Dark Ice: A Hard-Boiled Crime Novel: (Dan Reno Private Detective Noir Mystery Series) (Dan Reno Novel Series Book 4)
Page 28
“Yeah,” I said slowly. “Massie was cooking meth. His lab must have exploded.”
“Most of the bodies were dismembered and burnt beyond recognition. They had to ID Massie by dental records.”
“They’re positive it was Massie?”
“The ID was a hundred percent. Dental records don’t lie.”
“He will be missed.”
Grier chuckled. “I’m glad you haven’t lost your sense of humor.”
“Me too.”
• • •
It wasn’t until late that night I called Cody.
“How’s your sobriety coming along?” I asked. I’d taken Candi to dinner and poured a number of margaritas on top of the double whiskey-sevens I’d drank earlier in the day.
“It’s a relative thing,” he said.
“Marcus Grier called me and said Jake Massie’s house was leveled by an explosion last Tuesday night. The body pieces were unrecognizable.”
“Oh, my.”
“His meth lab must have blown up.”
“What a shame.”
“Six people dead, one of them Massie.”
“It’s a sad day for the community.”
“I was thinking about that story you told me, Cody. About the Mafia guy and the C4.”
“I told you about that? Shit, the court told me to not talk about that case. Me and my big mouth.”
“You didn’t happen to plant some of those plastic explosives at Massie’s house when we were there, did you?”
“Dirt, you’re slurring your words. I think you’ve had too much to drink.”
“I remember your hand was coated in mud.”
“Christ, I’m getting a contact high just talking to you. But I’d be celebrating too if I was you. Six shit-bag racists exed off the list. All probably planning to torture and kill you and your girl. The only pity is they likely didn’t suffer much.”
“Did you plant the explosives?”
“You need to concentrate on what matters. No one puts a hit on my buddy Dan and get’s away with it.”
“Can you just give me a straight answer?”
“Yeah. The world’s a better place with those assholes dead. I can’t think of anything straighter than that.”
“That’s it, huh?”
“I got to boogie, man. I’ll catch you on the flip side.”
“Hold on,” I said, but for the moment I was out of words. I sighed. How could I be mad at Cody Gibbons, a man who had my back at any cost? Cody’s lifestyle and lawless ethics made him who he was, and whatever faults he possessed were superseded by his friendship and loyalty. His tactics sometimes seemed a little excessive, but who was I to judge him?
“I think I need another drink,” I said.
“Pour yourself a stiff one, Dirt, and raise your glass. It’s a happy day.”
I hung up and took his advice.
• • •
A few days after Marty Nilsson’s demise, an Alaskan storm blew into the Tahoe valley. The morning after the storm passed, I put a bouquet of flowers and a wooden cross in my pack and rode the gondola to the summit of South Lake’s ski resort. When no one was looking, I ducked the boundary ropes and skied through the backcountry until I reached the cornice over Got Balls Bowl. The snow twenty feet below looked as soft as a bed of pillows.
I backed up and pushed off toward the launch and landed in a blinding blast of powder, then came out of the fluff and made effortless turns until I reached the tree line. From there it took ten minutes to reach the glade where I’d found the body of Valerie Horvachek.
The glade was as pristine as when I’d first skied it. The snow sparkled in the morning sun, and the gentle swell of the surface was smooth as cream. I made a few turns, powder whisking away beneath my skis, then I stopped at the tree where I’d tied my bandana to mark Valerie’s body.
I never knew Valerie Horvachek. What I’d learned about her during my investigation was not endearing. But her parents loved her, and perhaps there was goodness in her heart. She may have turned out to be a good person had she lived. Sometimes you cut people a break, especially those too young to have found themselves. And sometimes, you do things because it fills an emptiness inside you.
On the cross, I’d written Valerie’s name and the dates marking her short twenty-two years. I nailed the cross to the tree and propped the flowers beneath it. A cold gust blew through the pines, and as I skied away my bandana fluttered on the branch where I’d left it tied.
• • •
The weeks went by, and it was a good winter, cold and snowy and better powder conditions than I’d ever seen in Tahoe. I worked a few minor cases and put in a fair amount of time bartending at Zeke’s. Things returned to normal at the college, and Candi continued teaching and working on her art projects. In early April she finished her oil painting, a surrealistic rendition of the view from the big window in my living room.
We had the painting framed and hung it above the fireplace. We were drinking our morning coffee and admiring it when Cody called.
“Hey, Dirt. What are you are your old lady doing tonight?”
“No plans that I know of. Why?”
“San Jose is getting to be a drag and I was thinking of driving up.”
“Alone?”
“No, I’ve got someone I’d like you to meet.”
“Oh, god.”
“Now, why would you say that? I think you’re going to really like this girl. I think Candi will too. Her name’s Heidi Ho. I call her my Swiss miss. She used to be a gymnast.”
“She ever done any stripping?”
“No. Absolutely not. Give me a break, would you? Now, I want to make up for that New Year’s Eve fiasco. I made reservations for the top of Pistol Pete’s.”
“Hold on,” I said, and muted the phone. “Candi, Cody wants to introduce us to his new girlfriend over dinner tonight at the Gold Lantern. What do you say?”
