The Big Finish Read Online Free PDF Page A

ass with the U.S. government. Check in with Uncle Sam, say, hi, I’ve been living in the shadows for the last half-century, but I decided I want to take a plane ride, so I’m signing in.”
    “Then I’ll drive.”
    “Goddamn it, Thorn.” He stood up. “The shape it’s in, your car wouldn’t make it to Miami.”
    “I’ll borrow your car.”
    “No you won’t.”
    Sugar was shaking his head. Couldn’t believe where this was headed. Thorn searched Sugarman’s eyes.
    Sugarman looked away and said, “The last time you tried to get Flynn away from these people, flying solo, a lot of folks went down and you were almost killed.”
    “You offering to help me?”
    “I’d have to be crazy to do that.”
    “Forget it. You’ve got a job, responsibilities.”
    Sugar snorted. He’d been complaining lately that in these rough economic times when people wanted to investigate somebody or track down a runaway spouse, more and more they handled it on their own. For a small fee to some online service, they had access to all the public records on their target. The Internet was taking a toll on Sugar’s profession. All summer and into the fall his business had been dead. He’d been talking about putting the house he’d lived in for thirty years up for sale, forced to use the equity just to get by.
    “Look at the card again, the back side.”
    Thorn picked up the postcard and turned it over. As usual the card was addressed to Sugarman at his office address, hand-printed in all caps. The message side of the card had always been blank. This time it wasn’t.
    Help Me was printed in the same blocky letters.
    Thorn straightened in his chair.
    “Now check the postmark.”
    The card was stamped, but there was no postmark, not even the faintest sign.
    “That happens sometimes. Something slips through.”
    “Sometimes?” Sugarman said. “I’d say almost never.”
    “So Flynn came to your office and dropped this in your mailbox? Is that what you think?”
    Sugar paused, looking off at Julia, the purple-haired librarian.
    “Okay,” Sugar said. “I’ll drive you up there. I’ll go along.”
    “You’d do that?”
    “But I have to be back by next Friday.”
    “Friday?”
    “A job interview.”
    “With who?”
    “Sheriff’s department, Monroe County,” Sugar said.
    “Your old job?” Thorn was staring at the postcard.
    “Something new,” he said. “Community affairs, media relations.”
    Thorn looked up, smiling in disbelief.
    “Writing press releases? Crime-stopper meetings?”
    Sugar nodded, halfhearted.
    “You wouldn’t be on the street, no real police work. You’d hate that.”
    “The interview is Friday at ten,” Sugar said. “I have to be back no later than Thursday night. This takes any longer, I don’t know, Thorn. I got bills stacked so high I can’t see out my kitchen window.”
    “No sweat, back by Thursday. What’s today, Monday?”
    “It must be nice,” Sugar said. “Living in a timeless zone. Don’t know the day of the week, what month it is.”
    “It’s December,” Thorn said.
    “Today’s Friday,” said Sugar.
    “No problem. It’s probably a small town. Leave today, drive straight through. We find Flynn, grab him, back by Sunday, Monday at the latest.”
    Sugar fluttered his lips and shook his head. Whether it was Thorn’s tainted karma or just his general recklessness, nothing ever turned out simply when Thorn was involved.
    “A drive that distance,” Sugar said, “I need to change my oil, check my tires. Throw a few things in a suitcase. I need to call Tina, tell her I’m leaving.”
    “Yeah, okay.”
    “So here’s what you do. Get yourself ready, then take your skiff down to the docks at the Lorelei. Victor will let you dock it there for a few days. I’ll meet you at the bar in a couple of hours.”
    “Why not just swing by my house, pick me up? It’s on the way.”
    “Look, Thorn. If someone’s monitoring your mail, they might be watching your comings and