Kindle Edition
Download to your Nook (eBook)
Amazon
dbborton.com
Barnes & Noble
Kobo
Category:
Mystery/Suspense
Publisher: Boomerang Books
ISBN-10: 1735267570
Type: Fiction
Pages: 248
Copyright: Aug. 23, 2021
ISBN-13: 9781735267579
Price: $3.99 (eBook)
Sixth book in the Cat Caliban mystery series, featuring Cincinnati's newest, oldest, funniest detective-in-training.
After a career fighting crime, six little words still have the power to strike fear in the heart of a retired cop: the sleep-over is at your house.
Once the jump-rope queen of Cincinnati, Rocky Zacharias is now an ex-convict with kids of her own and a dangerous secret. And she’s disappeared, leaving behind a cryptic call for help. With Rocky and her kids in the path of a killer, detective-in-training Cat Caliban and retired juvenile officer Moses Fogg decide that the clue to Rocky’s danger may be locked up behind the razor wire of the Women’s Correctional Institution, so Cat goes inside to learn the truth before someone puts Rocky six feet under — and before Cat and Moses send Rocky’s kids into Time Out and throw away the key.
Excerpt
“Hi, um, I guess you’re not home, huh?”
The expulsion of breath scraped our ears like a tinfoil tambourine.
“Well, I guess you know this is Rocky. Ain’t likely you’d forget my voice after all these years.”
A pause followed. We could hear voices in the background and consistent bass in the pounding rhythms of rap music.
“I called you because I didn’t know what else to do, and because you always tried to help me out before when I was in trouble, even though I didn’t never take your advice.”
Pause, then quickly, “I know it was good advice, I just ain’t never taken it. But, thing is, I’m in trouble now, big trouble, like the kind of trouble that’ll get me killed ’f I don’t watch my ass.”
The voice faded a little, drowned out by loud laughter in the background.
“— Out, now, I’ve been out a week, and I’m clean, but in some heavy shit, like I said, and I don’t know what I should do. In the old days, you know I never let nothin’ bother me, but now I got kids to worry about.”
The rap music came closer and we heard a syncopated pounding.
“Can’t you see I’m usin’ this phone, mothafucker? My time ain’t up yet!” The voice shouted, making us jump.
“Mo’fucker made me forget what I was sayin’,” the voice continued petulantly.
“So, they told me you was retired, but I found this number in the phone book and I hope it’s the right one. Only you ain’t home anyway, ’f it is, so I don’t know why I’m sayin’ all this, talkin’ to a machine.”
She paused again.
“Maybe I’ll try to call you again. I don’t know. You was always good to me. So anyway, maybe if something happens to me, and you hear about it, maybe you’ll talk to Arletta.”
There was a click and then a shrill tone, and then just the soft whir of the tape playing out on the answering machine.
“Shit,” I said quietly. I looked up at Moses. “Is that it? Did you play back the whole tape?”
“That’s it,” he said, frowning at it. “I guess her time was up.”
|