She looked surprised, then burst out in laughter. “This is like déjà vu. Sure, why not? Wait—don’t answer that.”
I joined her in laughter, then said to Cody, “Okay, we’re in. What time?”
“What’s so funny?”
“Life’s good. Why not enjoy a few laughs?”
“That sounds like one of my lines,” he said.
“Maybe it is. You’re beautiful, man. Don’t ever change.”
“I couldn’t if I tried.”
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1960, Dave Stanton moved to Northern California in 1961. He attended San Jose State University and received a BA in journalism in 1983. Over the years, he worked as a bartender, newspaper advertising salesman, furniture mover, debt collector, and technology salesman. He has two children, Austin and Haley. He and his wife, Heidi, live in San Jose, California.
Stanton is the author of five novels, all featuring private investigator Dan Reno and his ex-cop buddy, Cody Gibbons.
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More Dan Reno Novels:
STATELINE
Cancel the wedding–the groom is dead.
When a tycoon’s son is murdered the night before his wedding, the enraged and grief-stricken father offers investigator Dan Reno (that’s Reno, as in no problemo) a life-changing bounty to find the killer. Reno, nearly broke, figures he’s finally landed in the right place at the right time. It’s a nice thought, but when a band of crooked cops get involved, Reno finds himself not only earning every penny of his paycheck, but also fighting for his life.
Who committed the murder, and why? And what of the dark sexual deviations that keep surfacing? Haunted by his murdered father and a violent, hard drinking past, Reno wants no more blood on his hands. But a man’s got to make a living, and backing off is not in his DNA. Traversing the snowy alpine winter in the Sierras and the lonely deserts of Nevada, Reno must revert to his old ways to survive. Because the fat bounty won’t do him much good if he’s dead…
Available on Amazon.com: http://bit.ly/Stateline-Amazon
Dying for the Highlife
Jimmy Homestead’s glory days as a high school stud were a distant memory. His adulthood had amounted to little more than temporary jobs, cheap boarding houses, and discount whiskey. But he always felt he was special, and winning a $43 million lottery proved it.
With all that money, everything is great for Jimmy—until people from his past start coming out of the woodwork. First, his sexy stepmother, who seduced him as a teenager. Then his uncle, just released from Folsom after a five-year jolt for securities fraud, a crime that bankrupted Jimmy’s father. Mix in a broke ex-stripper and a down-on-his luck drug dealer, both seeking payback over transgressions Jimmy thought were long forgotten.
Caught in the middle are investigator Dan Reno and his good buddy Cody Gibbons, two guys just trying to make an honest paycheck. Reno, straining to keep his home out of foreclosure, thinks that’s his biggest problem. But his priorities change when Gibbons and Jimmy are kidnapped by a gang of cartel thugs out for a big score. Fighting to save his friend’s life, Reno is drawn into a mess that leaves dead bodies scattered all over northern Nevada.
Available on Amazon.com: http://bit.ly/TheHighlife
Speed Metal Blues
Bounty hunter Dan Reno never thought he’d be the prey.
It’s a two-for-one deal when a pair of accused rapists from a New Jersey-based gang surface in South Lake Tahoe. The first is easy to catch, but the second, a Satanist suspected of a string of murders, is an adversary unlike any Reno has faced. After escaping Reno’s clutches in the desert outside of Carson City, the target vanishes. That is, until he makes it clear he intends to settle the score.
To make matters worse, the criminal takes an interest in a teenage boy and his talented sister, both friends of Reno’s. Wading through a drug-dealing turf war and a deadly feud between mobsters running a local casino, Reno can’t figure out how his target fits in with the new outlaws in town. He only knows he’s hunting for a ghost-like adversary calling all the shots.
The more Reno learns more about his target, the more he’s convinced that mayhem is inevitable unless he can capture him quickly. He’d prefer to do it clean, without further bloodshed. But sometimes that ain’t in the cards, especially when Reno’s partner Cody Gibbons decides it’s time for payback.
Available on Amazon.com: http://bit.ly/SpeedMetalBlues
Hard Prejudice
The DNA evidence should have made the rape a slam dunk case.
But after the evidence disappeared from a police locker, the black man accused of brutally raping a popular actor’s daughter walked free. Hired by the actor, private eye Dan Reno’s job seemed simple enough: discover who took the DNA, and why. Problem is, from the beginning of the investigation, neither Reno, the South Lake Tahoe police, nor anyone else have any idea what the motivation could be to see ghetto thug Duante Tucker get away with the crime. Not even Reno’s best friend, fellow investigator Cody Gibbons, has a clue.
When Reno and Gibbons tail Tucker, they learn the rapist is linked to various criminals and even a deserter from the U.S. Marine Corps. But they still can’t tell who would want him set free, and for what reason?
Things get murkier when Tucker visits an Arabic restaurant whose owners are suspected terrorists. Then Cody’s ex-boss, a San Jose police captain, is found to be dallying with Tucker’s sister.
The clues continue to build until Reno and Cody find themselves targeted for death. That tells Reno he’s getting close, so he and Gibbons put the pedal to the metal. The forces of evil are running out of time, and the action reaches a boiling point before an explosive conclusion that reveals a sinister plot and motivations that Reno never imagined.
Available on Amazon.com: http://bit.ly/hardprejudice