Page 51 of Gentle Persuasion

Thomas Holliday was a thug and a thief and a coward. Cowards did not usually kill themselves. It was more common for someone to do it for them. That led Cole and Rick to suspect that someone on the outside had gotten wind of the fact that Holliday had talked.

“I wonder if Holliday had any visitors?”

Rick’s question echoed a similar one that Cole just hadn’t voiced.

“Maybe it’s time we checked to see,” Cole said.

They headed for the door.

***

Jackie Warren paced the floor. He didn’t know whether to stay put or run. For the fifth time in as many minutes he went to the window and looked out, half expecting to see a police cruiser pulling up.

He’d heard the news this morning. He knew what the reporter had said. But he knew different. Holliday hadn’t committed suicide, not technically. What he’d done was react to the message Jackie had been sent to give him. Holliday hadn’t wanted to die. He’d just wanted to get away. Confined to a jail cell, he didn’t have many options as to how to do that. Holliday had chosen the obvious.

“It’s not my fault.” Jackie Warren sniffed and shivered. He wasn’t cold. He was scared. He was always scared.

The cops wouldn’t understand. He knew it. But he’d had to do it. He’d had to deliver the message. His source hadn’t given him any choice. And the cops didn’t know how bad he’d needed that fix. At the time, he’d have sold his mother for it. As it was, he hadn’t needed to. All he did was tell his source where Thomas Holliday was…and then deliver their message to him.

For the life of him, he couldn’t understand why Holliday had become so all-fired important. First the cops had been looking for him and then—he shuddered.

“All I did was deliver a message,” he told himself. “It’s not my fault what happened. It’s not my fault. It’s not.”

If he kept repeating that, maybe someday he’d come to believe it. And then again, maybe not.

The back door to his house opened. He heard the hinge squeaking on the screen. It couldn’t be his sister, Nita. She was at work. It could only mean—

His eyes widened. His mouth dropped and he lifted a hand toward the man who walked into the room.

“I did what you asked,” he said quickly. “I delivered the message just like you told—”

“I know,” the man said. “And I’ve got something for you.”

Jackie smiled with anticipation. He died with a smile on his face.

***

“This is the address,” Rick said as Cole pulled up in front of the bungalow and parked.

The yard was in need of mowing. The shrubbery beneath the windows was overgrown and badly in need of trimming. Kids were playing in the yards across the street, and Cole frowned at their presence. If something went down, he didn’t want any innocent people getting hurt.

“What do you think?” Cole asked. “Do we go to the front door together or…?”

“You take the high road, I’ll take the low, my friend,” Rick said, smiling at his own wit. “From what the boys in vice tell me, Jackie Warren is the type to run. I’ll go around back, just in case, okay?”

Cole started to argue. Something about the whole thing was making him nervous. This had blown itself up into a lot more than an arrested purse snatcher com mitting suicide. Thomas Holliday’s street connections obviously went deeper than just snatch and grab.

But Rick was already out of the car. Cole sighed, patted his jacket just to assure himself that his gun was in place, and crawled out of the car.

“Watch yourself,” Cole warned. “I’m going to tell these kids to make themselves scarce. Wait for my signal before you come in the back.”

Cole’s quiet orders sent the children scurrying into the closest house. The once-noisy neighborhood was suddenly quiet.

Cole waved to Rick and then headed for the front door.

Rick nodded and started around behind the house to get in position.

Then a single gunshot rang out.

---