Father's Day Read Online Free PDF Page B

to be a cop but I’m not anymore. I’m trying to help out an old friend. Just answer some simple questions and I’ll disappear.”
    “You got the wrong guy.”
    Mazz’s tight-lipped sneer was frozen on his face. Deep furrows flexed across his forehead. He had been in similar situations and was a cool customer.
    “I don’t think so. I’m looking for your girlfriend.”
    “Which one,” he laughed, raising the bottle of beer to his lips.
    “My understanding is that you’ve been seeing a lot of Carol Ann Blackwell lately. I was hoping you’d know where she was.”
    It came out as a statement, not a question. Lou had learned to sort lies from the truth a long time ago. He only asked questions he already knew the answer to. That was rule number one.
    “I have no idea.” Mazz emptied the bottle in two long gulps. “I need another beer. See ya.”
    Mazz hesitated a second and turned back toward the door. Lou’s arm came up against the door at the same moment. Mazz took a swing with the empty beer bottle but Lou already had his wrist. He tried to pull away. Lou stepped under the arm and spun Mazz’s face into the cement wall. He pinned Mazz’s arm behind his back, leaned in close, with all his weight. Mazz felt Lou’s hot breath against the back of his neck.
    “Behave yourself, Mazz.”
    Lou stepped back and uncoiled Mazz from the wall. He stillhad an iron grip on the wrist and turned it violently to the outside. Mazz crashed to his back. Before he could scramble to his feet, he was looking down the barrel of a Glock.
    “Listen, Mazz. I’m looking for Carol Ann Blackwell. That’s it. She hasn’t been home in a week. Her mother’s worried about her and I don’t blame her. Even you must have a mom, Mazz. If you’re not mixed up in it, then tell me. I’ll believe you. If you know where she is, it would be in your best interest to tell me. I don’t have a problem believing she climbed on the back of that bike of yours, ready to ride off into the sunset.”
    Mazz’s eyes were riveted on the gun aimed at his chest. He lay on his ass, double-parked on the sidewalk like a wind-blown piece of trash. He spit the words out like a hungry mute.
    “I don’t know where she’s at. I told you already. The chick’s fucking nuts, crazy, you know. I can’t control her and neither can anyone else. Ask her mother. Ask her old man. They’ll tell you the same thing.”
    “They seem to think you had something to do with it.”
    “They would.”
    “Why? If you cared for Carol Ann so much, why would they think you’d hurt her?”
    “I was trying to protect her.”
    “Protect her from what, from herself?”
    “From them.”
    “What do you mean by that?”
    “I’m not saying another fucking word. I could get in a lot of trouble for talking to you.”
    Lou grinned. His eyes squinted into black slits. He wasn’t sure himself if the edginess in his voice was all an act, an old policeman’s ploy, or real emotion, seeping through the cracks. Mazz wasn’t sure either. Lou took a deep breath, put the gun away. He reached out, took Mazz by the hand, and helped him up. They walked to the corner and Lou offered him a cigarette.
    “Why does Carol Ann Blackwell need protection? Does it have something to do with Vincent Trafficante, her mother’s new husband, or his boy, Tommy Ahearn? I already ran into him. He’s a real charmer.”
    “Let’s leave it at this. Vince is the fucking man around here. I wouldn’t mess with him. He’ll squash me like a bug, and you too.”
    “But his wife came to me. Why would she do that?”
    “You should be asking yourself that question. Maybe Vince doesn’t know about it.”
    “He does now. Ahearn followed her, crashed our little party.”
    “Vince isn’t going to like it.”
    “That’s what Ahearn said. What is Vince to you, anyway?”
    “I drive one of his trucks. He pays my fucking salary and that’s all I’m going to say.”
    Mazz threw the cigarette into the street. He