“The head!” Moonlight shouts over the meaty rib clenched between his jaws. “Watch out for the head . . . I’m fragile.”
“Oh, he’s fragile all right,” Marconi says, popping the cork on the Chianti.
Blood releases Moonlight’s collar, picks him up in his arms, like he’s cradling a small child, carries him out onto the narrow riverside houseboat deck.
“Blood, what are you doing?!” Moonlight screams. “My gun, my wallet, my head. In case you forgot, there’s a small fragment of bullet lodged beside the cerebral cortex . . . You can’t just toss—”
Blood drops him into the drink. He turns to me, smiles proudly.
Marconi sips his wine, whispers, “Molto bene.”
Moonlight rises to the surface face first, makes like a fountain releasing a stream of water through pursed, kissy lips. He proceeds to do the backstroke.
“Water’s nice,” he says. “You should come on in. Oh, and hand me my beer somebody, please.”
A grin on my face, I turn, head back into the houseboat. Time to call Janice for real this time and set up that date.
“My new friends. The Professionals,” I mumble to myself while picking up the cell phone off the counter. “Professional my ass.”
The End
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Winner of the 2015 PWA Shamus Award and the 2015 ITW Thriller Award for Best Original Paperback Novel for MOONLIGHT WEEPS, Vincent Zandri is the NEW YORK TIMES, USA TODAY, and AMAZON KINDLE No.1 bestselling author of more than 25 novels including THE REMAINS, EVERYTHING BURNS, ORCHARD GROVE and THE CORRUPTIONS. He is also the author of numerous Amazon bestselling digital shorts, PATHOLOGICAL and DOG DAY MOONLIGHT among them. Harlan Coben has described THE INNOCENT (formerly As Catch Can) as "...gritty, fast-paced, lyrical and haunting," while the New York Post called it "Sensational...Masterful...Brilliant!" Zandri's list of domestic publishers include Delacorte, Dell, Down & Out Books, Thomas & Mercer, and Polis Books. An MFA in Writing graduate of Vermont College, Zandri's work is translated in the Dutch, Russian, French, Italian, and Japanese. Recently, Zandri was the subject of a major feature by the New York Times. He has also made appearances on Bloomberg TV and FOX news. In December 2014, Suspense Magazine named Zandri's, THE SHROUD KEY, as one of the "Best Books of 2014." Recently, Suspense Magazine selected WHEN SHADOWS COME as one of the "Best Books of 2016". A freelance photo-journalist and the author of the popular "lit blog," The Vincent Zandri Vox, Zandri has written for Living Ready Magazine, RT, New York Newsday, Hudson Valley Magazine, The Times Union (Albany), Game & Fish Magazine, and many more. He lives in Albany, New York. For more go to WWW.VINCENTZANDRI.COM
Vincent Zandri © copyright 2017
All rights reserved as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Bear Media 2016
4 Orchard Grove, Albany, NY 12204
http://www.vincentzandri.com
Cover design by Elder Lemon Art
Editing by Plot2Published Editing
Author Photo by Jessica Painter
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to a real person, living or dead is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Published in the United States of America
The author is represented by Chip MacGregor of the MacGregor Literary Agency
Table of Contents
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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
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
CHAPTER 34
CHAPTER 35
CHAPTER 36
ABOUT THE AUTHOR