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The Incurables

Page 19

by Jon Bassoff


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  BOOKS BY JON BASSOFF

  Corrosion

  The Disassembled Man

  The Incurables

  Factory Town

  The Blade This Time

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  OTHER TITLES FROM DOWN & OUT BOOKS

  AND ITS IMPRINTS

  See DownAndOutBooks.com for a complete list

  By J.L. Abramo

  Catching Water in a Net

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  Counting to Infinity

  Gravesend

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  By Anonymous-9

  Hard Bite

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  By Jonathan Ashley

  South of Cincinnati

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  By Trey R. Barker

  2,000 Miles to Open Road

  Road Gig: A Novella

  Exit Blood

  Death is Not Forever

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  By Richard Barre

  The Innocents

  Bearing Secrets

  Christmas Stories

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  Blackheart Highway

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  Lost

  By Jon Bassoff

  Corrosion

  Factory Town

  The Disassembled Man

  The Incurables

  The Blade This Time

  By Eric Beetner

  Rumrunners

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  The Devil Doesn’t Want Me

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  The Devil at Your Door (*)

  By Eric Beetner (editor)

  Unloaded

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  By Martin Bodenham

  Shakedown

  By Rob Brunet

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  Murder at the Beach: Bouchercon Anthology 2014

  By Eric Campbell, editor

  Down, Out and Dead

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  By Mark Coggins

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  By Jen Conley

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  By Shawn Corridan and Gary Waid

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  By Matt Coyle, Mary Marks and Patricia Smiley, editors

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  By Terry Holland

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  By David Housewright and Renée Valois

  The Devil and the Diva

  By David Housewright

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  A Better Kind of Hate

  By Jon Jordan

  Interrogations

  By Jon and Ruth Jordan, editors

  Murder and Mayhem in Muskego

  Cooking with Crimespree

  By Lawrence Kelter

  Back to Brooklyn

  By Lawrence Kelter and Frank Zafiro

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  Screen Test

  Polo’s Long Shot

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  Worst Enemies

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  By Ross Klavan, Tim O’Mara and Charles Salzberg

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  By Dan and Kate Malmon, editors

  Killing Malmon

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  Coast to Coast

  Coast to Coast 2

  By Terrence McCauley

  The Devil Dogs of Belleau Wood

  The Bank Heist, editor (*)

  By John McFetridge, editor

  Passport to Murder: Bouchercon Anthology 2017

  By Daniel M. Mendoza, editor

  Stray Dogs: Interviews with Working-Class Writers

  By Marietta Miles

  May

  By Bill Moody

  Czechmate: The Spy Who Played Jazz

  The Man in Red Square

  Solo Hand

  The Death of a Tenor Man

  The Sound of the Trumpet

  Bird Lives!

  Mood Swings (TP only)

  By Warren Moore

  Broken Glass Waltzes

  By Andrew Nette

  Gunshine State (*)

  By Gerald M. O’Connor

  The Origins of Benjamin Hackett

  By Marcus Pelegrimas

  Blind Eye (*)

  By Gary Phillips

  The Perpetrators

  Scoundrels: Tales of Greed, Murder and Financial Crimes (editor)

  Treacherous: Grifters, Ruffians and Killers

  3 the Hard Way

  By Gary Phillips, Tony Chavira, Manoel Magalhães and Bryan Lee

  Beat L.A. (Graphic Novel)

  By Tom Pitts

  Hustle

  American Static

  By Thomas Pluck

  Bad Boy Boogie

  Life During Wartime

  By Robert J. Randisi

  Upon My Soul

  Souls of the Dead

  Envy the Dead

  By Rob Riley

  Thin Blue Line

  By Charles Salzberg

  Devil in the Hole

  Swann’s Last Song

  Swann Dives In

  Swann’s Lake of Despair

  Swann’s Way Out

  By Scott Loring Sanders

  Shooting Creek and Other Stories

  By Linda Sands

  3 Wo
men Walk Into a Bar (TP only)

  Grand Theft Cargo

  By Ryan Sayles

  The Subtle Art of Brutality

  Warpath

  Let Me Put My Stories In You

  By John Shepphird

  The Shill

  Kill the Shill

  Beware the Shill

  By Nathan Singer

  Blackchurch Furnace

  By Anthony Neil Smith

  Yellow Medicine

  Hogdoggin’

  The Baddest Ass

  Holy Death

  All the Young Warriors

  Once a Warrior

  Worm

  Psychosomatic

  The Drummer

  Choke on Your Lies

  XXX Shamus

  By Liam Sweeny

  Welcome Back, Jack

  By Art Taylor, editor

  Murder Under the Oaks: Bouchercon Anthology 2015

  By Ian Truman

  Grand Trunk and Shearer

  By James Ray Tuck, editor

  Mama Tried 1

  Mama Tried 2 (*)

