Kill Them All (Drexel Pierce Book 2)
Page 30
“You still there?” asked Ryan.
“Yes. Sorry. I’m not sure why they did it. They gave some stuff about redemption. But I can’t say I really understand how they were saving people. They were freeing them from their fleshly existence.” He shook his head. “Christ, I don’t know.”
“Yeah.”
“Look, I wanted to say, ‘Happy Birthday.’ Sorry I spaced it the other day.”
“Don’t sweat it. You had more important things.”
Drexel felt a heaviness in his chest and his eyes welled up. “No. That’s not right. You’re important. More important.”
“Okay.”
“So here’s my birthday gift to you.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. You don’t move out. We stay roommates.”
Ryan laughed. “That’s a gift? You snore like a madman. You know that, right?”
He did. “I sleep the sleep of kings.”
Laughter. “Alright brother. That’s a fine gift.”
They talked some more. Ryan and Ton had found a couple more of the photographs from the set. Both in a dive bar and pub in Avondale. Ryan had stopped there for lunch. Ton came down and bought them. The photos were at the apartment. Drexel thanked his brother and hung up. The empty glass and the folder stared at him. He had the bartender pour him another. He opened the folder.
A set of three stapled pages that were also paper clipped with a green plastic-coated clip.
The pages were a copy of an IA report dated three years ago. IA detective Andrew Slater wrote he was requested to evaluate claims of police corruption and intimidation surrounding the building on Dewitt. The same one featured in Zora’s final photo. Tenants in the building called the police multiple times and eventually one of them realized the same patrol officers responded and were contacted via a friend in headquarters with IA. Slater evaluated the responses to the calls coming from the building. He then spoke to current and former tenants. “Not surprisingly,” he wrote, “the pattern follows well-established history in police seeking to take money from the developers, owners, and unions in conducting intimidation and failing to respond aggressively to ongoing vandalism and petty crime.” Slater identified five Chicago PD officers as suspects. The last name on the list was Victor Macleod, badge number 308.
He slapped closed the folder and grabbed the Scotch. He put it again to his nose and inhaled. He did not believe it. This was his captain—the man who had promoted him into Homicide and forgave his decking Doggett. The man who had told him just days ago that he would help him and his brother from under the thumb of Sobieski.
He drank half the whisky. He flipped open the folder. He looked at the page again. Victor Macleod. Badge number 308. What to make of this? He lifted up the pages. He saw why the paper clip was attached. He pulled off the photograph at the back.
A picture of the captain and Kevin Blair shaking hands. He closed the folder, downed the whisky, and left cash on the bar. He texted Ton, “Still have eyes on the con man?”
He put the folder into the messenger bag and walked out into the now pouring rain. The lights of Chicago resplendent and angry.
Read the conclusion of Zora’s murder investigation in the next Drexel Pierce novel, arriving in the winter of 2017/2018.
Simonian Aeonology
This image is a visual interpretation of Simonian Aeonology, an early form of Gnosticism, who took as their inspiration Simon the Magus, mentioned in the book of Acts, where he confronts Peter. This image is the basis for Simon’s drawing and placement of items through the book.
This image was created by G.R.S. Mead (1892) and is in the public domain: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/12892/12892-h/12892-h.htm
DID YOU LIKE KILL THEM ALL?
I hope you enjoyed Kill Them All. If you did, I would be grateful for an honest review on Goodreads or Amazon. Thank you!
Please be sure to visit patrickkanouse.com, where you can find out about other works and sign up for my newsletter, which comes with a free short story.
You can follow me on Facebook and Twitter.
Get a Free Book and Short Story
I occasionally send newsletters about new releases and special offers related to my mysteries. If you join the mailing list, I’ll send you:
A copy of The Clearing, a mystery novel featuring Detective Dean Wallace and set in 1979.
A copy of “A Knock of Ransom,” a Drexel Pierce short story. You can get the novel and short story for free by joining at:
http://eepurl.com/b3TZbP or by scanning this QR code:
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Kill Them All. Copyright © 2017 by Patrick Kanouse. All rights reserved. For more information, www.patrickkanouse.com.
Published by Walter Glenn Publishing.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Patrick is a mystery author, poet, and technical writer. His poetry has appeared in many journals and websites.
He works for Pearson Education, an educational publisher with offices worldwide, as the director of content creation and development platforms and teaches business report writing at IUPUI.
He lives with his wife, Gina, and their spoiled Yorkie, Kennedy, in Westfield, a suburb north of Indianapolis.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The career of a writer cannot be sustained without the support, encouragement, and patience of friends, family, and fans. So I want to thank my wife of infinite patience, Gina; my brother, Doug; my friend, Carol; my Mom and Dad; my Squad (who provided some great comments); and the many who sent supportive emails. As par for the course, I subjected these folks to drafts (text and cover), queries, and doubts. This book is the better for all their efforts. All its faults are entirely my own.
A special acknowledgement to Carol and my parents who assisted this past spring by selflessly giving of their time. Thank you so much.
Other Books by Patrick Kanouse
The Clearing
1979. The Cold War, a troubled family, and murder
Vietnam veteran Detective Dean Wallace’s fondness for whiskey ended his New York City detective career and marriage. Back in his home town working for his father, the Chief of Police, the murder of a young man with a copy of The Communist Manifesto, leads Wallace down a tangle of paths and connections with a local biker gang, a tight-knit group of friends, and an unpopular girlfriend. As Dean strives to find Billy’s killer, his shunned brother returns to the family, stirring up haunting memories—memories Dean would prefer to keep buried in the past.
Available now.
The Shattered Bull
The murder of a prominent politician with an unsavory past. A detective grieving the loss of his wife.
As Detective Drexel Pierce struggles to overcome the mysterious death of his wife, the murder of a city alderman, Hal “the Bull” Nye, and its investigation threatens Pierce’s career. Found in his secure high-rise condominium, with no obvious mechanism of death, what killed the Bull may be as mysterious as who killed him. The lone clue that could expose the killer is a cryptic message burned into a desk. While Drexel’s commander pushes to arrest the Bull’s young girlfriend to please the politicians and media, he seeks out the truth, following a trail of mobsters, rivals, and pasts best forgotten. As the machinery of investigation closes in on the Bull’s young girlfriend, Drexel risks it all to save her and save his illusions of a society that believes in truth.
Available now.
ebkit-filter: grayscale(100%); -moz-filter: grayscale(100%); -o-filter: grayscale(100%); -ms-filter: grayscale(100%); filter: grayscale(100%); " class="sharethis-inline-share-buttons">share