Breacher (Tom Keeler Book 2) by Jack Lively (reading well TXT) 📕

moving accurately and quickly. I hadn’t really expected her to react in that way, but I was condition orange myself.

I stepped in and blocked the attacking arm out. Her fist snapped wickedly in the air next to my left ear. Chapman’s face was flushed red and focused, but she was alert and then she recognized me. She didn’t say anything, but there was an adjustment in her pupils, from pin-sized cold dots to welcoming orbs. Her right arm made a transition. She was able to soften the strike, and move her arm forward, over my shoulder, while her left came up around the other side. I was already near her, physically speaking, and then the gap was closed entirely.

Her arms went fully around my neck and her body fit perfectly against mine, like that was a natural way of things, like the way clouds are white and sky is blue. Her nose nuzzled into my neck. “You shaved. I didn’t recognize you. I thought…”

I said nothing.

She spoke softly, lips close to my ear. “I had no idea. How did you get out of that?”

I said, “Long story.” I pulled away. “What’s going on here?”

Chapman gazed at me evenly. “I got in through the cruise ship.” She bit her lip. “I didn’t know what had happened to you. You understand. I didn’t like leaving you there, but I had no idea what else to do. We had already connected the boat and the people George was mixed up with. Jane had.” She looked at me, as if gauging my level of belief.

I said nothing. I neither acknowledged the fake name Jane, nor disavowed it. I was unsure what to think about Amber Chapman. Hostile or friendly, I was leaning towards benevolent and mysterious, if not necessarily friendly. Maybe undercover law enforcement, which would account for her need to lie to me. I decided to go with whatever bluff she was pulling.

She said, “There’s a guy. An older man who is some kind of liability to them. Like some kind of evil clown. Bald, but not in the normal way. Zero hair on him, like a birth defect. They keep him distracted with girls and drugs. I got in that way, by getting close to him at the casino on the cruise ship.” She came back to me, close in. I could feel the heat of her breath caressing my skin. And the heat of her body everywhere else. It was nothing that I had issues with, pretty much the opposite. She said, “I think they’re going to take me inside, Keeler. Tonight. And I’m goddamned scared.”

The fingers of her left hand dropped down the back of my neck and moved gently. My right hand came up and wrapped around her waist, fingers gripping at the small of her back. I know scared, and she wasn’t. She was excited.

I said, “What’s inside the property?”

Chapman said, “I’m not sure. Nothing good. The evil clown guy says it’s the big night. Maybe I’ll be able to find out what happened to George.”

I thought of the rental boat coming back without George. I decided not to mention it to Chapman.

I said, “What’s your plan?”

“I’m improvising. No plan.”

“Do you have a phone?”

Chapman said, “No phone, they took it away.” She laughed sharply. “When I agreed to hang out with the clown off the boat.” Chapman looked past me at the door. “I have to go, or they might come looking for me. How are you going to get out of here without them seeing you?”

I said, “I’ll take my chances. If the guy sees me, I’ll just kill him.”

She blinked. “Can’t kill him, Keeler. I need to get in there, into the property. If you kill him, they’ll lock down.”

I took Hank’s phone from my pocket, pressed it into her hand. Told her the password. Told her to use Ellie’s number.

She said, “Who’s Ellie?”

I said, “Police. If you want to get hold of me, call her.”

“Port Morris police are incapable of tying their own shoes, Keeler.”

“Not Port Morris. Ellie’s Tribal police, and she’s one of the good people.”

Chapman’s eyes narrowed. Then she pulled at my jacket. I saw again, in her eyes, a flat placidity. It was a confirmation that she was not freaking out. She was calm and excited, all at the same time. Not like a brave civilian going into the unknown, more like a veteran warrior going into combat.

I decided to push her some. I said, “You aren’t not going to tell me, are you?”

Chapman’s tone switched immediately. “Can’t do that.” She put a hand on my chest. She said, “I’m happy to see you, Keeler, but I hope you never figured that you were more important than the mission. Glad to see that they cleared you of charges. Makes sense, since you didn’t do it. But hey, you never really know right?”

The woman was in control, which was obviously her preference. I liked that. There was an incredible energy between us. Like some kind of chemistry experiment. Anything could have happened, but what did happen was the phone buzzed in Chapman’s hand that wasn’t touching me. The hand that was felt warm and the fingers relaxed and pressed gently. She held the phone out and I took it.

I pressed the green button.

Silence. Then Dave’s voice, low and conspiratorial. “Keeler.”

I said nothing.

He said, “Okay. Notable event. Just watched a guy come walking down from town and give Fred something. I guess it was money.”

“Why is that notable, don’t people give him money sometimes?”

“People do. I’ve seen him take charity on multiple occasions tonight. It’s notable because Fred gave him something back, change I’m assuming. Like the guy gave him a twenty or something and Fred gives him a five back.”

“Anything else?”

Dave said, “The guy himself was notable. Huge guy.”

I said, “Bearded?”

“Bearded. Came walking down, went over to Fred Granson and did the little exchange. Then walked back up into town.”

I looked at Chapman. She was looking at me. Our faces were about ten