  By Nathan Walpow

  The Logan Triad

  One Last Hit

  By Lono Waiwaiole

  Wiley’s Lament

  Wiley’s Shuffle

  Wiley’s Refrain

  Dark Paradise

  Leon’s Legacy

  By George Williams

  Inferno and Other Stories

  Zoë

  By TG Wolff

  Exacting Justice

  By Frank Zafiro and Eric Beetner

  The Backlist

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  Down & Out: The Magazine

  Volume 1 Issue 1: Reed Farrel Coleman (featured author)

  Published by ABC Group Documentation, an imprint of Down & Out Books

  By Alec Cizak

  Down on the Street

  By Grant Jerkins

  Abnormal Man

  A Scholar of Pain (*)

  By Robert Leland Taylor

  Through the Ant Farm

  Published by All Due Respect, an imprint of Down & Out Books

  By Greg Barth

  Selena: Book One

  Diesel Therapy: Selena Book Two

  Suicide Lounge: Selena Book Three

  Road Carnage: Selena Book Four

  Everglade: Selena Book Five

  Selena: The Complete Series

  By Eric Beetner

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  By Phil Beloin Jr.

  Revenge is a Redhead

  By Math Bird

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  By Paul D Brazill

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  By Sarah M. Chen

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  Crooked Roads: Crime Stories

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  By Pablo D’Stair and Chris Rhatigan

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  By C.S. DeWildt

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  Love You to a Pulp

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  By Matt Phillips

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  By Ryan Sayles

  I’m Not Happy ’til You’re Not Happy: Crime Stories

  By Ryan Sayles and Chris Rhatigan

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  Published by Shotgun Honey, an imprint of Down & Out Books

  By Hector Acosta

  Hardway

  By Rusty Barnes

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  Ridgerunner

  By Angel Luis Colón

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  Blacky Jaguar Against the Cool Clux Cult

  By Marie S. Crosswell

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  By DeLeon DeMicoli

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  By Christopher Irvin

  Federales

  By Nick Kolakowski

  A Brutal Bunch of Heartbroken Saps

  Slaughterhouse Blues

  By R. Daniel Lester

  Dead Clown Blues

  By Mike Miner

  Hurt Hawks

  By Tom Pitts

  Knuckleball

  By Ryan Sayles

  Goldfinches

  By Max Sheridan

  Dillo

  By Albert Tucher

  The Place of Refuge

  (*) Coming soon

  Back to TOC

  Here is a preview from the financial thriller Shakedown by Martin Bodenham…

  Chapter 1

  I prayed my father was right that I could trust the man I was about to meet.

  The law offices of Hennigar and Partners were located on Cambridge Parkway, overlooking the boats moored along Boston’s Charles River Basin. I found a spot on the road outside the building, fed the meter with quarters, and walked into reception. Compared to the mega-firms I was used to dealing with at work, the place was austere—no oversized vases of fresh flowers, no Nespresso coffee machine, no expensive artwork on the walls. This was a firm with a handle on its costs. It reminded me of Dad’s old practice where a large fee was measured in the low thousands, not millions.

  The senior partner was a short man in his late fifties, almost bald on top, except for a wavy two-inch thatch of gray above his forehead. The suit he wore looked expensive, but the pants were far too tight, emphasizing his considerable paunch. The missing lower button on his outstretched shirt didn’t help much either. As long as I can trust him, nothing else matters, I thought.

  “Doug Hennigar,” he said, offering me his outstretched hand.

  “Damon Traynor,” I said, trying to smile. “My father speaks highly of you.”

  “He’s very generous. Did he tell you I learned everything about the law from him?”

  “He mentioned you worked together, yes.”

  “If it wasn’t for your father,” Hennigar’s face filled with pride, and he circled the air with his finger, “none of this would’ve been possible. So when he called me yesterday, I said I’d be delighted to help his son out.” He pointed to the chair on the other side of his walnut desk. “Please take a seat.”

  “Thanks for agreeing to see me at short notice.” I stared at the space behind him. A preserved blue marlin was screwed into the drywall.

  Hennigar must have been watching for my reaction. “Caught that one in Hawaii a couple of years back.” His face lit up with the memory. “Sure put up a fight, I can tell you.”

  “I’ve never tried it.”

  “You should. It’s a lot of fun. They smoke it over there you know. Sort of enhances the flavor.”

  “I’ll add it to my bucket list.”

  An open box of cinnamon rolls was sitting on the credenza. He picked it up and held it in my direction. “Hungry?”

  “No thanks, I’ve had breakfast.”

  Hennigar laughed. “So have I, but these babies, well…” He devoured half of one in a single bite then
wiped his fingers on a handkerchief. “Your father tells me you run a private equity firm here in Boston.”

  “That’s right. I set up CCP last year, but that’s not why I’m here.”

  “Then I assume this is a personal matter?” Another bite and the pastry was gone.

  “It is.”

  Hennigar looked at his fingers then licked the sugar off them. “What can I do for you?”

  “I need you to keep something for me.”

  “Sure. What is it?”

  “A document. Something really important to me.”

  “I’m guessing a will or some deeds, maybe?”

  “No. Nothing like that. I can’t tell you what it is. Is that a problem?”

 

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