Stranger Things Have Happened: An Adrien English Write Your Own Damn Story (The Adrien English Mysteries) by Josh Lanyon Read Free Book Online Page A

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“T hank you, Mr. Green, but no thank you.” You disconnect and go fix yourself Cup-a-Soup for lunch.
    You spend the rest of the day sorting through the dumped papers and files, and worrying about being arrested. But maybe being arrested would be preferable to…well, other things.
    What those other things might be, you don’t quite dare think about.
     
    That evening the Partners in Crime weekly writing group meets at the bookstore. Claude arrives first and again tries to persuade you to break into Robert’s apartment and search for anything that might implicate him in the murder. You point out that you’re as much a suspect as he is — and if you are caught breaking into Robert’s home you will definitely jump the queue to Suspect #1.
    Does Claude realize how guilty he’s acting?
    Next, Ted and Jean Finch arrive. They offer the theory that Robert fell victim to a serial killer preying on the gay community.
    You understand that they’re trying to be helpful, but…really, no. Not. Helping.
    The other two members of the group arrive. You remember that Max Siddons had some kind of run-in with Robert, though you don’t remember the details.
    Robert had his good qualities — and that’s what you would like to focus on now — but you can’t help noticing that not many people are grieving for him. It would be horrible to find out Robert was killed by a mutual friend. Or even a mutual acquaintance.
     
    The rest of the week passes and before you know it, it’s Friday and you’re dusting off your Hugo Boss suit to wear to Robert’s funeral.
    It’s not a big funeral, but both the police and the media show up. On your way to the gravesite, Tara confronts you. She apologizes for her hysterical phone call earlier in the week. You tell her it’s okay. You understand. And in a way, you do.
    No sooner do you leave Tara cleaning divots of grass and mud from her heels than you bump into a tall, rather homely man in an expensive suit. He introduces himself as Bruce Green, the reporter who keeps calling you.
    Green has warm, kind brown eyes and an attractive smile. You realize maybe you’ve been too hasty brushing him off.
    While you’re chatting with Green, trying to make up your mind about talking to him, Detectives Riordan and Chan show up and ask to speak to you privately. That’s one thing you know for sure you don’t want to do.
    __________
    If you decide to continue speaking to Bruce Green, click here
    If you decide to break into Robert’s apartment, click here

D espite the fact that you’re traveling at about seventy miles an hour on a crowded freeway, you start fishing around for your cell phone. I guess you figure Claude can’t wait to hear the news that the police already searched Robert’s?
    Anyway, you finally find your phone. You glance away from the road just long enough to find Claude’s name in your “favorites,” but traffic is an unpredictable thing. The semi truck in front of you comes to a sudden halt. You look up in time to see the hood of your Bronco plow right into his brake lights.
    Thankfully you don’t remember anything after that.
    When you finally wake up in the hospital, you can’t move your legs. Or your arms. Or anything from the neck down. Your doctor regretfully informs you that you’ve suffered a C4 spinal cord injury and you’re lucky to be breathing on your own. And breathing is all you can do on your own. You’re completely paralyzed. It’s not even easy to speak up now when you need help. And you need help with everything. You can’t scratch your nose, let alone pick up a glass of water or push off the blankets when you’re too warm.
    You’re rarely too warm, though. Mostly you’re cold. Cold and numb.
    So you’ve gone from being a guy with a bad heart to a quadriplegic guy with a bad heart.
    Not too long after the accident you have surgery and your spine is fused so that at least