Hard Case Crime: Fake I.D. (24 page)

“Tommy,” I said, relieved.

“Who?”

“Tommy. You remember me, don’t you?”

She didn’t answer for a few seconds. I was about to ring again when she said, “What do you want?”

“I have a surprise for you.”

“What?” she said, like she didn’t hear me.

“A surprise,” I said.

“What’s the surprise?”

“If I tell you, it won’t be a surprise, will it?”

She didn’t answer. I rang again.

“What is it?” she said.

“I have your jewelry,” I said.

Again, she waited a few seconds before answering. “I thought you gave it to a pawn shop.”

“I did, but the guy bought it back and now I just bought it back from him. Come on, just let me up so I can give it to you.”

“I’ll come to the bar tonight to get it.”

“But I have it here—right now.”

“Why can’t you bring it to the bar?”

“I wanted to apologize to you too. I’m in Gamblers Anonymous now and in Step 6 you have to apologize to the people you’ve wronged. It would really help me if I had a chance to apologize to you, face to face. Come on, I’ll just come up for a minute then leave.”

The buzzer rang.

I took the elevator up to her apartment on the sixth floor. I rang once and she opened the door, wearing jeans and a white sweatshirt.

“Hey, how are you?” I said.

I tried to kiss her, but she backed away.

“I don’t have cooties,” I said smiling.

“Where’s my jewelry?” she asked.

“Aren’t you gonna invite me inside first?”

“Do you have my jewelry or not?”

“Yeah, I have it.”

I went by her, into the apartment.

“I was hoping you could lend me some money,” I said.

“What?”

“Just a few hundred bucks. I’ll pay you back tomorrow or the next day. I promise.”

“Do you have the jewelry or don’t you?”

“First lend me some money.”

“I’m
not
lending you money.”

“Why not? I paid you back last time, didn’t I?”

“Get out of here—right now.”

I spotted her pocketbook on a chair in the corner.

“Sorry to have to do this.”

“What are you doing? Give that back to me—”

I stiff-armed her, trying to keep her away, but she kept coming after me. Finally, I pushed her and she fell down onto the couch. I found about twenty dollars in bills in one of the pocketbook’s compartments.

“Don’t you have any more than this?” I asked.

Janene was crying. I thought about searching her apartment for more money when I had a better idea. I took her bank card out of her wallet and slipped it into my pocket. I put the pocketbook back onto the chair.

“If you just lent me the money this would have been a lot easier,” I said, “but I
am
going to pay you back.”

I left the apartment. On the landing of the stairwell I felt dizzy and I saw myself tumbling down the stairs. I took the elevator down instead. I walked around the corner to the Chase bank on First Avenue and Seventy-second. I still had Janene’s pin number memorized. I put her card in the machine and typed in the code. A receipt came out with a printed message:

TRANSACTION DENIED

Damn it—she must’ve called the bank already and put a hold on the account.

On my way out, I spotted a police car speeding up First Avenue. I ducked back into the bank and stayed there until the coast was clear.

I needed money—fast—and there was only one place to get it.

I walked over to Second Avenue, down to Sixty-fifth Street, then back over to O’Reilley’s on First. Luckily, there were no cops there. Frank was working the bar and a couple of old-timers were sitting on stools, watching TV.

Frank saw me come in and he screamed, “Get the hell out of here! Right now, you son of a bitch!”

“Why? What’s going on?”

“You sick piece of shit! You fucking scumbag!”

“What?” I said.

“I don’t wanna look at your face anymore. Just get the hell out of here!”

“Look, I don’t know what’s going on,” I said, “but I’m sure—”

“How long were you fucking her?”

“Who?”

“You know who—Debbie. My fucking wife!”

“Jesus, I can’t believe you just asked me that,” I said.

“No more bullshit!” Frank’s face was red and he looked crazy. The two guys in the bar got up and left.

“No,” I said. “I wasn’t fucking Debbie. Jesus, what kind of guy do you think I am?”

“Fucking liar! My doorman saw you there—last week.”

“I
did
go there one day—looking for you.”

“Look, you son of a bitch piece of shit, I know you were there, so stop lying to me! You killed her didn’t you?”

“Take it easy,” I said. “I know you’re angry, grieving or whatever, but you don’t have to take it out on me.”

Frank came out from around the bar.

“A cab driver said he dropped her off by your apartment the day she disappeared. Then, that night, a cop pulled you over in Brooklyn.”

“It’s not what it looks like,” I said.

Frank came after me, beating his fists against my chest.

“Come on, take it easy,” I said. “Chill out.”

Frank kept beating me until he got too exhausted, gasping for air.

“Look, you have to believe me,” I said. “I know how bad things look right now, but I think you know I’m a good person. You know I wouldn’t kill somebody. You’ll see—they’ll find the real killer and then you’ll forgive me. But don’t worry, I won’t hold a grudge. I know what you’re going through.”

“What did you come here for anyway?” Frank said. “Money? If you can’t steal it, you have to borrow it from your stupid boss, right?” Frank took his wallet out of his pocket and started throwing bills at me. “Here, you want my money? You want my fucking money? Take it! Take it all!”

