Yesterday's Echo by Matt Coyle Read Free Book Online Page B

DB’s.”
    â€œDB?” I smiled. “You’ve really taken to the cop beat, haven’t you? You just need a fedora with a press badge under the hat band.”
    â€œI left it at home. Right next to my Turner Classic movie collection.” She sighed and her eyes went skyward. “I wish it were that exciting. This is my first dead body in weeks.”
    â€œYeah, it must be tough with the San Diego murder rate dropping. I’ll bet the DB is happy he could spice things up for you.”
    â€œSmart ass. It’s not all that spicy.” She dropped her voice and I had to lean in to hear her over the waves whooshing on the beach, the mutterings of the crowd, and the squawks from the police radios. “The inside scoop is that it looks like a drug overdose, not a homicide. You can read all about it in the
U-T
tomorrow morning.”
    â€œA lot of cops and crime-scene tape for an overdose.”
    â€œThe overkill is a CYA move by La Jolla PD.” She pulled me away from her car into the alley that split the motel units. “There’s a push by the La Jolla town council to disband the police force and contract with San Diego County Sheriff’s department to handle law enforcement. Del Mar does it and saves a bundle in tax dollars. The council is looking for any excuse to take their agenda to the voters. If this turns into a homicide, it will be all over the news and the whole department’s existence is going to be on the line. They’ll do whatever it takes to close the case.”
    Heather and I exchanged business cards and then hugs and said our goodbyes. I went back to the front desk and found out that Melody had checked out earlier that morning.
    â€¢ • •
    The sun had started to burn through the haze when I made the climb up to my car. Strict parking enforcement pushed us day workers up the hill from Restaurant Row into residential neighborhoods to park our cars. The homes along the way were mostly small and at least fifty years old. Some had sprouted new additions or second stories. None had views of the ocean, and all were worth more than I’d make in twenty-five years. I was from this town, but not of it. And yet, this is where I’d returned for a second chance at life. If Turk sold Muldoon’s, I didn’t know where I’d go for a last chance.
    Feet shuffling on the sidewalk behind me pulled me out of my head. My car was twenty feet away. Too late. A fist smashed into my right kidney before I could turn around. Pain shot through my back. A python, or maybe an arm, squeezed around my neck. I grabbed at it with my hands and felt taut flesh. A lot of it. I pulled at the arm and fought for air and saw Gen Y tough guy smiling in front of me. Then I heard the big one in my ear.
    â€œMuldoon’s not around to help you this time, Cahill.”
    They must have staked out my car after Turk kicked them out of the restaurant.
    I tightened my stomach, but didn’t get my hands down in time to block the kid’s punch. It went through clenched muscle and into my solar plexus, and all the air left my body. I tried to bring oxygen back into my lungs, but another punch landed on my right rib cage. Pain exploded up my side. The only thing that kept me from hitting the ground was the arm clamped around my neck. But it sealed off the chance any air would return to my body. I gasped. My face flashed hot and tight. I pulled at the arm, and it eased its pressure. Not from my effort, but because the man-mountain wanted an answer.
    â€œWhere’s the girl?”
    It was probably time to tell him the truth. Maybe that would be worth a couple of gulps of air. I mulled this for a millisecond when I saw the front door of a house across the street open a crack, and a withered woman’s face popped out.
    â€œWhat girl?” My voice rode out on a gasp.
    â€œMotherfucker!” Spittle flew out of the Gen Y kid’s mouth and hit my chin.
    He drew