The Fallen Angels Book Club by R. Franklin James Read Free Book Online Page B

their seats. I gazed around the table and wondered if the book club would continue. I thought not.
    â€œLet’s get started.” Abby put her glasses on and looked around the room. “You know why we’re here.”
    Gene picked at his eyebrows. “I only came to clear the air about Rory.”
    Miller glanced at the ceiling, as if looking for divine intervention. “What’s there to say? He’s dead.”
    I ignored him. “I agree with Gene. Didn’t anyone else take notice of the way he died?”
    â€œHell, yeah.” Richard sat stiffly in his chair. “He died the same way Antonio did in our last book.”
    â€œI caught it, too.” Rena’s large brown eyes opened wide. “I mean, well, it’s like—well, I’m just going to say what everyone’s thinking. Maybe it could have been done by a club member. The police think it was one of us.”
    It was out. Silence screamed throughout the room.
    Abby groaned and sank down in her chair.
    Gene got up and leaned over the table. “Maybe a friend of his read the book and copied the killing.”
    â€œSome friend,” Miller mumbled and reached for an origami sheet from his pocket.
    â€œWait a minute, folks.” While I usually liked to sit back, letting other people speak before I committed myself, this wasn’t what I had in mind. “Before we start climbing into our caves, let’s pause a moment. What do we know about the killing, other than that it mimics a book we read?”
    No one jumped in to answer.
    â€œFor that matter, what do we really know about Rory? Like each of us, he has a questionable past. We don’t know anything about him outside of this group.”
    Richard peered over his rimless glasses and sucked a tooth. “Not true, Hollis. I was out about two weeks ago with … with a friend, and I saw Rory with a real nice-looking young lady. I figured he’d want me to walk past, but he stopped, said hello and introduced her.”
    â€œWell, dude, who was she?” Miller urged.
    â€œNow, in retrospect, it seems kind of strange. He said she was his fiancée, but she looked totally bored with him.” Richard paused. “There was something else about the way he reacted, like he was anxious for me to think she was hot, but I could tell he was nervous about me, too.”
    Gene said, “You think? He probably didn’t know if you’d blow his cover.”
    Richard shook his head. “Nah, it was something else.”
    My impatience was growing. “Yeah, yeah. Cute girl aside, does anyone else know anything about his past?”
    â€œI know what he went up for.” Miller completed a tiny origami bird and passed it to me.
    â€œWhat?” Rena said.
    â€œBig league extortion.”
    â€œHow do you know?” For the first time Abby showed interest in the conversation.
    Miller apparently hadn’t counted on being the center of attention. He hesitated, as though weighing what to say—or how much.
    â€œI came across his background by accident. I just never said anything ’cause, well, you know, our pledge and everything.” Blinking rapidly, he rubbed his hands back and forth on his pant legs.
    Beads of sweat formed on his forehead. I didn’t believe he had come across Rory’s background by accident. The other members squirmed in their chairs. Did Miller have access to our histories, too?
    Rena looked around at each of us. “Do you think he was extorting again?”
    Miller cleared his throat. “The police think he might have been killed because he was a blackmailer.”
    We were all silent.
    I had to think we probably all knew we were more or less fodder for an astute blackmailer. I, for one, to make it more difficult, changed my name shortly after coming off parole. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn I didn’t know the true identities of my fellow members. Jeffrey Wallace brought us all