All Lorie Jones wants is a little help with her divorce. Some extra information, a bit of ammunition to take into court against her no-good husband. And when she hires the biggest and best investigation firm Kansas City has to offer, that’s exactly what she gets. But after their operative wraps up Lori’s case, he decides he doesn’t want to move on, and Lori soon realizes that she’s got an even bigger problem than she had before, one that threatens her privacy, and maybe even her life.
It’s up to Sam Quinton, one-man detective agency, to take on the largest firm in the business, and as Sam digs into the background of Lori’s harasser, he soon finds something bigger, and much more dangerous, than one overzealous guy who just can’t let go.
They wore blue jeans, sneakers, and tee-shirts, the blond wearing navy blue and the brown-haired guy wearing bright red. Both wore their tee-shirts hanging out, and the shirts looked a size or two too big for them.
“How you doing?” the blond one asked me.
“Up to now, not bad,” I said.
The blond man continued, “Like to talk to you if you don’t mind.”
“And if I do mind?”
The two glanced at each other before turning back to me. “Going to talk to you anyway.”
I flicked my head towards the second man. “He have a voice?”
“Let’s say I’m the spokesman here, okay?” The blond tensed his arms and chest to show me he was in charge.
“You know,” I said, “flexing your muscles doesn’t do a whole lot when your shirt’s too big. You can either show off the muscles or conceal your weapons, but not both at the same time.”
Both men made involuntary hand motions towards their left hips, then caught themselves.
I smiled. “See what I mean?”
“We need to talk,” Blond repeated.
“No, you mean you want to talk. Just like I want to sit here and finish enjoying my breakfast, which isn’t going to happen if I have to take time to bounce you two bozos out into the street.”
“You think you can do that?” the brown-haired guy finally spoke up.
“Not sure,” I said. “But if you guys keep bothering me, I’m going to do my best to find out. And whether I succeed or not, it’s going to cause a ruckus, which I’m guessing your sergeant isn’t going to like too much.”
About the Author:
A retired high-school teacher and former college instructor, Kevin R. Doyle is the author of four novels in the Sam Quinton mystery series, all published by Camel Press. He’s also written four crime thrillers, including And the Devil Walks Away and The Anchor, and one horror novel, The Litter, along with numerous short horror stories published in small magazines over the years. The first Quinton book, Squatter’s Rights, was nominated for the 2021 Shamus award for Best First PI Novel, and the fifth in the series, Private License, will be out in August of 2024.
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