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What’s New from Forge this Winter

A new year is upon us, which means a slew of new books are arriving on the scene from Forge! We’re so excited to share the lineup of amazing books we have coming your way this winter. If you’re on the hunt for some books to curl up with during these chillier months of the year, take a look at what Forge has in store for you!


Cutthroat Dogs by Loren D. Estleman

Poster Placeholder of - 63“Someone is dead who shouldn’t be, and the wrong man is in prison.”

Nearly twenty years ago, college freshman April Goss was found dead in her bathtub, an apparent suicide, but suspicion soon fell on her boyfriend. Dan Corbeil was convicted of her murder and sent to prison. Case closed.

Or is it?

Available to read now!

A Thousand Steps by T. Jefferson Parker

A Thousand Steps-1Laguna Beach, California, 1968. The Age of Aquarius is in full swing. Timothy Leary is a rock star. LSD is God. Folks from all over are flocking to Laguna, seeking peace, love, and enlightenment.

Matt Anthony is just trying get by.

Matt is sixteen, broke, and never sure where his next meal is coming from. Mom’s a stoner, his deadbeat dad is a no-show, his brother’s fighting in Nam . . . and his big sister Jazz has just gone missing. The cops figure she’s just another runaway hippie chick, enjoying a summer of love, but Matt doesn’t believe it. Not after another missing girl turns up dead on the beach.

All Matt really wants to do is get his driver’s license and ask out the girl he’s been crushing on since fourth grade, yet it’s up to him to find his sister. But in a town where the cops don’t trust the hippies and the hippies don’t trust the cops, uncovering what’s really happened to Jazz is going to force him to grow up fast.

If it’s not already too late.

Available to read now!

Margaret Truman’s Murder at the CDC by Margaret Truman and Jon Land

Margaret Truman's Murder at the CDC2017: A military transport on a secret run to dispose of its deadly contents vanishes without a trace.

The present: A mass shooting on the steps of the Capitol nearly claims the life of Robert Brixton’s grandson.

No stranger to high-stakes investigations, Brixton embarks on a trail to uncover the motive behind the shooting. On the way he finds himself probing the attempted murder of the daughter of his best friend, who works at the Washington offices of the CDC.

The connection between the mass shooting and Alexandra’s poisoning lies in that long-lost military transport that has been recovered by forces determined to change America forever. Those forces are led by radical separatist leader Deacon Frank Wilhyte, whose goal is nothing short of bringing on a second Civil War.

Brixton joins forces with Kelly Lofton, a former Baltimore homicide detective. She has her own reasons for wanting to find the truth behind the shooting on the Capitol steps, and is the only person with the direct knowledge Brixton needs. But chasing the truth places them in the cross-hairs of both Wilhyte’s legions and his Washington enablers.

Coming 2.15.22!

The Chase by Candice Fox

The Chase

“Are you listening, Warden?”

“What do you want?”

“I want you to let them out.”

“Which inmates are we talking about?”

“All of them.”

With that, the largest manhunt in United States history is on. In response to a hostage situation, more than 600 inmates from the Pronghorn Correctional Facility, including everyone on Death Row, are released into the Nevada Desert. Criminals considered the worst of the worst, monsters with dark, violent pasts, are getting farther away by the second.

John Kradle, convicted of murdering his wife and son, is one of the escapees. Now, desperate to discover what really happened that night, Kradle must avoid capture and work quickly to prove his innocence as law enforcement closes in on the fugitives.

Death Row Supervisor, and now fugitive-hunter, Celine Osbourne has focused all of her energy on catching Kradle and bringing him back to Death Row. She has very personal reasons for hating him – and she knows exactly where he’s heading…

Coming 3.8.22!

Assassin’s Edge by Ward Larsen

image alt textA U.S. spy plane crashes off the northern coast of Russia at the same time that a Mossad operative is abducted from a street in Kazakhstan. The two events seem unrelated, but as suspicions rise, the CIA calls in its premier operative, David Slaton.

