Read Online The White Gold Score (A Daniel Faust Novella) by Craig Schaefer - Free Book Online

goes—every single one of them is in hell.”
    Her hand slid away from my neck, and she cradled her glass of pinot noir. “I’m hearing an unspoken question.”
    “I’ve crossed paths with more than a few demons, but not one, before you, who I was actually on speaking terms with. So…I want to ask you something. Something that’s been eating at me for a while now.”
    She lifted the glass to her lips. “Are you certain? Your hesitancy suggests you know, on some level, that you won’t like the answer.”
    She was right, but I asked the question anyway.
    “Is there a heaven?”
    She paused mid-sip. A flash of irritation flickered over her face, a passing thundercloud. Then she replaced it with an indulgent smile.
    “Daniel.” She set down her glass and put her hand over mine. “What difference does it make? If it exists, you’ll never see it. And would seeing it be a kindness, knowing you’ll never be allowed to set one foot upon its hallowed grounds? No. Of all the torments of the damned, nothing could possibly be crueler.”
    “I’m not asking for myself.” I didn’t think I was, anyway. My own damnation was something I’d more or less taken as a given a long time ago. A man didn’t do the things I’d done with any hope of seeing the pearly gates, not if he was honest with himself.
    “For who, then?”
    “I’ve known some good people—better than me, anyway—who went down for the big sleep way ahead of their time. I’d like to know they’re in a better place.”
    “And I’d like another glass of wine.
One
of us is going to get their wish.” She paused, catching my look. “I’m teasing. Daniel, the truth is, and it irks me to no end to admit this, I have no idea. None of us do. Some souls come to us; some go elsewhere. Wherever ‘elsewhere’ is, it’s a one-way trip, and quite barred to the likes of you and I.”
    The waitress came around with our entrees. The cut of steak glistened on my plate, hot and red and bloody.
    “Besides,” Caitlin said with a wink, “my homeland can be quite pleasant once you get used to it, if you know the right people. And
you
know the right people.”
    I sliced into the steak, chuckling. The tender flesh parted like butter. “I’ll try to stay on your good side.”
    “A capital notion. So, this precious watch. Where will you start looking for it?”
    “I’m betting Dino took it off Monty’s body. Maybe as a trophy, or maybe he just wanted his own Rolex. Either way, it’s gonna be someplace close to him. I’m thinking I’ll break into his house tonight and take a look around. If I get lucky, this job will be all wrapped up by sunrise.”
    “A burglary?” Her eyes lit up. “Excellent. We’ll go right after dinner.”
    “Well, I mean,
I
was going to break in—”
    “And leave me out of the fun? Did I not say I wanted to see what you do for a living?”
    Some arguments just weren’t worth having. I lifted my martini glass in salute.
    “Fine,” I said, “let’s go rob a house together.”

9.
    I called Curtis’s assistant’s assistant, which resulted in a callback ten minutes later with Dino Costa’s Los Angeles address.
    “He also owns a condominium in Orlando,” the admin said. “Will you be needing that address as well?”
    “Hopefully not,” I told her. “I’ll let you know.”
    The GPS led us through syrup-thick night traffic, a parade of gleaming lights on an endless strip of hot asphalt. Caitlin took an off-ramp and snaked along side streets, the Camaro purring past palm trees and sleepy bungalows. We ended up a few streets off Ventura Boulevard, cruising into the hills where the price tags kept up with the altitude.
    “Slow it down,” I said, craning my neck to check out the real estate. “Okay. Here, stop at this driveway.”
    She looked dubious but pulled up to the garage door of a sprawling ranch house. No lights shone behind the curtained windows.
    “This isn’t the place.”
    “No,” I said, “but it’s the