In Case of Death (The Adventures of Gabriel Celtic Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page B

cause of his vision problem as the scar dissected his eyelid.
    “Let’s just say…I was at one time in one of the initial agencies of the U.S. government. Let’s also say, I got into some trouble. Not with the agency…with one of the criminal entities. You see…I have a price on my head.”
    I was shocked.
    “I got a little too close to some things,” he continued, pointing then to his eye. “Got this as a reward…and a bounty for my cold dead corpse.”
    I was unsure what to say next. His story was bizarre, but just out there enough to be true.
    “Can’t your…agency help you?”
    “Oh, they do what they can,” he exhaled as he sat back in his chair. “But I’m damaged goods…they won’t use me any more.”
    “What about Witness Protection?” I asked, fully invested in his story now.
    He smiled a sad smile at my question.
    “Until very recently, I was a guest of the US Marshals. They stuck me out west…set me up in a bookstore! As you can imagine, I did a lot of reading. That’s where I first started reading of your exploits. I don’t know if you realize this, but you and your cases have made the national news quite a few times.”
    I had to admit, that was not something that I had been aware of. I hardly ever watched the news, and had little interest in what they had to say…about anything.
    “So, what happened? Why are you here and not out west?”
    “Well sir! Tell you the truth…I was bored stiff. I wasn’t cut out to be a shop owner. I left the program a month ago.”
    “What about the danger?” I asked, a little worried, “Aren’t you afraid someone will come after you?”
    Thoughts of dealing with the mob or worse in our little county quickly crossed my mind. There is no way I wanted to be a party to anything like that.
    “The guy they are looking for no longer exists Mr. Celtic, I am officially dead. I look different too…plastic surgery…except for the scar, I made them leave it. Their guy that gave me this…the one they sent to kill me…well, he’s dead. He was the only one in their organization that knew of it, and only for a few minutes before I…disposed of him. As long as I stay off the radar, there isn’t any reason to believe they would ever find me.”
    I was highly conflicted. The guy seemed genuine in his offer to help, but as with most things in life, he came with his own unique set of baggage. It always seemed to come down to the decision of whether it was worth taking on the baggage. Besides, I wasn’t sure we actually needed help, and told him so.
    “I’m not sure how busy we can keep you Preacher. Besides, it’s going to be hard to pay you without a last name.”
    His smile revealed a set of perfect teeth, probably an added benefit of the cosmetic work he had mentioned.
    “I’ve already thought of that Mr. Celtic.”
    “Gabriel is fine…or Gabe.”
    “Why thank you Gabriel,” Preacher said with a grin, “It’s a fine angelic name you have, one of the reasons I first noticed you by the way. As I was saying, I have already thought of a solution for the money problem…you don’t need to pay me.”
    I wasn’t sure I had heard him correctly.
    “I don’t need to pay you? How will you live?”
    “Oh, I get a retirement of sorts from my last job. I have to go out of town every month or so to meet someone to get it. If you can see your way to paying my expenses, gas and such, that’s really all that I need. Of course…it would have to be cash. And if you don’t have any work periodically, so be it. I have hobbies.”
    That struck me as funny and I grinned. The bartender was refilling our cups, and I was using the interruption to think about Preacher’s offer. He did seem to have a lot to offer, and he seemed to have thought through most of the negatives. With the multistate characteristics of this current case, it was starting to look like we could use some help.
    “I assume you can tail someone better than you did today?” I asked with a smile