When wreckage from the aircraft is discovered on a remote Arctic island, Slaton and a team are sent on a clandestine mission to investigate. While they comb a frigid Russian island at the top of the world, disaster strikes yet again: a U.S. Navy destroyer sinks in the Black Sea.

Evidence begins mounting that these disparate events are linked, controlled by an unseen hand. A mysterious source, code name Lazarus, provides tantalizing clues about another impending strike. Yet Lazarus has an agenda that is deeply personal, a thirst for revenge against a handful of clandestine operators. Prime among them: David Slaton.

Coming 4.12.22!

Traitor by David Hagberg

image alt text1When McGarvey’s best friend, Otto, is charged with treason, Mac and his wife, Petey, set out on a desperate odyssey to clear Otto’s name. Crossing oceans and continents, their journey will take them from Japan to the US to Pakistan to Russia. Caught in a Kremlin crossfire between two warring intel agencies, Mac and Petey must fight for their lives every step of the way.

And the stakes could not be higher.

Coming 4.26.22!

And here are some great books coming out in trade paperback!

Waiting for the Night Song by Julie Carrick Dalton

Waiting for the Night Song-1Cadie Kessler has spent decades trying to cover up one truth. One moment. But deep down, didn’t she always know her secret would surface?

An urgent message from her long-estranged best friend Daniela Garcia brings Cadie, now a forestry researcher, back to her childhood home. There, Cadie and Daniela are forced to face a dark secret that ended both their idyllic childhood bond and the magical summer that takes up more space in Cadie’s memory then all her other years combined.

Now grown up, bound by long-held oaths, and faced with truths she does not wish to see, Cadie must decide what she is willing to sacrifice to protect the people and the forest she loves, as drought, foreclosures, and wildfire spark tensions between displaced migrant farm workers and locals.

Waiting for the Night Song is a love song to the natural beauty around us, a call to fight for what we believe in, and a reminder that the truth will always rise.

Available to read now! Reading group guide also available.

My Brilliant Life by Ae-ran Kim; translated by Chi-Young Kim

My Brilliant Life-1Areum lives life to its fullest, vicariously through the stories of his parents, conversations with Little Grandpa Jang—his sixty-year-old neighbor and best friend—and through the books he reads to visit the places he would otherwise never see.

For several months, Areum has been working on a manuscript, piecing together his parents’ often embellished stories about his family and childhood. He hopes to present it on his birthday, as a final gift to his mom and dad; their own falling-in-love story.

Through it all, Areum and his family will have you laughing and crying, for all the right reasons.

Coming 2.1.22! Reading group guide also available.

Her Perfect Life by Hank Phillippi Ryan

Her Perfect Life-1Everyone knows Lily Atwood—and that may be her biggest problem. The beloved television reporter has it all—fame, fortune, Emmys, an adorable seven-year-old daughter, and the hashtag her loving fans created: #PerfectLily. To keep it, all she has to do is protect one life-changing secret.

Her own.

Lily has an anonymous source who feeds her story tips—but suddenly, the source begins telling Lily inside information about her own life. How does he—or she—know the truth?

Lily understands that no one reveals a secret unless they have a reason. Now she’s terrified someone is determined to destroy her world—and with it, everyone and everything she holds dear.

How much will she risk to keep her perfect life?

Coming 3.8.22! Reading group guide also available.

The Lights of Sugarberry Cove by Heather Webber

The Lights of Sugarberry Cove-1Sadie Way Scott has been avoiding her family and hometown of Sugarberry Cove, Alabama, since she nearly drowned in the lake just outside her mother’s B&B. Eight years later, Sadie is the host of a much-loved show about southern cooking and family, but despite her success, she wonders why she was saved. What is she supposed to do?

Sadie’s sister, Leala Clare, is still haunted by the guilt she feels over the night her sister almost died. Now, at a crossroads in her marriage, Leala has everything she ever thought she wanted—so why is she so unhappy?

