Cop Town by Karin Slaughter Read Free Book Online Page B

field. The day Jimmy had graduated from the academy, the first two rows of the audience were filled with his cheering squad. They all loved him like a son. They mentored him. They told him stories. They offered advice.
    And sometimes, if they were drunk enough, they even let Maggie listen.
    “Hey!” Jett Elliott banged his fist on the roof of the car. He was so drunk he could barely stand. “We’re not lettin’ this one get away with it. You hear me?”
    “Damn straight we’re not.” Mack McKay shored up Jett with an arm around his shoulder. “We’re gonna take care of this ourselves.”
    There were grunts of agreement as a flask was passed around. Maggiepulled her purse onto her shoulder, but she couldn’t go anywhere. The wall of Terrys had managed to both block her path and completely ignore her.
    Les Leslie leaned against the car. “The boss already put in a call to California. Three-hour time difference, but they’ll get somebody to lay eyes on him.”
    He was talking about Edward Spivey. After the trial, the man had moved to the other side of the continent, but no one believed he would stay there for long.
    “Oughta fly out there ourselves,” Red Flemming said. “Lay more than eyes on him.”
    Terry slammed the car door. “Think they’ll let us take a noose on the plane?”
    “I got two in my trunk.” Jett grabbed at the flask.
    Mack pushed him away. “Fuck off.”
    Jett pushed back. “You fuck off.”
    Maggie took advantage of the shoving match and headed toward the street. She didn’t want to be around when they really got wound up.
    Red held out his arm to stop her. “Jimmy all right?”
    She nodded as she eyed the exit. “He’s fine.”
    “He’s coming in,” Terry said. “Wouldn’t stay home.”
    “Damn right he wouldn’t.” Les passed the flask to Terry. “We takin’ care of business today?”
    “Hell yeah.” Terry took a healthy drink. “Gonna put that fucker in the ground. Am I right?”
    “You’re goddamn right.” Jett grabbed the flask from Terry. “No trial for this asshole. Only walk he’s taking is to the grave.”
    There were more murmurs of agreement. Maggie tried to edge around Red.
    “Need to keep Jim out of this,” Red mumbled under his breath. Everyone heard him. Nods went around. Maggie was both annoyed and jealous. To a man, they would all lay down their lives protecting Jimmy Lawson.
    Terry said, “You got somewhere to be?”
    Maggie realized he was talking to her. She didn’t feel her usual impulse to do the opposite of what her uncle said. She started toward the street, glad to be away from them.
    The relief didn’t last long. She was never going to get away from these assholes. A black El Dorado was pulling into the parking lot. The window slid down. Bud Deacon had his hands gripped around the steering wheel. Chip Bixby was in the passenger seat. He looked worse than the rest of them. His cheeks were more sunken than usual. His lips were a weird blue, probably from smoking too much. Of all of Terry’s friends, Chip was the least offensive. Which wasn’t saying much.
    Maggie preempted the question. “Jimmy’s all right. He’s coming in.”
    “That ain’t right,” Bud said. “You shoulda told him to stay home.”
    She wanted to laugh. “You think he listens to me?”
    “Shut that smart mouth before I do,” Bud warned. “Is it too much to ask you to be there for your brother?”
    Maggie chewed her lip so she wouldn’t speak her mind.
    “It’s gonna be hard for him.” Chip’s voice was solemn. Duke Abbott had been his partner. Chip had been inside the motel when Duke was shot. He was also sitting behind Edward Spivey when the jury came back with an acquittal. Two deputies had to hold him down. If one of them hadn’t grabbed Chip’s gun, he’d probably be sitting on death row right now.
    Maggie said, “Jimmy knows he’s not alone.”
    “Doesn’t matter,” Chip said. “Something like this happens—you’re alone for the rest of