Read Online Let Me Go by Chelsea Cain - Free Book Online Page B

Jack asked Karim. “He catches her again!” Jack clapped Archie so hard on the back that he lurched forward. Archie coughed and straightened up. “So they send her to the nuthouse the next time,” Jack continued. “And a year later, damned if she doesn’t slaughter a nurse and saunter the fuck out of there.”
    Karim caught Archie’s eye. “Next time you catch her, you should consider shooting her,” he said.
    â€œThanks for the tip,” Archie said.
    Jack took a puff off his cigar and grinned.
    Archie wondered if it would be impolite to ask for a drink.
    The music seemed to be getting louder.
    â€œSo why are you here?” Jack asked, settling back on the edge of his desk.
    Archie didn’t miss a beat. “Leo invited me,” he said. Archie fished the invitation from Sanchez out of his tuxedo pocket and handed it to Jack.
    Jack smiled and tossed the invitation aside. A circle of his cigar smoke floated past Archie’s face and then dissipated. “You working Vice now, Archie?” Jack asked.
    Archie waved the smoke away, out of his eyes. “I don’t care about your business, Jack,” he said. It was true enough. All the years that Archie had come to this house, updating Jack on the investigation into his daughter’s death, he had always treated him like any other bereaved family member. It didn’t matter to Archie what Jack did for a living. Jack had lost his daughter. So Archie overlooked the rest of it.
    Jack nodded to himself. “Leo invited you,” he repeated skeptically.
    Archie played his ace card. “It’s my birthday.”
    Jack studied his cigar for a moment. Then he nodded at Karim, and Karim stood up and took a step toward Archie.
    â€œMay I?” Karim asked pleasantly.
    Archie stood as well and lifted his arms. “Inside left pocket,” Archie said.
    Karim reached inside Archie’s jacket and pulled out his wallet. He opened it and extracted Archie’s driver’s license and then took it to the desk lamp to study it. After a minute he returned the wallet and the license to Archie. “Happy birthday,” he said to Archie.
    â€œHe must have forgotten to put you on the list,” Jack said.
    â€œMust have,” Archie said.
    â€œYou’ll need a mask,” Jack said. He reached around and picked a mask off his desk and handed it to Archie. It was a shiny black plastic oval, with two holes for the eyes and a curved mold over the nose. A white elastic band was stapled to each side. Archie took the mask, but he didn’t put it on.
    â€œIf he’s not on the list, he hasn’t been vetted,” Karim pointed out.
    â€œHe’s a cop,” Jack said. “I think we can trust him not to steal the silverware.”
    â€œI don’t like it,” Karim said. He glanced at Archie. “No offense.”
    â€œHe caught my daughter’s killer,” Jack said. “I think he’s earned access to the no-host bar.”
    No mention of Jeremy, Archie noticed. Jack had edited out that part of the story. Archie couldn’t help himself. “She killed your son, too,” Archie said.
    â€œI owe her for that one,” Jack said. He said it easily, like it was something he said all the time. Then he directed a shrug in Karim’s direction. “My waste-of-space youngest went apeshit last year,” he explained without emotion. “Tried to kill our friend here with an ax. Turns out he was harboring an unhealthy fascination with the Beauty Killer.”
    Aren’t we all? thought Archie.
    â€œThe shrinks blamed his sister’s murder,” Jack continued, “said he never got over it. But he always had a weak mind.”
    Archie had no doubt that Isabel’s murder had fucked Jeremy up; but his father had played a role in Jeremy’s deterioration, as well. “I guess that explains why I didn’t see you at the funeral,” Archie