When their mother suffers a minor heart attack just before Sugarberry Cove’s famous water lantern festival, the two sisters come home to run the inn while she recovers. It’s the last place either of them wants to be, but with a little help from the inn’s quirky guests, the sisters may come to terms with their strained relationships, accept the past, and rediscover a little lake magic.

Coming 3.1.22! Reading group guide also available.

The Widow Queen by Elzbieta Cherezinska

The Widow QueenThe bold one, they call her—too bold for most.

To her father, the great duke of Poland, Swietoslawa and her two sisters represent three chances for an alliance. Three marriages on which to build his empire.

But Swietoslawa refuses to be simply a pawn in her father’s schemes; she seeks a throne of her own, with no husband by her side.

The gods may grant her wish, but crowns sit heavy, and power is a sword that cuts both ways.

Coming 3.15.22! Reading group guide also available.

Comes the War by Ed Ruggero

Comes the War-1April 1944, the fifty-fifth month of the war in Europe. The entire island of Britain fairly buzzes with the coiled energy of a million men poised to leap the Channel to France, the first, riskiest step in the Allies’ long slog to the heart of Germany and the end of the war.

Lieutenant Eddie Harkins is tasked to investigate the murder of Helen Batcheller, an OSS analyst. Harkins is assigned a British driver, Private Pamela Lowell, to aid in his investigation. Lowell is smart, brave and resourceful; like Harkins, she is prone to speak her mind even when it doesn’t help her.

Soon a suspect is arrested and Harkins is ordered to stop digging. Suspicious, he continues his investigation only to find himself trapped in a web of Soviet secrets. As bombs fall, Harkins must solve the murder and reveal the spies before it is too late.

Coming 3.29.22!

A Dog’s Courage by W. Bruce Cameron

A Dog's CourageBella was once a lost dog, but now she lives happily with her people, Lucas and Olivia, only occasionally recalling the hardships in her past. Then a weekend camping trip turns into a harrowing struggle for survival when the Rocky Mountains are engulfed by the biggest wildfire in American history. The raging inferno separates Bella from her people and she is lost once more.

Alone in the wilderness, Bella unexpectedly finds herself responsible for the safety of two defenseless mountain lion cubs. Now she’s torn between two equally urgent goals. More than anything, she wants to find her way home to Lucas and Olivia, but not if it means abandoning her new family to danger. And danger abounds, from predators hunting them to the flames threatening at every turn.

Can Bella ever get back to where she truly belongs?

A Dog’s Courage is more than a fast-paced adventure, more than a devoted dog’s struggle to survive, it’s a story asking that we believe in our dogs as much as they believe in us.

Coming 4.5.22!

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The Gritty Cities of Our Favorite Mysteries

Cutthroat Dogs is Loren D. Estleman’s latest in his series featuring Amos Walker, a P.I. navigating the streets of Detroit. In honor of his new one, we’re taking a look at some of our other favorite series that are inextricably linked to some great cities. 

Amos Walker in Detroit

Image Placeholder of - 75A hard-boiled detective in a hard-boiled town, Amos Walker and the city of Detroit are two unforgettable characters from thriller master, Loren D. Estleman. The irreverent, salt-of-the-earth voice of Amos provides the perfect narration for the blue-collar milieu of the Motor City. Estleman has Amos deftly moving from the crumbling splendor of downtown to the suburban mansions of Grosse Pointe with surprises at every turn.

Elouise Norton in Los Angeles

Poster Placeholder of - 60The grit and glamour of Los Angeles make it a classic setting for a detective novel. No one knows that better than Rachel Howzell Hall, whose protagonist Detective Elouise “Lou” Norton, features in books like Land of Shadows. The only woman and the only African-American on her detail at the LAPD, Norton has a unique perspective on the criminal underbelly of La La Land. Wise and complex, Lou navigates a gentrifying LA like no one else.

Nils Shapiro in Minneapolis

Image Place holder  of - 18Leave it to Nils Shapiro to find the dark side of Minnesota Nice. The star of Matt Goldman’s series featuring titles like Gone to Dust keeps things hot even in a Minneapolis winter. His wry, midwestern voice elevates the darkest scenarios. You’ll feel the Minnesota snow on your face as you’re clinging to the edge of your seat.

