Page 31 of Shadows of Before

Hell, he’d ask God anyway.Please. Please.Give me some guidance.

Not long after, his phone rang. Maybe it was Katie calling from work. But it wasn’t her ID and he didn’t recognize the number. “Will Kirkland.”

“Hey, buddy.”

“Who is this?”

“Your old partner.”

“Hey, Holden. We haven’t talked in ages.” Which was why he hadn’t recognized the voice. “What’s up?”

“I heard, Will.”

He didn’t need to vocalizewhat. Will’s whole body tensed.

“Sucks. Big time.”

“How did Tramane handle it?” Will had been dating Jill Tramane off and on for years. She was on duty with him when he crashed and burned.

“She was really pissed that I dropped the ball. She’s history.”

“The bureau’s rigid and inflexible and try to paint their agents with the same brush. That’s why I left.”

“I heard you started a PI business. How’s it going?”

“Better than I ever thought it would. I’m planning to open up a second office in Syracuse for Investigative Solutions.”

“You go, buddy! I’m in Westwood now, only a half hour from there so we should celebrate the expansion.”

“I’m hoping we’ll be celebrating. I want you to run the Syracuse office.”

“Me? I don’t have any experience as a private investigator.”

“The hell you don’t. The Secret Service trained us in protection and investigation, Duh! That’s what we did.”

“Point taken. Give me the deets.”

“You’ll need to do some prelim work, like taking the PI exam, and application for license. Meanwhile, you can find an office. Hire staff, including other investigators.”

His mind flew to Katie. She hated her job now. And he hated the cops that made that happen. Maybe…

“So…think it over and let me know. But soon. I want to kick this off asap.”

“Will do. And thanks, Holden.”

“I’m the one that will be thanking you if you take the job.”

Stunned, Will got up and got a beer. Went outside. The warm mid-June breeze felt good on his face. And the sun seemed extra bright. He felt better about his future.

He wanted to call Katie and tell her. No, he wanted to see her and tell her. Maybe drop a hint that she could work with him. With that in mind, he cleaned up, changed into jeans and a gauzy white shirt, rolled up the sleeves, grabbed his keys and took off for the police precinct.

* * *

The ceiling fell.

Katie hit the floor. Banged her head. And blacked out.

She awoke. Heard, some mumblings. Gradually, she felt lighter. It took her a minute to realize debris had fallen on her.

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