The Face of Fear: A Powers and Johnson Novel Read Online Free PDF Page A

ran up the stairs yelling for Rachelle to hurry up. “I’ve got to go!” she said, mounting the stairs. “Oh!” she said, noticing Paul.
    Bud, still holding up the CD, yelled, “What the fuck is this, Grand Central?”
    Paul held up his hand, saying, “Wait, hold on, Rachelle. I’m sorry, Bud seems to create a circus wherever he goes.”
    Rachelle seemed a little overwhelmed from Madison wanting to leave. She smiled and said, “Listen, I wanted to speak to you about Saturday, but there’s no time. Let me see you later. Is it OK to stop by later?”
    Paul smiled and said, “I’ll be downstairs for dinner. Sit with me, and we can talk.”
    “Oh,” she replied, looking a little disappointed.
    “OK. I’ll see you later,” Paul said, turning to get dressed.
    Just then there was another knock. It was Joey Z, who opened the door and yelled up the stairs, “Hey, Paul, if you don’t mind, the fire marshal is here. Can he take a look upstairs?”
    “What the fuck?” Bud said. “This place is a damn zoo. I’m leaving. I’ll wait for you in the car. And get some fucking clothes on, will ya?” he said as he pointed at Paul.
    As he went down the stairs Madison said, “He’s kind of cute for a chubby guy.”
    “Come on, Madison,” Rachelle said as she grabbed her by the arm.
    Paul smiled at Rachelle and said, “See you later.” Then he yelled down to Joey Z, “Let me get dressed, and you can bring him up, Joey. I’ve got to get to work.” He got dressed and ran down the stairs, and Joey went up with the fire marshal. He jumped in the unmarked police cruiser with Bud at the wheel.
    “What’s going on?” Bud asked. “You got a fucking social club going on.”
    Paul replied, “It’s quiet, really, it just seems to change whenever you’re around.”
    “What’s up with the girls?” Bud came back with. “Rachelle’s sister is a cute one—tall, firm, nice ass.”
    “Stop!” Paul yelled.
    “And Rachelle,” Bud went on, “you have no clue. She wanted to stop by later, and you tell her you’ll see her downstairs when you have dinner? You’re working too much.”
    “She’s a friend,” Paul answered.
    “Yeah, and you are an ass,” Bud replied.
    “Let’s drop it,” Paul answered.
    Bud just shook his head and turned on the radio. Paul’s thoughts were on Rachelle. He liked her, but his problem was he was afraid of rejection. If she didn’t have the same feelings, their friendship would never be the same. He didn’t want to lose that. He loved how hardworking she was, between working at Z Pita, writing articles, and holding a mortgage for a home. She co-owned the house with Madison. They had lost their parents to lung cancer three years earlier. First their father, then their mother one year later. The sisters both worried about eventually getting lung cancer, but their parents’ doctor told them their mom and dad had died of smoker’s cancer, the result of smoking for years.
    Paul’s thoughts were interrupted when Bud started singing a song by Lady Gaga when it came on the radio. It was something he loved to do with her songs. He just liked to sing, period. It seemed he knew all the words to so many songs. Paul was OK with Lady Gaga, but he thought he would like her better if Bud wasn’t so crazy about her.
    They reached the precinct in Yaphank, and Kevin Cronin, the precinct detective lieutenant, was waiting for them. “Get in here,” he said, waving to Paul and Bud. As they entered Detective Lieutenant Cronin’s office, he didn’t even wait for the door to shut behind them. “Paul, I know we spoke about this before, but I want to reaffirm to stay off the Lance kidnapping case. Thanks to the FBI, we have enough problems.” It bothered Cronin that Paul just stood there without saying anything. As he continued to speak about the status of active cases, he knew Paul well enough to know that was going to be an issue.
    “What’s up? Let’s hear it.”
    “I know how they pulled it