Lady Dunbridge in New York City

Placeholder of  -42Readers looking for a historical city tour will do well to discover the Lady Dunbridge series by Shelley Noble, featuring titles like Ask Me No Questions. Lady Dunbridge, a widow turned sleuth at the turn-of-the-twentieth-century, investigates the scandals and murders of high society in Golden Age Manhattan. As sparkling as a glass of champagne, you’ll see New York City in a whole new light, with this new, modern woman as your guide.

Capital Crimes in Washington, DC

Place holder  of - 11Who better to provide an inside look at the nation’s capital than the president’s daughter? Margaret Truman did just that in her Capital Crimes series. Featuring P.I. Robert Brixton, the series continues with acclaimed thriller writer Jon Land taking the helm of titles like Murder at the CDC. From Embassy Row to Capital Hill, Brixton solves crimes at the highest levels of government.

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Thrillers We’re Looking Forward To This Winter

As the weather gets chilly, it’s the perfect time to curl up with a thriller! Forge has an amazing lineup of thrillers coming out this winter that are perfect for cozying up with on those blustery, cold days. So if you’re on the hunt for gripping stories that will keep you on the edge of your seat from start to finish, here’s a list of upcoming books you should add to your TBR!


Cutthroat Dogs by Loren D. Estleman

Cutthroat Dogs“Someone is dead who shouldn’t be, and the wrong man is in prison.”

Nearly twenty years ago, college freshman April Goss was found dead in her bathtub, an apparent suicide, but suspicion soon fell on her boyfriend. Dan Corbeil was convicted of her murder and sent to prison. Case closed.

Or is it?

Coming 01.04.2022!

A Thousand Steps by T. Jefferson Parker

A Thousand StepsLaguna Beach, California, 1968. The Age of Aquarius is in full swing. Timothy Leary is a rock star. LSD is God. Folks from all over are flocking to Laguna, seeking peace, love, and enlightenment.

Matt Anthony is just trying to get by.

Matt is sixteen, broke, and never sure where his next meal is coming from. Mom’s a stoner, his deadbeat dad is a no-show, his brother’s fighting in Nam . . . and his big sister Jazz has just gone missing. The cops figure she’s just another runaway hippie chick, enjoying a summer of love, but Matt doesn’t believe it. Not after another missing girl turns up dead on the beach.

All Matt really wants to do is get his driver’s license and ask out the girl he’s been crushing on since fourth grade, yet it’s up to him to find his sister. But in a town where the cops don’t trust the hippies and the hippies don’t trust the cops, uncovering what’s really happened to Jazz is going to force him to grow up fast.

If it’s not already too late.

Coming 01.11.2022!

Margaret Truman’s Murder at the CDC by Margaret Truman and Jon Land

Margaret Truman's Murder at the CDC2017: A military transport on a secret run to dispose of its deadly contents vanishes without a trace.

The present: A mass shooting on the steps of the Capitol nearly claims the life of Robert Brixton’s grandson.

No stranger to high-stakes investigations, Brixton embarks on a trail to uncover the motive behind the shooting. On the way he finds himself probing the attempted murder of the daughter of his best friend, who works at the Washington offices of the CDC.

The connection between the mass shooting and Alexandra’s poisoning lies in that long-lost military transport that has been recovered by forces determined to change America forever. Those forces are led by radical separatist leader Deacon Frank Wilhyte, whose goal is nothing short of bringing on a second Civil War.

Brixton joins forces with Kelly Lofton, a former Baltimore homicide detective. She has her own reasons for wanting to find the truth behind the shooting on the Capitol steps, and is the only person with the direct knowledge Brixton needs. But chasing the truth places them in the crosshairs of both Wilhyte’s legions and his Washington enablers.

Coming 02.15.22!

The Chase by Candice Fox

The ChaseWhen 650 of the world’s most violent human beings pour out of the Pronghorn Correctional Facility into the Nevada Desert, the biggest manhunt in US history begins.

