Kill and Tell by Linda Howard Read Free Book Online Page A

nothing more than to win his father's approval and make him proud. He didn't dare expect less from Rick Medina's son.
    "Not many people have. I've only heard a few whispers about him myself, and that's because I've done some work in the business."
    "Can you find out where he lives, what he looks like?"
    "No can do." The second man shook his head. "I don't have the contacts, and even if I did, a request like that would have me dead within an hour. I'm telling you, let it drop here. Don't do anything that will draw attention to us."
    "What if you made a mistake, missed a fingerprint or something?"
    "I didn't. We wore gloves, got rid of the guns, burned our clothes. There's nothing to tie anyone to Medina. If you're that nervous about it, you should have used someone else to make the hit on Whitlaw."
    "No one else was even getting close to him. He was too good. I needed someone just as good." That someone had been Rick Medina. Pity. An unencumbered piece of muscle would have been much simpler—no family who cared much; no cops who cared. Medina came with complications, but that couldn't be helped, especially now. At least he had gotten the job done, something all those other clowns hadn't managed to do. He had concocted a good story to put Medina on the hunt, but once the kill was made, Medina had had to be removed, because if he ever found out he had been used—well, it would have been nasty.
    The first man sighed, getting up to pace slowly over to the floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out over the carefully manicured lawn. There was nothing in this visit to excite interest, because he normally had a constant stream of visitors, people coming and going, asking favors, performing duties. Still, this whole business made him uneasy. He had thought it was finished years ago. He had learned a lesson, though: tie up all the loose ends. Medina had been a loose end; he regretted the necessity but didn't back down from it.
    "What about the men you used?" he asked, wondering if they were more loose ends.
    "I can vouch for them. None of them even knew a name; they were just doing a job. I've kept everything quiet."
    "Good. What about the book?"
    "No sign of it."
    "Damn." The word was softly breathed. As long as that book was unaccounted for, he couldn't feel safe. What sort of madness had prompted Dexter Whitlaw to record the hit, anyway? It was evidence against Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    himself, and it wasn't as if he could include it in his body count. But Whitlaw had evidently decided he had less to lose than someone else if the truth came out, and that the someone else would pay any amount to get that book. He had almost been right. When one had other options, one wasn't bound by the rules. "Where could he have put it?"
    "I doubt he would have used a safe deposit box," the second man said, thinking. His name was Hayes. He was big, stocky, unremarkable in looks, just one more slightly overweight, slightly unkempt man who hadn't kept in shape. His gaze was remote and intelligent. "He moved around too much, and he would have wanted it where he could get to it fairly easily, plus you have to pay for the boxes every year. Same thing with lockers in bus stations. Most likely, he left it with someone he trusted, maybe a friend but probably someone in his family."
    "Whitlaw was estranged from his family." This was said with distinct disapproval. "He walked out on his wife and daughter twenty years ago."
    "What was their last known address?" Hayes asked promptly.
    "Someplace in West Virginia, but they're no longer there. I learned they moved to Ohio years ago, but I haven't located them yet."
    "Whitlaw might have known where they live. He could have sent the book to them before he started trying to blackmail you. Set everything up in advance."
    "That's true, that's true." Clearly disturbed by that possibility, the first man turned back from the windows.
    "Have you traced their social