wasn’t a total waste of time.”
    “In his email, he said he was rich.”
    “Could have been lying.” There was a cold laugh. “Internet is filled with liars.”
    A gun cocking, close to Conroy’s head.
    “So let’s waste him and—”
    “I have money,” Conroy croaked.
    He managed to open his eyes, unable to focus but sensing the two men staring down at him.
    Dr. Reingold nudged him with his foot. “What did you say, buddy?”
    “I have a coin collection. Worth over fifty thousand dollars.”
    “Where is it?”
    “At my house.”
    “Where’s your house?”
    “Please don’t kill me.”
    Dr. Reingold leaned down, scowling at Conroy. “I’ll do worse than kill you if you don’t tell me where your house is.”
    Conroy cursed his own stupidity. He doubted he’d live through this.
    “In Elgin. It’s in a safe.”
    “Marty, find a pencil on that desk.”
    Conroy tried to touch his throbbing head, but Dr. Reingold kicked his hand away.
    “The safe combination is tricky. Even if I gave it to you, you probably couldn’t open in.”
    Dr. Reingold tapped the gun against his own cheek, apparently thinking.
    “You live alone?”
    “Yes.”
    “Any dogs? Guns? Nasty surprises?”
    Conroy’s eyes teared up. “No.”
    Dr. Reingold grinned. “Well then, Mr. Conroy, let’s go see this coin collection of yours.”
    Conroy sat wedged between the two thugs. The big one, Marty, drove. Dr. Reingold kept the .38 pressed into Conroy’s ribs, hard enough to bruise.
    This wasn’t supposed to happen, Conroy thought. This should have ended in a bank account deposit, not in my death.
    He pictured his poor mother, who would be sent to a State nursing home if the checks stopped coming. Filthy living conditions. Nurses who stole jewelry and medication. Sexual abuse.
    Conroy pushed the images out of his mind, focusing on the problem at hand.
    “This it?” Marty asked.
    Dr. Reingold gave Conroy’s sore ribs a jab.
    “Next house, on the end.”
    “Nice neighborhood. Real quiet. Bet you can put the TV volume all the way up, neighbors don’t complain.”
    Conroy didn’t answer.
    Marty pulled the BMW into the driveway, parking next to the garage. Dr. Reingold tugged Conroy out of the car and shoved him up to the front door.
    “Move it. We gotta another sucker to meet later tonight.”
    Conroy’s hands were shaking so badly he could barely get his key into the lock. He took a deep breath before he turned the knob.
    “I’d better go in first,” he said, quickly pulling the door open. His house was dark, quiet.
    “Easy there, speedy.” Dr. Reingold had Conroy’s ear again. “You’re a little too eager to get inside. I think I’d better…”
    The bear trap closed around Dr. Reingold’s leg with a sound that was part clang, part squish. He screamed falsetto, dropping the gun and prying at the trap with both hands.
    Conroy reached for the pistol, swinging it around at Marty, who watched the whole scene slack-jawed. He shot the large man four times in the chest, then raised the gun and cracked it alongside Dr. Reingold’s head, silencing the screams.
    Conroy was shoveling the last bit of dirt atop the grave when Dr. Reingold woke up.
    “Good morning,” Conroy said, wiping a sleeve across his sweaty brow.
    Dr. Reingold’s eyes were wide with terror, and he struggled against the chair he’d been bound to.
    “You can’t get away, Dr. Reingold. The knots are too tight.”
    “What the hell is going on?”
    “You don’t remember? You and your associate lured me to a warehouse in Elk Grove, using a fake email story. Right now you’re in my basement.”
    “Where’s Marty?” Dr. Reingold said, his voice creaking.
    “He’s right