For John Kradle, this is his chance to prove his innocence, twenty-six years after the murder of his wife and child. He just needs to stay one step ahead of the law enforcement officers he knows will be chasing down the escapees.

Death Row Supervisor turned fugitive-hunter Celine Osbourne is single-minded in her mission to catch Kradle. She has very personal reasons for hating him – and she knows exactly where he’s heading…

Coming 03.08.2022!

Assassin’s Edge by Ward Larsen

image-altA U.S. spy plane crashes off the northern coast of Russia at the same time that a Mossad operative is abducted from a street in Kazakhstan. The two events seem unrelated, but as suspicions rise, the CIA calls in its premier operative, David Slaton.

When wreckage from the aircraft is discovered on a remote Arctic island, Slaton and a team are sent on a clandestine mission to investigate. While they comb a frigid Russian island at the top of the world, disaster strikes yet again: a U.S. Navy destroyer sinks in the Black Sea.

Evidence begins mounting that these disparate events are linked, controlled by an unseen hand. A mysterious source, code name Lazarus, provides tantalizing clues about another impending strike. Yet Lazarus has an agenda that is deeply personal, a thirst for revenge against a handful of clandestine operators. Prime among them: David Slaton.

Coming 04.12.2022!

Traitor by David Hagberg

image-alt1When McGarvey’s best friend, Otto, is charged with treason, Mac and his wife, Petey, set out on a desperate odyssey to clear Otto’s name. Crossing oceans and continents, their journey will take them from Japan to the US to Pakistan to Russia. Caught in a Kremlin crossfire between two warring intel agencies, Mac and Petey must fight for their lives every step of the way.

And the stakes could not be higher.

Coming 04.26.2022!

You can also beat the winter cold by reading some of the hottest thrillers of the past year that are now in paperback!

Waiting for the Night Song by Julie Carrick Dalton

Waiting for the Night SongCadie Kessler has spent decades trying to cover up one truth. One moment. But deep down, didn’t she always know her secret would surface?

An urgent message from her long-estranged best friend Daniela Garcia brings Cadie, now a forestry researcher, back to her childhood home. There, Cadie and Daniela are forced to face a dark secret that ended both their idyllic childhood bond and the magical summer that takes up more space in Cadie’s memory then all her other years combined.

Now grown up, bound by long-held oaths, and faced with truths she does not wish to see, Cadie must decide what she is willing to sacrifice to protect the people and the forest she loves, as drought, foreclosures, and wildfire spark tensions between displaced migrant farm workers and locals.

Waiting for the Night Song is a love song to the natural beauty around us, a call to fight for what we believe in, and a reminder that the truth will always rise.

Coming 01.18.2022!

Her Perfect Life by Hank Phillippi Ryan

Her Perfect LifeEveryone knows Lily Atwood—and that may be her biggest problem. The beloved television reporter has it all—fame, fortune, Emmys, an adorable seven-year-old daughter, and the hashtag her loving fans created: #PerfectLily. To keep it, all she has to do is protect one life-changing secret.

Her own.

Lily has an anonymous source who feeds her story tips—but suddenly, the source begins telling Lily inside information about her own life. How does he—or she—know the truth?

Lily understands that no one reveals a secret unless they have a reason. Now she’s terrified someone is determined to destroy her world—and with it, everyone and everything she holds dear.

How much will she risk to keep her perfect life?

Coming 02.01.2022!

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Excerpt: Cutthroat Dogs by Loren D. Estleman

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Cutthroat Dogs is a new Amos Walker novel from a Grand Master. “Loren D. Estleman is my hero.” —Harlan Coben

“Someone is dead who shouldn’t be, and the wrong man is in prison.”

Nearly twenty years ago, college freshman April Goss was found dead in her bathtub, an apparent suicide, but suspicion soon fell on her boyfriend. Dan Corbeil was convicted of her murder and sent to prison. Case closed.

Or is it?

Cutthroat Dogs will be available on January 4th, 2022. Please enjoy the following excerpt!

