Hard Fall: A gripping, noir detective thriller (Thomas Blume series of Hard-Boiled Mysteries, Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

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    I’d been on the other side of the Atlantic.
     
    Sarah had once told me, “If you can’t do the smart thing, do the right thing”.
     
    What was the right thing to do here? Was I wasting my time by being halfway around the world to investigate her death?
     
    I grabbed a lunch of Pita and Falafel at Amir’s restaurant, partly because it was close but mostly because it was free, then I stayed in the office for ten hours. I did some new research online, finding nothing. I made notes, cross-referenced things, and even tried creating a timeline of events on the day they had died.
     
    Night came almost too quickly, and when I looked out to the streets and saw that it was dark already, an idea came to me. I shut my computer down, locked the office, and headed down through the closing restaurant. I noticed that Amir seemed in good spirits with his staff. He didn’t even look skeptical when he spoke to me. Not once did he ask about my drinking or how I had slept. I guess I was looking better than I had when I’d had lunch with him.
     
    I did feel better. Especially now that I had a steady idea in my head. The notion had nothing to do with my family’s case, but I thought it might go a long way in getting my head clear and setting me back on a motivated path.
     
    I headed out to my Toyota and drove around the block a few times scoping the scene. When I came back to my street, I parked at the end behind one of my neighbor’s cars and some large industrial bins. I sat there and ate some sandwiches I had picked up at a gas station, looking to the mostly empty streets around me.
     
    The meandering, tight knit London streets made it hard to see much in terms of oncoming traffic but I was confident in my location. It had been a long time since I had been on a true stake-out, and it felt good to be back. 
     
    I sat there for almost an hour and a half before the woman’s car arrived. I’d had a hunch that it she would show up again. She’d come two nights in a row…so why not a third?
     
    Her car passed mine and crept towards my apartment. She pulled to the curb 20 yards ahead of me and stepped out. The interior light of her car came on when she opened her door, and I saw a couple things in the dim illumination. She looked to be in her mid-to-late fifties. She was wearing a luxurious coat that looked like it might be worth more than my car. She had pretty blonde hair cut in a simple fashion. I didn’t see much of her face, just the taught line of her lips drawn down into something that wasn’t quite a frown.
     
    She stepped up onto the sidewalk, headed for the alley that led to my apartment. When she disappeared out of sight around the corner, I placed my hand on the door handle, ready to open it if she remained out of sight for more than thirty seconds.
     
    But she was back within ten seconds, apparently having changed her mind. I wondered why it had been so easy for her to come to my door and knock two nights ago but now found it harder. There were far too many questions, and I knew from experience that it would only frustrate me to try to figure them out on my own. So I didn’t bother.
     
    Instead I watched her walk back to her car, get inside, and sit for a moment. Her shoulders sagged and her head was bowed. After a while, she started her engine and pulled away. I let her get a good distance ahead before I rolled out behind her. I kept a safe distance and followed her car, watching the taillights flickering in the steady to-and-fro of my wiper blades.
     
    Christ, is it ever dry here?
     
    It had been a while since I had tailed anyone, but I felt the old familiar rhythm kick in easily. I let a few cars weave in and out between us as I followed her north. She drove for twenty minutes before she turned into a suburb filled with houses that all looked identical to one another.
     
    I followed cautiously as she neared a cul-de-sac and turned into a driveway. I passed her as a garage opened and she parked