The Highly Effective Detective Crosses the Line
Page 18
“She isn’t my girlfriend.”
“You need one.”
“Back to love fixing everything.”
“No. Sometimes it can really fuck things up.”
The OUT OF BUSSINESS sign had fallen to the floor when she’d leapt from the chair. She picked it up and tore it in half.
“What about Bob?” I asked.
“Bob needs to deal with his insecurity. Face his fears head-on.”
“Because I’m no threat?”
“To the contrary, Mr. Ruzak. You’re the most dangerous man alive.”
11:33 p.m.
I folded up his crate and slid it underneath my bed. I packed up his toys, his bowls, his bed, his leash, his shampoo and brush, labeled the box ARCHIE, and put it on the top shelf in the closet. While there, I pulled out the sweeper and did the floors and baseboards, and then I used the handheld for the sofa cushions and my mattress. Then I flopped onto the sofa and turned on the TV. The pillow beneath my head smelled like him, so I got up, found some fabric freshener, sprayed down the sofa, sprayed down the mattress and pillows. The only thing sticking out like a sore thumb was the stain on the floor, and I jotted down a note (which I promptly misplaced) to call my insurance company to check on the deductible.
Back to the sofa, now reeking of that odd chemically floral smell. Flipped through the channels. Stopped at the Discovery Channel, but Dirty Jobs wasn’t on. Popped The African Queen into the player and watched Kate go at it with Bogie. Closed my eyes halfway through, willing myself to sleep. At twenty thousand feet, the jungle is a uniform carpet of verdant green, as aboriginally pristine as Eden. By the time your payload hits, you’re already a mile away. Four miles up and a mile away. You can’t even hear the explosions, like in those grainy black-and-white videos showing the smart bombs hitting their targets with mind-boggling precision. Where you are is that place where angels dwell, above the devastation, above the blood and pain, traveling at speeds beyond human imagining.
She closed her eyes when we kissed in that space where angels dwell. Closed her eyes and leaned into me, and that was surprising. That was not what I had expected at all.
ALSO BY RICHARD YANCEY
The Highly Effective Detective Plays the Fool
The Highly Effective Detective Goes to the Dogs
The Highly Effective Detective
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
A THOMAS DUNNE BOOK FOR MINOTAUR BOOKS.
An imprint of St. Martin’s Publishing Group.
THE HIGHLY EFFECTIVE DETECTIVE CROSSES THE LINE. Copyright © 2011 by Richard Yancey. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.thomasdunnebooks.com
www.minotaurbooks.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Yancey, Richard.
The highly effective detective crosses the line : a mystery / Richard Yancey. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
“A Thomas Dunne book.”
ISBN 978-0-312-38310-7 (alk. paper)
1. Ruzak, Teddy (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 2. Private investigators—Tennessee—Knoxville—Fiction. 3. Psychopaths—Fiction. 4. Knoxville (Tenn.)—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3625.A675H545 2010
813'.6—dc22
2010039023
First Edition: February 2011
eISBN 978-1-4299-9412-5
First Minotaur Books eBook Edition: February 2011