Nothing Sacred (FBI Agent Dan Hammer Series Book 1) by Douglas Wickard Read Free Book Online Page A

know?
     
    Janice caught herself off guard. She hated when she did that. She realized something significant this evening. An epiphany, maybe. At this age and stage of her life, danger and journalism made her feel infinitely safer than being loved by another human being. Wow! That was a terrifying thought.
     
    “Sorry, Jake.” She said as she closed the door behind her. She made another mental note to call around town tomorrow. Get back into therapy. She was almost thirty for God’s sake. Maybe it was time she allowed herself some emotional healing. Some closeness. Jake whimpered as she locked the door. She hurried down the cobblestone path toward Jeffery Street; an enormous full moon loomed above her, a giant, radiant halo. A large circular slice of Swiss cheese.
     
    Terrifying all right…
     
    In fact, the thought actually broke her heart.

June 15 , 2007
    Friday
    1:32 AM
     
    5
                 
    Dying was inevitable.
     
    A certainty. It was going to happen to all of us one of these days. One way or another. What caused Detective Dan Hammer concern were the different ways in which one could die. The arbitrariness of it all. A flip of a coin. A right turn, a wrong move. All part of our inescapable future. All of us prisoners of our own inevitable fate.
     
    There he goes again. Thinking.
     
    Dan was driving toward North Charleston on East Bay Street thinking about Wallace. Again. What else was new? He’d been thinking about Wallace a lot lately. Thinking about his recent death. About Wallace’s family. His wife, June. Their kids, Jason and Eli. Those two teenage boys sure would need their Daddy. More than ever now. It was tough being a teenager these days. Dan kept telling himself to “ get your ass over there, Hammer .” Check up on ‘em. Make sure they’re doing okay. Wallace would have wanted that. Wallace would have been so disappointed in Dan for not being there. Somehow, Dan just couldn’t pull himself around to doing it. Not now, anyway. Not yet. It was hard for Dan. He would see Wallace in those kids. Wallace’s features etched all over their faces. Even the boy’s bodies reminded Dan of Wallace. Tall and lanky. Made for basketball. Dan felt lost without Wallace sitting beside him. Wallace was his partner. His friend.
                 
    They tossed a coin that night at the Quick Mart. Standard procedure. All part of their nightly routine. Day old doughnuts and black coffee. Wallace liked half and half with his. And lots of sugar. He drank his coffee so damn sweet. Dan didn’t know how he drank that shit, but he did. Didn’t even flinch. He once told Dan he liked his coffee to look and taste like his wife, June. Cappuccino. After a few years of hearing that, Dan began making a joke of it. Cappuccino, my ass! They laughed a lot about Wallace’s coffee habits.
                 
    Dan couldn’t even buy a cup of coffee now without thinking about Wallace.
                 
    That night, as always, they tossed the quarter. That night, Wallace lost the toss. Dan remembered flicking off the beams of the cruiser as they pulled into the Quick Mart parking lot. A few cars were lined up outside the entrance. They parked inconspicuously to the side. Wallace pulled out his wallet from his back pocket and took out a few bills. Dan joked he shouldn’t be taking a trip to Vegas any time soon, because Wallace had lost the bet the last few times. His luck had been wavering on empty. Wallace gave a sneer, exposing big white teeth. He opened the passenger door and sauntered toward the entrance. Halfway there, he turned around and strolled back. Dan lowered the window. “What?”
                 
    “How do you like your coffee?” Wallace asked, knowing full well Dan took his coffee black. As black as Wallace.
     
    Dan answered like a smart-ass. “Free!”
                 
    Wallace snickered and turned back toward white neon. Dan watched on as he entered