Read Post Pattern (Burnside Mystery 1) for Free Online

problems'll seem like a trip through Candyland," he said, a tiny
piece of spittle growing in the corner of his bottom lip.
    "I’m real scared.”
    "Watch it," he growled. "I wanna get
outta here sometime tonight. Now tell me what you saw up there."
    "You want to knock off work early? Okay. I’ll make
it simple for you. There was a group of wholesome young men eating chocolate
chip cookies and drinking milk. A pair of virtuous young women came by to
explain the difference in the cholesterol levels between regular milk and
low-fat."
    “Hey it’s been a long night asshole. You gonna
cooperate?”
    “Not with a goldbrick like you.”
    Batson reached out and grabbed my shirt with both fists.
Even though we were about the same weight, I was six feet tall and probably had
about five inches on him. I jerked my arms between his hands in a fast upward
motion, snapping his grip on me. He fell off balance momentarily and I reared
back and gave his left shin a hard wallop with my right foot. He drew back his
fist, but before he could let it fly, someone came between us.
    "That's enough, officer!" the man barked at
Batson.
    "Captain, this man started to assault me."
    "I didn’t see any punches thrown. Not by him
anyway. Get some coffee. I'll take over here."
    Batson straightened his jacket and glared at me as if to
say this wasn't over yet. He walked away gingerly, and I smiled to myself. I
not only got away with being a smart ass, but it allowed me to move up the
ranks and talk to someone with more authority. You never knew where that might
lead.
    "All right. Burnside is it? I'm Captain Lafferty,"
he said. The Captain was my height and had the resonant voice and the polished
look of an ambitious man running for office. He had black hair with a touch of
silver at the temples, slicked back with a healthy dollop of mousse.
    "I understand you're a P.I. now.”
    "That’s right."
    "Tell me what you're looking into."
    I recanted the story of Norman and Robbie, detailing
everything except my conversation with Terry Kuhl. Some things simply take too
long and aren't worth the trouble.
    "How drunk was the boy Robbie?"
    "He'd had a few, although it didn't seem like he
was out of control. When one of the guys passed out, he was able to help carry
him off with no problem. If you're asking was Robbie wasted enough to stagger
over the edge? I'd say no."
    Lafferty nodded. "You think he had some help."
    "Somebody was gunning for Robbie on the freeway the
other night, only his brother happened to be in the car at the time. That
someone had better luck tonight."
    "Any ideas about who did it?"
    "No. I mostly have a lot of questions."
    "Great," he said dryly. "Anything else
you'd like to offer?"
    I shook my head. "Not unless your buddy over there
wants a re-match."
    "Mick? He probably does, but he'll cool down. He's
not a bad detective but he’s a hothead."
    "Uh-huh."
    Lafferty looked around. "I think we're almost done
here."
    "Do you have any objections if I go back up to the
apartment and look around?"
    "No can do. Not now anyway, they're dusting for
prints. I think they're also examining the video that was being recorded. Yeah
I know, we lucked out on that one. Besides, what do you think you'll
find?"
    I shrugged and said I didn't know. Walking outside, I
stopped to take a final look at the Corvette. The top of the car was caved in
and damage to the hood was evident. The windshield was destroyed and the
interior looked like it was the target of a missile. The owner would have quite
a surprise awaiting him tomorrow. A victim of being in the wrong place at the
wrong time. His turn to be picked on. I walked across the street to my Pathfinder
and found a small surprise waiting for me as well, in the form of a parking
ticket. I was too tired to bother with it so I tossed it in the glove
compartment along with my CDs and drove home. It was nearly four in the morning
and there was still plenty of traffic on the streets.
    *
    It took three days for the police