He nodded slowly.
“I imagine you’ve found out, or you will, that he’s the one who gave the suspects the burner phone and sold them the roofies.”
Devon said softly, “I know that, yeah.”
Avery uncrossed his arms and leaned forward ever so slightly. “Amir Karesh is mine. I will build a case and put him away. If not for this, then for drugs or something else. But he’ll be prosecuted under the law. I don’t want the Victims’ Club to hurt a single hair on his head.”
“The what?”
“My nickname for you. The Victims’ Club.”
Devon grinned. “I like that.”
“Don’t get too attached. You’re disbanded as of right now. We clear on that?”
“Perfectly clear, Detective.”
Avery then asked, “Rose? Does she know?”
“Not a clue,” Devon said. “Better if it stays that way.”
Avery nodded. “Night.”
“Night.”
Devon Taylor turned one way, Jon Avery another, and the detective walked back to his car, pulling out his phone to check the time. Five o’clock. He wouldn’t go back to the office. He’d head home. Already he was looking forward to supper, with a glass of cold milk and pie for dessert. Then he’d help Jon Jr. with his homework. Please, Avery thought, dropping into the driver’s seat, let it be history or science or English. Or even art appreciation. Anything but math.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Photo © Jerry Bauer
Jeffery Deaver is a former journalist, folk singer, and attorney whose novels have appeared on bestseller lists around the world, including the New York Times, the Times of London, Italy’s Corriere della Sera, the Sydney Morning Herald, and the Los Angeles Times. His books are sold in 150 countries and have been translated into twenty-five languages.
The author of forty novels, three collections of short stories, and a nonfiction law book, as well as a lyricist of a country-western album, he’s received or been short-listed for dozens of awards.
His book The Bodies Left Behind was named Novel of the Year by the International Thriller Writers association, and his Lincoln Rhyme thriller The Broken Window and a stand-alone, Edge, were also nominated for that prize, as was a short story published recently. He has been awarded the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger and the Short Story Dagger from the British Crime Writers’ Association, and he is a winner of the British Thumping Good Read Award and the Nero Award. The Cold Moon was named the Book of the Year by the Mystery Writers Association of Japan. In addition, the Japanese Adventure Fiction Association awarded The Cold Moon and Carte Blanche their annual Grand Prix award. His book The Kill Room was awarded the Political Thriller of the Year by Killer Nashville. And his collection of short stories Trouble in Mind was nominated for best anthology by that organization as well.
Deaver has been honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Bouchercon World Mystery Convention and the Raymond Chandler Award for lifetime achievement in Italy. The Strand Magazine also has presented him with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
Deaver has been nominated for seven Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America, as well as an Anthony, a Shamus, and a Gumshoe. He is currently the president of the Mystery Writers of America.
His audiobook The Starling Project, starring Alfred Molina and produced by Audible, won the Audie Award for best original audiobook of the year in 2016.
He contributed to the anthology In the Company of Sherlock Holmes and Books to Die For, which won the Anthony. Books to Die For recently won the Agatha as well.
Deaver’s most recent novels are The Cutting Edge; The Burial Hour; The Steel Kiss; a Lincoln Rhyme novel, Solitude Creek; a Kathryn Dance thriller; and The October List, a thriller told in reverse. For the Dance novel XO, Deaver wrote an album of country-western songs, available on iTunes and as a CD; before that, he wrote Carte Blanche, a James Bond continuation novel and a #1 international bestseller.
His book A Maiden’s Grave was made into an HBO movie starring James Garner and Marlee Matlin, and his novel The Bone Collector was a feature release from Universal Pictures starring Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie. Lifetime aired an adaptation of his book The Devil’s Teardrop. And yes, the rumors are true: he did appear as a corrupt reporter on his favorite soap opera, As the World Turns. He was born outside Chicago and has a bachelor of journalism degree from the University of Missouri and a law degree from Fordham University.
Readers can visit his website at www.jefferydeaver.com.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Text copyright © 2018 by Jeffery Deaver
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.
Published by Amazon Original Stories, Seattle
www.apub.com
Amazon, the Amazon logo, and Amazon Original Stories are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc., or its affiliates.
eISBN: 9781542097758
Cover design by Adil Dara
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