The VSP commander keyed his mic, announced his location in a whisper, and waited for each team to respond. He then nodded to those around him. “All set?”
Everyone nodded and the small, silent group picked its way stealthily up the interior staircase, painfully aware of how loud so many boots could be.
It took several minutes to reach the top, by which time everyone was bathed in sweat from the aggressive central heating, the body armor and heavy clothing, and the tension of anticipating what might happen next.
The commander and two of his people positioned themselves to either side of Drim’s door and paused there, listening for anything on the other side.
Using his throat mic, with which they were all equipped, the commander asked barely audibly, “All teams in place?”
Over everyone’s earpieces the responses were affirmative.
The commander stretched out his hand and prepared to knock.
“We got a runner—out the rear balcony,” came over the radio from outside.
“Is it our suspect?”
“Affirmative. But now she’s staying put.”
“She must’ve seen the exterior team,” he muttered, nodding to two of his men. “Break it down,” he ordered.
The battering ram that one of them had slung across his back came into play in one smooth movement, smashed into the door’s lock, and blew the door back.
The tac team poured in, shouting and spreading out, leaving Joe and Sam in the hallway. The apartment was small, snug, and now getting cold because of the wide-open door leading onto the rear balcony. Fighting instinct, both VBI officers remained where they were, waiting for the entry team to declare the apartment safe, before they ran to the far door and looked out.
Standing at the far end of the balcony—where the exterior stairs led down to the next level—was Alice Drim, her back against the railing. She’d been staring at the police already climbing toward her, when she whipped around at Joe and Sammie’s appearance.
“Alice,” Joe ordered. “Do not move.”
“Stay away,” she shot back, clutching the post beside her. “None of you should be here.”
“You don’t have any choice, Alice,” Joe continued, taking a couple of steps in her direction. Behind him, he heard Sam order the others to stand their ground.
Alice looked around frantically, as if hoping for a set of wings or a fireman’s pole to help her out.
“Don’t come any closer, Joe.”
“Or what?” Joe replied, hoping to make her think rationally. “You’re surrounded, Alice, and we know what happened.”
Without warning, she suddenly swung up onto the railing behind her, using the post as a fulcrum, but as her feet touched the rail’s icy surface, they went out from under her, forcing her to hang on for her life.
Joe started running to help, but she screamed, “I’ll let go, Joe. I swear I will. Stop.”
He stopped fifteen feet away. “Alice, we know why you did what you did. We know about your brother and how desperate you were to help him. Where’s he going to be if you let go? Please don’t do this.”
“I killed somebody,” she said breathlessly, struggling to maintain her grip. “You’re not going to make that go away.”
“There are mitigating circumstances,” he argued. “No one has any idea how this might turn out.”
She seemed to consider it, even as her strength was visibly ebbing.
“Alice,” he pleaded. “Please, before it’s too late. You’ve been smart up to now. Give yourself time to think. Climb back up.” He extended a hand. “Let me help.”
She seemed to finally hear him. She swung her leg up and heaved with both arms, as if accepting his offer. But it wasn’t enough. Her foot slipped on the ice again, one hand shot out toward the clothesline beside her, breaking it with a loud snap, and—after a half-frozen moment in which her eyes, wide with surprise, locked onto his—she vanished without a sound.
A second later, there was a thud and the balcony vibrated.
Over his earpiece, Joe heard, “Holy Jesus Christ.”
He and Sam ran to the end of the balcony and peered over. Alice hadn’t reached the bottom. In a freakish twist of chance, she’d become entangled in the falling clothesline, which had looped around her neck and had her swinging twenty feet off the ground.
“Damn,” Sam said softly.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ARCHER MAYOR, in addition to writing the New York Times bestselling Joe Gunther series, is a detective for the Windham County Sheriff’s department, a death investigator, the state medical examiner, and has twenty-five years of experience as a firefighter/EMT. He lives near Brattleboro, Vermont. You can sign up for email updates here.
ALSO BY ARCHER MAYOR
Proof Positive
Three Can Keep a Secret
Paradise City
Tag Man
Red Herring
The Price of Malice
The Catch
Chat
The Second Mouse
St. Albans Fire
The Surrogate Thief
Gatekeeper
The Sniper’s Wife
Tucker Peak
The Marble Mask
Occam’s Razor
The Disposable Man
Bellows Falls
The Ragman’s Memory
The Dark Root
Fruits of the Poisonous Tree
The Skeleton’s Knee
Scent of Evil
Borderlines
Open Season
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
About the Author
Also by Archer Mayor
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
THE COMPANY SHE KEPT. Copyright © 2015 by Archer Mayor. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.minotaurbooks.com
Cover design by Ervin Serrano
Cover photographs by iStock
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Mayor, Archer.
The company she kept: a Joe Gunther novel / Archer Mayor.—First edition.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-1-250-06467-7 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4668-7092-5 (e-book)
1. Gunther, Joe (Fictitious character)—Fiction. 2. Police–Vermont—Fiction. 3. Murder—Investigation—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3563.A965C66 2015
813'.54—dc23
2015022074
e-ISBN 9781466870925
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First Edition: September 2015