Night Terrors by Dennis Palumbo Read Free Book Online Page B

us?”
    Billy’s laugh was short, respectful. “Agents Green and Zarnicki are right on our tails. I made sure we didn’t lose ’em on the highway.”
    â€œGood man.” Alcott swiveled in his seat, gathering up the files. Almost as though I wasn’t there.
    â€œYou gonna tell me the rest, Alcott, or do I have to wait till we get there? Wherever the hell that is.”
    Alcott shrugged. I could tell he was glad our journey was near its end. He was the kind of man whose ambition literally radiated from his body, which made him seem constrained if trapped too long in one place. Especially a small place, with a guy he didn’t have much use for.
    As though indulging me, he flipped open the folder once more.
    â€œSure, we have time to wrap this up. Earl Cranshaw lived in Steubenville, Ohio, in a split-level with his wife. No kids. He was 47, a drinker, member of the Elks Club. Had a temper, which is no surprise, given what he did to Jessup at the prison. Had received a couple prior reprimands from the warden, for using excessive force.”
    â€œAny leads as to his killer? Possible motive?”
    â€œNothing the local cops could find. The marriage seemed solid, if not exactly a love match. Cranshaw had a few buddies he played pool with. Though he cut off all contact with his former colleagues at the prison as soon as he left the place. Bad memories, I guess.”
    â€œGambling debts? Some jealous husband?”
    â€œNo evidence of anything like that. Still, him getting whacked so soon after that last letter arrived…I mean, sure, it might’ve been a coincidence, but—”
    I regarded him cooly. “C’mon, nobody believes that…”
    â€œWell, if they did, they don’t anymore. Which brings us to this very morning, Doc. Like I promised.”
    I waited.
    â€œIt’s been kept outta the news because we can’t find the sole next-of-kin. Apparently she’s on a hiking trip with her boyfriend. Naturally, we don’t want her hearing about it before we can contact her.”
    â€œWho are we talking about?”
    â€œHelen Loftus. Mother dead, no sibs. She’s a junior at Carnegie Mellon, and her father was visiting her for the weekend. She lives with a roommate in a dorm, so her old man stayed at a Hilton in Oakland.”
    â€œWhat happened?” Though I’d already guessed.
    â€œHer father was shot in the hotel parking lot at six thirty this morning. Getting into his rental for the drive back home. One of the hotel valets heard the shots, came running, called 911. The vic died in the ambulance on the way to Pittsburgh Memorial.”
    â€œSo…who was he?”
    â€œRalph Loftus. Judge Ralph Loftus of Cleveland, Ohio. The judge who sentenced John Jessup to life in prison.”
    ***
    The streets of Braddock, Pennsylvania, were narrow and poorly-lit. Even along the main business strip. Probably due to the overwhelming number of closed and boarded up shops and restaurants.
    We drove in silence through the no-longer-pumping heart of the small town. Like so many other coal and steel towns in western Pennsylvania, Braddock was a victim of a changing economy. A changing world.
    Once a thriving, growing community, the steel mills that provided jobs to its multi-ethnic population had slowly closed down over the years. Which meant that, to add to the area’s distress, strip mining for coal in the nearby hills no longer provided employment for families who’d toiled at the task for generations.
    â€œThe motel’s up here on the left, sir.”
    Billy again, dutifully reporting our progress to his boss. His voice drew my attention past his shoulder to the windshield, the defroster spreading rivulets of spindly ice across its expanse.
    No doubt it had grown colder, but thankfully the snow, at long last, no longer fell. What was left was the cold, vacant night. An arch of heavy clouds blotting the stars.
    I glanced over at