I started to pick up the bills when I heard loud sirens. I looked behind me and saw two police cars pull up in front of the bar. I was about to make a run for it—maybe try to get out through the window in the kitchen—when I looked back at Frank. He was still throwing money at me, but he was slumping back onto a bar stool.

“Come on, buddy,” I said, trying to help him up. “Hang in there. Just hang in there!”

I looked behind me and three cops were standing by the door with their guns drawn.

“Hurry up,” I said. “Do any of you guys know CPR?”

“Put your hands up where I can see them!” one of the cops shouted.

“The guy’s dying here!”

“Put your hands up!”

“For Chrissake. Look at him!”

“Now, asshole!”

“You gotta help him!”

“Get your fucking hands in the air!”

I looked over at Frank, who was staring right at me. A cop came up behind me and pulled my arms behind my back and cuffed me. Frank was slumped over on the stool, leaning against the bar.

“Will somebody help him, damn it? Forget about me. Help him!”

One cop went over to Frank.

“Hang in there, buddy,” I said. “You just hang in there.”

Frank was looking at me, his eyes half shut.

“Let’s go,” one of the cops behind me said.

“Don’t die,” I said to Frank. “Whatever you do—don’t die. You have to make it out to Arizona, buddy. You’re gonna love it out there.”

“Come on,” one cop said to me, and the other one said, “Move it.”

I tried to turn around, to look at Frank again, but I couldn’t.

“See you tomorrow!” I yelled as the cops pushed me out the door.

by
KEN BRUEN
and
JASON STARR

“Some of the funniest dialogue this side of Elmore Leonard.”

— Otto Penzler

When Max Fisher hired Angela Petrakos as his assistant he was an unhappily married man. But the two of them had a plan to kill his wife and shack up together. Unfortunately, the hit man they hired had other ideas.

The fallout from this disastrous scheme will turn Max from an ordinary businessman into a would-be drug kingpin and catapult Angela from the streets of New York City to the slums of Ireland and the prisons of Greece.

Bust, Slide,
and
The Max
are black comic masterpieces by two of the most acclaimed writers working in the crime fiction genre. Between them, Bruen and Starr have been nominated for every major award in the field, and their collaborations for Hard Case Crime have won raves from publications ranging from the
Chicago Sun-Times
and the
New York Sun
to
Entertainment Weekly.
If you enjoyed
Fake I.D.,
you won’t want to miss this very different side of Jason Starr’s dark vision...

by
RICHARD ALEAS

Three years ago, detective John Blake solved a mystery that changed his life forever—and left a woman he loved dead. Now Blake is back, to investigate the apparent suicide of Dorothy Louise Burke, a beautiful college student with a double life. The secrets Blake uncovers could blow the lid off New York City’s sex trade...if they don’t kill him first.

Richard Aleas’ first novel, LITTLE GIRL LOST, was among the most celebrated crime novels of the year, nominated for both the Edgar and Shamus Awards.
But nothing in John Blake’s first case could prepare you for the shocking conclusion of his second...

R
AVES FOR
SONGS OF INNOCENCE:

“An instant classic.”

— The Washington Post

“The best thing Hard Case is publishing right now.”

— The San Francisco Chronicle

“His powerful conclusion will drop jaws.”

— Publishers Weekly

“So sharp [it’ll] slice your finger as you flip the pages.”

— Playboy

Sexy Suspense From an MWA Grandmaster!

by
LAWRENCE BLOCK

SHE WAS EVERY MAN’S DREAM – AND ONE MAN’S NIGHTMARE

Johnny Hayden and Doug Rance had a scheme to take real estate entrepreneur Wallace Gunderman for all he was worth. But they needed a girl on the inside to make it work.

Enter Evelyn Stone: Gunderman’s secretary, his lover—and his worst enemy. Gunderman promised to marry her, but never came through. Now she’s ready to make him pay...

A
CCLAIM
F
OR
LAWRENCE BLOCK:

“The narrative is layered with detail, the action is handled with Block’s distinctive clarity of style and the ending is a stunning tour de force.”

— New York Times

“Block is awfully good, with an ear for dialogue, an eye for lowlife types and a gift for fast and effortless storytelling that bear comparison to Elmore Leonard.”

— Los Angeles Times

“Wonderful.”

— USA Today

“Lawrence Block is a master of entertainment.”

— Washington Post Book World

by
RICHARD S. PRATHER

OVER 40,000,000 BOOKS SOLD

In the cutthroat world of organized crime, Tony Romero was headed straight for the top. But his path was littered with bodies and broken dreams—some of them his.

by
RICHARD POWELL

AUTHOR OF ‘A SHOT IN THE DARK’

Bill Wayne’s bus tour through the West becomes more than he bargained for when bodies start turning up at every stop!

by
DAVID DODGE

AUTHOR OF ‘TO CATCH A THIEF’

From the casinos of Monaco to the jungles of Brazil, from Tangier to Marrakech to Peru, the chase is on when a handsome swindler tries to escape the beautiful heiress out to reform him.