 

 

 


ONE

The department had worked innovations since the last time. A youngster who looked less like a cop than a pharmacist’s apprentice asked me politely to place my palms flat on a sheet of gray tempered glass. Something hummed and a beam of light swept the glass from side to side, recording my prints electronically and without ink.I’d been arrested before, of course; in my line of work, having to make bail on occasion is a kind of business tax.

I looked at my unstained fingers. “I’ll be damned.”

Officer Rexall had an infectious grin. “I know, right? Paid for itself the first month just in what we saved on Kleenex.”

I placed my free call in Receiving, with a cop standing by pretending not to eavesdrop; this one looked like a desk sergeant in a sitcom, blowfish-faced and bored half to death. For once Barry Stackpole answered on the second ring. He’d recognize the police number on caller ID. At this point in his odyssey through the techno-wilderness, he was hosting a podcast on the theme of organized crime and domestic terrorism. When I introduced myself, he asked what I’d been pinched for this time.

“Driving in the bus-only block on Woodward. They’re cracking down. You got any contacts left in print journalism?”

“One or two, if their livers are still functioning. Shouldn’t you be calling a lawyer?”

“What for? The cops already emptied my pockets. I want a reporter, a photographer, and Page One of the City section in the News and Free Press. You can’t buy this kind of advertising.”

What happened was this:

I’ve always had a laissez-faire attitude toward bank robbery. Now that the banks have laid off all the armed guards, eliminated teller’s cages, and order the employees not to offer resistance to criminals, what’s to stop you? Just send your gun and the note with your demands by way of the pneumatic tube in the drive-through and the cashier will send the money and return the weapon by the same route. Insurance covers the depositors. As long as you don’t intend to hurt anyone, why not rob a bank?

This character broke the rules.

It was in the downtown office of the Detroit Bank & Trust Building. I’d stopped trying to keep up with all the corporate aliases it had gone through since local tags went obsolete, so I still called it by its original name. It’s a lodestone of 1960s architecture: twenty-eight stories of tinted windows shaped like a box of shredded wheat.

I pegged him standing three spots ahead of me in line. His right hand stayed out of sight inside the zipper briefcase under his left arm and he turned his head away from the counter every fifteen seconds, just as the surveillance camera rotated his direction. He wore a rust-colored suede jacket, jeans, blazing white Reeboks, long curly hair, and a droopy moustache. All his fashion and grooming tips seemed to come from 1970s porn films.

It didn’t have anything to do with me, even if his hand came out of that case holding anything more lethal than the standard-issue note implying he was armed. Felons these days are getting to be bashful about brandishing weapons.

The game changed when his turn came and he leveled a Glock Nine at the pretty blonde behind the counter and shouted, “Gimme the cash, now!”

That tore it.

I don’t approve of people raising their voices in public, especially when they’re threatening someone with a gun. It’s redundant. I waited until the customers cleared from the line of fire, shouting and stumbling over one another, then slipped the Chief’s Special from my kidney holster and shot him in the leg.

I hit the bone that sticks out at the side of the knee. It’s the most painful place you can inflict an injury, and he hit the floor hard. His pistol sprang from his hand and scraped along the tile floor, spinning like a bottle. I made two long strides and kicked it into the far corner.

Alarms were clanging by this time, one in the bank, another in the nearest precinct house. The man I’d shot was still trying to rise, his gun hand clasping his bleeding leg, when the first siren ground down in front of the building and the uniforms came boiling in, pistols and riot guns raised. He was so pale now his wig and paste-on moustache stood out like the cheap Halloween costume it was. I just had time to let go of my .38 and throw up my hands before the cops tackled me. Of course I was the first one cuffed.

The blue-and-white they piled me into smelled like a urinal cake. It took a radio call from Dispatch and made a U-turn in the middle of Congress. I’d heard the instructions.

“Why the Second?” I said. “That’s Homicide. I just nicked his knee.”

The cop in the front passenger’s seat, light brown with dark freckles, told me to shut the fuck up.

