Read Online Three Minutes to Midnight by A. J Tata - Free Book Online Page A

Mahegan. “I don’t think I’ve committed any crime, but if I have, you gotta promise me immunity of some type.”
    Mahegan stared at him for a second and then saw it. There was a fiber-optic cable running up the tree. He followed its course onto a branch that extended to the house. The cable terminated at a small blinking camera that was aimed directly at the open windows of the master bedroom.
    Nathan stood there, sweating, probably wondering if Mahegan was going to tell his parents he had been secretly taping the swingers’ parties at the Throckmorton home. “You’re not going to tell anyone, are you?”
    Mahegan considered his leverage and perhaps the fact that Daniels had terabytes of Throckmorton quasi porn. “I’m not sure I have any other option, Nathan.”
    â€œC’mon, man. You gotta be cool here. What can I do?”
    â€œI don’t know. What do you have for me?”
    Nathan, an obviously smart kid, processed what Mahegan had just asked him. A slow grin grew on his face. “I have every party they’ve had for the past two months. Fair trade?”
    â€œDepends on the quality,” Mahegan said.
    â€œThis will blow you away. The tree is our panoramic vision. We’re also inside the house.”
    Admiring the kid’s pluck, Mahegan restrained his interest. “Why’d you do this?”
    â€œYou kidding me? One day we’re . . . uh, I’m . . . looking in the backyard, and there’s, like, ten gorgeous babes lying out by the pool, topless. That’s why, uh, I did this.”
    Mahegan looked at the camera and could see it easily panning to the pool on the far side of the yard. “Okay, here’s the deal. In exchange for my silence, I get the recordings, and no one else does. Clear?” Mahegan knew that he was most likely on those recordings, and while he would be impossible to identify, it was a loose end he didn’t need.
    Nathan gauged Mahegan’s intentions for a moment with discerning eyes, then said, “Clear.” He then handed him a flash drive. “This is the past two days.”
    It was almost 10:00 p.m., and Mahegan had been at the scene for over an hour. Before the real cops decided to inspect the backyard, Mahegan told Nathan to remove the camera and the fiber-optic cable and then meet him out front with the previous two months of video. As Nathan scaled the tree, Mahegan began walking toward the house and noticed Grace, the Asian lab tech, step out onto the deck off the master bedroom. Ascending the short stairway, he called out, “Hey.”
    â€œWhat are you still doing here?”
    His immediate goal was to avert her eyes from Nathan’s activities, so he decided to turn her attention to the inside of the house. “I was just thinking about the bloodstain,” he said, motioning beyond the sliding glass door, which she had opened carefully with a latex-covered hand. Mahegan noticed she had slender fingers to match her petite frame.
    â€œOut here?” she asked, placing a hand on her hip, skeptical.
    â€œI thought I might find a blood trail here, but no joy.”
    She stared at Mahegan a second, and he felt that thrum of connection again. At a different time and under different circumstances, he could visualize them grilling out and knocking back a couple of beers on this nice deck overlooking Nathan’s media empire and the pool. Not wanting to make too much of his fantasy, he said, “Either the victim walked out under her own power or someone carefully wrapped her up and carried her away.”
    She paused, as if to consider whether to reveal something to him, then said, “We didn’t find any brain matter mixed in with the blood. Actually, it was just blood so far.”
    â€œSo it’s quite possible she was rushed somewhere to be taken care of.”
    This time she rolled her large almond eyes at Mahegan and said, “You enjoy the occasional pun, I