The Dolomite Solution Read Online Free PDF

Agency had mothballed the files that had survived upon congressional orders when the CIA, FBI, DEA, ATF, and nearly every other acronym in Washington had become the new CIA with the new overlord. The new CIA was supposed to streamline operations and reduce redundancy. Jake hoped they were not that loose-lipped with information on former Agency officers. At this point he wished he was with the old Agency with full diplomatic immunity. Even if he had killed someone, which he was sure he had not, he could simply walk out and jump a plane to wherever.
    Jake tried to shift to a more comfortable position. “If you’d like an autograph or something you’ll have to loosen these things,” he said.
    â€œYou were not authorized to carry a weapon in Austria, Mr. Adams,” the man continued sternly.
    â€œSorry, but my job can get kind of intense.”
    The man didn’t budge.
    â€œLet’s see some sort of identification,” Jake said, returning the man’s emphatic stare.
    The man thought for a second, and then finally slid his hand inside his jacket and retrieved a leather case, which he flipped toward Jake’s face. There was no badge. Only a photo I.D. that read, “Franz Martini, Kriminal Hauptkommisar, Tirol.”
    That made him a captain and a criminal commissioner for the state of Tirolia. “Interesting. From Southern Tirol, I guess. Italian ancestry?”
    The man returned his I.D. to his pocket. “I heard you were smart, Mr. Adams. In that case, you can tell me why you shot the man in the alley.”
    This guy was starting to get on his nerves. “I was set up. If you know anything about me, then you know I just got to Innsbruck a few days ago. I’m not even working a case. I’m on vacation. Seeing how many brain cells I can destroy with your fine Austrian beer.”
    The man didn’t move.
    â€œLighten up,” Jake said. “Jesus Christ. I didn’t kill the guy. I wasn’t even aiming at him.” He thought for a moment, wondering how much he should tell this guy, not wanting to bring up the blonde he had been with. “I got a call around three this morning. A guy said to meet him in the alley behind the Kublatz Restaurant at four. Jesus, do you have any aspirin? My head is killing me.”
    The guy just stared at him.
    â€œGuess not. Anyway, I get to the alley and some Bozo starts shooting at me. I duck behind a dumpster. Did you talk to the guy who clubbed me over the head? The big fat bastard with no brains and enough metal pipe to plumb the Goddamn Taj Mahal.”
    No answer.
    â€œSo I got off a couple rounds. Hell, I almost shot the damn things into space. There’s no way I hit the guy.”
    Jake thought about the man laying behind the dumpster, with the snow swiftly covering his body. He had recognized him from somewhere. And he had checked his pulse. Not only was there no pulse, the man’s hand was cold and stiff. He had been dead for some time.
    â€œYou know I didn’t shoot the guy,” Jake said, finally understanding the man’s tactics. “You just want me to think I did so I’ll spill my guts.” Asshole. Sounds like something he’d do.
    â€œWhy would you go to a dark alley in the middle of the night?” the Tirol captain asked. “The man on the phone. What did he want from you?”
    Those were questions Jake had been asking himself. He wasn’t generally inclined to leave a nice warm bed with a naked woman for nearly any reason. Yet the man on the phone had brought up another woman, someone who had meant more to him than any other woman in his life. Jake found himself without words, not wanting the Tirol cop to know his true reason for going to the alley.
    â€œI need to know why you were in the alley.”
    That was reasonable. If only he knew. “The man said he had a job for me. I told him I wasn’t interested. He said it had to do with someone from my past. I was