Minutes later we swung into the small lot belonging to a low brick building that looked like a junior high school. Inside, a cross-section of the community sat in a row of orange plastic chairs, some bored, some fretful, like classroom cut-ups waiting to see the vice principal. The room was crowded with uniforms and hip guns. So far it still looked like school.

After I’d made my call to Barry, Sergeant Blowfish took me by the arm and led me in another unexpected direction. I’d hung around the Second Precinct often enough to know where the holding cells were. He took me down a different hall to a door I’d never been through, with an empty slot on the wall next to it where a nameplate was supposed to go. I knew the voice that answered his knock better than I knew my own.

My escort opened the door and gave me a gentle push. “Walker, Inspector.”

John Alderdyce sat behind a painted plywood desk reading a printed sheet. He shooed the sergeant on out and tipped a palm toward another orange plastic chair on my side of the desk. I took it and watched him take off his glasses. That brought out the jagged features of his Lego-built face. Whoever had assembled it hadn’t bothered with the finer details; he’d just stretched black skin over it and split.

“You know what the penalty is for carrying a handgun into a bank in the state of Michigan?”

“You get shot by me.”

“A five-thousand-dollar fine and a year in prison. When you get out, you won’t have an investigator’s license.”

“Are you sure you can yank it? Officially you’re retired from the department.”

“Not anymore. The chief confirmed my consultant’s position last week. You’re my first case.”

“Starting slow, aren’t you? The pip-squeak who printed me could’ve done it.”

“You only got him because I had Dispatch re-route you to this

precinct when I caught the squeal. You were on your way to Robbery Armed. Officially”—he stressed the word—“we could book you for intent to commit armed robbery on the evidence, and change the charge later; if we wanted to.”

“Until that Glock came out I forgot I had the damn thing on me. I just came off a security job and went in to deposit the check.”

“You forgot. Well, that changes everything.” “You’re sarcastic, I can tell.”

He waited.

I rolled a shoulder. “I’m pretty sure he was hopped up, the way he was yelling. A live cashier has to count for something.”

He glanced down at the sheet on the desk and signed it, leaning back to see what he was doing without putting his readers back on. Then he slid it into a letter tray. “Why do you think I stole you out from under Pollard at R/A? He sleeps with a copy of the department manual under his pillow and he’s got a hard-on against rental heat. That sheriff’s star you carry would be an extra piece of candy in his piñata. It’s a clear violation.”

“I’d junk it, only it opens some doors.”

“Personally I’d rather live with the case of hives I get knowing you’re walking around flipping off the law than risk an uptick in the homicide rate; but I’m getting to be in the minority. We’re in the showcase-bust business now: Sweep ’em in the front door, sweep ’em out the back. I’m jeopardizing my brand-new job first step out of the gate. You never know what side of the bed this chief woke up on today. I’m thinking of hedging my bet: Tank you on the weapons beef and put in a word with the county prosecutor, get you probation as a first offender. Then again, you never know what side she got up on.”

“It seems to be a contagious condition.”

“Nuh-uh. I had a good mood going until about an hour ago.” Voices clamored outside the door. A vein throbbed in my tem-

ple. Only one segment of the population argued with authority in quite that tone.

“Jesus!” Alderdyce’s perpetual scowl spread to his hairline.

“The press in this town can smell a byline like a bitch in heat. How the hell did they know we brought you here?”

I hoped the question was rhetorical. That spur-of-the-moment idea I’d had was beginning to look less like a stroke of genius and more like just a stroke. The Tuesday night special at County was a Band-Aid on a cracker.

Still glowering, he picked up his glasses, tapped a corner on the desk a few times, then dropped them again. He slid open a drawer, took out my wallet, ID folder containing the illegal county shield, keys, and the Smith & Wesson in its belt clip, and placed them on my side of the desk.

“Just make sure you tell them how fast we responded.”

“Made me proud of my city.” I put everything away and fled the scene.

Pre-order a copy of Cutthroat Dogs—available January 4th, 2022!

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