Read Online Eye of the Burning Man: A Mick Callahan Novel (The Mick Callahan Series) by Harry Shannon - Free Book Online Page A

was sprawled on the couch, scratching Murphy behind the ears. A smoky steel guitar solo curled through the room, and eventually gave way to a Randy Travis vocal. The music did not completely cover the sound of dry retching and a female voice swearing up a storm, then the thump of rusty plumbing and the hiss of another cold shower.
    Sunrise began to turn the smoggy skyline pale orange. I heard the bedroom door close and careful footsteps. I was up making some coffee by then. When I turned around, a thin blonde woman stood in the kitchen doorway. Suzanne Walton wore a wrinkled blue business suit, flat shoes, and a pair of wire-rimmed glasses. She yawned and rolled her shoulders.
    "Mary will be out for a while." She had the warm, honeyed drawl of an ex-Texan.
    "Thanks, Peanut. Maybe we should try and catch some sleep."
    Suzanne removed her tailored blue jacket, tossed it on the table, and sank into a kitchen chair. She loosened her tie and the collar button of her white blouse; stuck her tongue out comically, as if panting for coffee. "I am in need."
    "I'm on it."
    "I can call in sick tomorrow," Peanut said. "It's just some boring old depositions. After that, you'll have to take over your own self, or find somebody else. I'm in court all next week, and there's nothing for it. I've got to be up to speed."
    "I'm grateful for whatever you can do."
    "As well you should be, cowboy, and don't you worry, I'll call the favor in some day."
    I poured some hot coffee with cream and sugar. "How's our girl?"
    "She'll sleep some, now. She's messed up. She's been into all kinds of sick stuff to get drugs. Did you pick up on that?"
    "Let's just say I kind of read between the lines."
    "That's going to make it harder to stay clean."
    "That's why I called you. I think she's going to need a woman to talk to."
    "Definitely. She did some pornography, fairly raw stuff, I guess with everything but barnyard animals, maybe one or two of those."
    "Ouch."
    "Mary is going to have to live with the idea of her face and body being in video stores, and other people's bedrooms, for the next several decades. This will be kind of like coming out of a long blackout, and she may not be able to handle what happened."
    "Or maybe she will."
    "She's going to need to talk to a lot of lady drunks before she can love herself again."
    "I figured you'd know one or two."
    "One or two," Peanut said. "She keeps going on about something or someone burning. Do you know what she means by that?"
    "Not a clue." I rubbed my face.
    Peanut sat down and put a hand on my arm. I flinched at the unexpected contact. "I know you fairly well by now, Mick. You're holding something back."
    "Not intentionally." I lie poorly.
    "Horse shit. Where did this filly come from? How well do you know her?"
    "Not very well. Why, does that matter?"
    "It depends," Peanut said. "Hey, I think I deserve to know the truth."
    I considered her hours alone with the vomiting, crying girl. "Okay, but there's not a lot to tell."
    "Don't be evasive, cowboy. It doesn't become you."
    "You really are a lawyer now, aren't you?"
    "Damn straight."
    I sighed. "You remember me telling you about all that trouble I got into back in Nevada, where some people died?"
    "Let's see. You were trying to start the comeback. The only job you could find was in Dry Wells, over Memorial Day weekend. A young girl called you on the air and the next day she got murdered."
    "Sandy was her name. And there was another dead body I saw the night before. Listen, you remember my hacker friend?"
    "The one with the burn scar?"
    "He got me started in the right direction. Hal helped out. At first we just wanted to see what happened to Sandy. Then it got messy."
    "Mary had something to do with the murderer?"
    "The trail led to a ranch owned by the Palmer family. A bunch of bad ass drug dealers lived there. They kidnapped Jerry, and I went in after him. They caught me and clocked me. When I came to, we were both tied up in a potato cellar, waiting to get our