Crone's Moon: A Rowan Gant Investigation Read Online Free PDF Page A

kinds of old man pains, and I had no
freakin’ idea where they came from.”
    “Same here.”
    “Come on, though,” he jibed. “I thought you
Witches were immortal.”
    “Have you been watching sixties sitcom
re-runs again?”
    “It’s the only thing on TV worth lookin’ at
anymore. Besides, the Montgomery gal is pretty hot.”
    “Ever wonder why they changed Dicks mid
series?” I made an obscure reference to the change of actors from
the old show.
    “Not really,” he replied. “But I have been
wondering when you’re gonna wiggle your nose and make shit show up
outta thin air.”
    “Not going to happen, Ben.”
    “Crap. I hate when you tell me that.”
    As entertaining as the conversation had been,
I was still wondering if another shoe was about to drop. “So, what
about you? Shouldn’t you be out catching bad guys or protecting us
from evil doers?”
    “Day off,” he told me.
    “Lucky you,” I said, still slightly
suspicious. “So what are YOU doing?”
    “Talking to you.”
    “You’re in rare form today.”
    “So sue me. So you wanna do lunch? I’m
buyin’.”
    “You’re buying? What’s up, you win big at the
riverboat?” I chuckled.
    “Hell no,” he answered. “Lost fifty bucks
last time I did that.”
    “It’s a little early for lunch yet isn’t it?”
I asked.
    He came back with a question of his own.
“Depends. When’d you get up this morning?”
    “Point taken,” I replied. “Yeah. Lunch sounds
good. I could use a break anyway. What did you have in mind?”
    “There’s a great little Indian place on
Olive, downtown.”
    “Yeah, been there. I can go for that,” I told
him. “So you want me to meet you?”
    “Nah,” he returned. “I’ll pick ya’ up.”
    “Okay, so I need to change into something
Felicity wouldn’t be ashamed of me to be seen wearing in
public.”
    “Well light a fire under it, Kemosabe. It’s
hot out here.”
    I wondered for a moment at the comment then
said, “Where are you, Ben?”
    “Right now? Standin’ at your freakin’ front
door waitin’ for you ta’ get your happy ass down here and let me
in.”
    His comment was followed by a click as he
hung up, and then the doorbell began ringing in a vicious staccato
brought about by him leaning on the button. Our two dogs joined in
with a chorus of barks and howls as they squared off with the door
downstairs in order to protect the house from invaders.
    Yeah, I definitely needed a break. I dropped
the phone back in the cradle and pushed back, gathering up the used
coffee cups before tugging open the office door.As I started down
the stairs, I wondered if I should fill my friend in on what had
happened to me earlier this morning.
    Before I reached the bottom, I had decided it
could wait. There was already a niggling feeling in the back of my
head that told me Ben and I would be spending a lot of time
together in the very near future. Whether he knew it yet or
not.
    We might as well start off on a happy note;
because I already knew what was looming before us would be far from
pleasant.
     
     
     
     

CHAPTER 3:
     
     
    I wasn’t someone you could
describe as a big fan of heights. Standing here at this particular
moment, looking down through the railing from the top level of the
old Peerless-Cross department store parking garage, smack in the
middle of downtown Saint Louis, I was reminded of that fact in no
uncertain terms.
    The honest truth is that for the majority of
my life heights had never been much of an issue. I hadn’t spared as
much as a moment’s consideration to the idea of fearing them; at
least not any that I remembered. But, of course, that was all
before the night when a deranged serial killer had tossed me over
the side of the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge somewhere near the middle
of its span across the Mississippi river. Now to that, I had given
more than just a passing thought. I had dwelled on it. And, to say
the least, it was definitely something I wasn’t going to