by Norman Green
“So? You think someone’s setting you up?”
“No. I think someone’s using Penn Transfer to move their shit. I think they figure when the cops finally tumble to it, I’ll be the one that swings, not them.”
Marty nodded. What cop would bother looking past a man like Caughlan? “Smart,” he said.
Caughlan leaned over and whispered in Stiles’s ear. “Hundred large,” he said, “you find out who’s doing it. Buck and a half, you give me the score on the grand jury, too. A deuce if you get it all done before the end of the month.”
It was too much money to even consider passing up, even if he was gonna have to walk through a few dark places to get it. “All right,” he said. “But how do you want to work this? What is it that you want Al for?”
“I don’t wanna tell you how to do your job,” Caughlan said. “If I knew how to handle this, it’d be done already. But I figure you probably know every crooked cop and scumbag lawyer in Jersey. You chase the grand jury angle. Let Martillo loose, let her chase it from the other end.”
Clever, Marty thought. Once I start turning over rocks, things will start to happen. Caughlan thinks it’s someone close to him, and figures he’ll have Al watching his back. “There’s one problem with all of this,” he said.
“Yeah? What’s that?”
“Al. Al’s the problem. She ain’t great at following instructions. Matter of fact, she’s prolly the single most annoying female I ever met. The bitch could find a white cat in a snowstorm, but she could never explain how she knew where to look. You get her going on this, she’s gonna go where her nose tells her to go. You hear what I’m saying? You got some closets you don’t want her looking in, that’s your tough luck, she’s gonna do what she wants to do. You better think about that before you pull the trigger here.”
“I can handle her,” Caughlan said. “Besides, I got too much at risk to worry about a few indiscretions coming to light.”
Stiles watched the dancer. Caughlan thinks he knows Al, he thought, but the guy has no idea, not if he thinks he can handle her. Unless he figures he can just bury her once she gets to be too much of a pain in his ass. And good luck with that . . . But I might be putting Al in a tough spot with this, Stiles thought. His stomach rolled once, but the thought of two hundred grand in his bank account had a wonderfully restorative effect. “We need to talk money. I can’t afford to go on spec. I’m gonna need fifty large up front and a guaranteed hundred, minimum, when we’re done.”
Caughlan stared at him for a moment. “Agreed,” he said. “Set up a meeting—you, me, and Martillo. We can go over the details there.”
“Okay,” Stiles said.
Caughlan got off his stool. “The lady’s waiting for you,” he said. “Enjoy yourself, but watch that girl, she bites.”
“She what? What did you say?”
Caughlan nodded. “Something wrong with her head. She bites. She’ll want to blow you, but don’t you let her. You knock her down and give it to her proper.”
About the Author
NORMAN GREEN is the author of seven crime novels. Born in Massachusetts, he now lives in New Jersey with his wife.
Discover great authors, exclusive offers, and more at hc.com.
Also by Norman Green
Sick Like That
The Last Gig
Dead Cat Bounce
Way Past Legal
The Angel of Montague Street
Shooting Dr. Jack
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Excerpt from The Last Gig copyright © 2008 by Norman Green.
shadow of a thief. Copyright © 2017 by Norman Green. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins Publishers. For information, address HarperCollins Publishers, 195 Broadway, New York, NY 10007.
Digital Edition OCTOBER 2017 ISBN: 978-0-06-267278-0
Print Edition ISBN: 978-0-06-267279-7
Cover photograph © M. Shcherbyna / Shutterstock
WITNESS logo and WITNESS IMPULSE are trademarks of HarperCollins Publishers in the United States of America.
HarperCollins is a registered trademark of HarperCollins Publishers in the United States of America and other countries.
About the Publisher
Australia
HarperCollins Publishers Australia Pty. Ltd.
Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street
Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
www.harpercollins.com.au
Canada
HarperCollins Canada
2 Bloor Street East - 20th Floor
Toronto, ON M4W 1A8, Canada
www.harpercollins.ca
New Zealand
HarperCollins Publishers New Zealand
Unit D1, 63 Apollo Drive
Rosedale 0632
Auckland, New Zealand
www.harpercollins.co.nz
United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF, UK
www.harpercollins.co.uk
United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
195 Broadway
New York, NY 10007
www.harpercollins.com