The Winter Man Read Online Free Page B

stalking a woman we both knew and I thought she was lying about it.”
    The man pulled out a notepad. “That would be Miss Millicent Evans.”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œShe wasn’t lying,” the police detective told him. “She called us in on a 10-16 domestic, physical,” he added, using the ten code for a domestic disturbance call. “He’d knocked her around pretty badly.”
    Tony felt two inches high as he remembered Millie’s unexpected reaction when he’d moved so abruptly in the funeral home. He couldn’t speak.
    â€œBut when it was time to press charges, she wouldn’t,” the detective said flatly. “We were disappointed. We don’t like women beaters. She said he was drinking heavily and had apologized, and it was the first time he’d hit her.”
    â€œWas it only the one time?” Tony had to know.
    â€œI think so. She isn’t the sort to take that kind of abuse on a routine basis. About a week later, he killed himself.” He leaned closer. “We got word that a local gang boss took money to have her killed. That’s why we were at the funeral. You got a friend named Frank?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œHe and my lieutenant are best friends,” the man told him. “He’s got us looking for people who might fit the description of a hit man.”
    Tony laughed. “And I fit the description.”
    â€œI’ve seen mob hit men who look just like you.” He cocked his head. “You Italian?”
    Tony grinned. “Cherokee,” he said. “My mother’s husband adopted me, but he wasn’t my father.”
    â€œGoes to show,” the detective said, “that you can’t tell who people are by looking.”
    â€œAbsolutely.”
    * * *
    Tony went by the library the next morning, hoping to apologize to Millie and go from there. But the minute she spotted him in the lobby, she went through a door that had the sign Employees Only and vanished. He asked for her at the desk, as if he hadn’t noticed. The clerk on duty went back through the door and reappeared a minute later, red-faced and stuttering.
    â€œI’m sorry, I…couldn’t find her,” she finished.
    Tony smiled sadly. He didn’t blame Millie for hating his guts. “It’s okay,” he said. “Thanks.”
    He left. Apparently protecting her was going to be done at a distance, unless he could think of a way to get her to listen to him.
    He tried calling her at the library when he got back to his hotel. The minute she heard his voice, she hung up. He sighed and called Frank.
    â€œShe ran the other way,” he told his friend. “I expected it. But I can’t convince her that she needs protection if I can’t get within speaking distance of her. Any ideas?”
    â€œYeah,” Frank said. “I’ll go by her apartment and speak to her.”
    â€œThanks. Tell her I’m sorry. It won’t do much good, but I really mean it.”
    â€œI know you do.”
    â€œI bought one of our tails a drink,” Tony told him. “He said they were looking for guys who fit the profile of a hit man. He thinks I do.”
    Frank burst out laughing. “If the shoe fits…”
    â€œThanks a lot,” he muttered.
    â€œI’ll get back to you when I’ve seen Millie,” he promised.
    â€œOkay. I’ll be here.”
    * * *
    Frank called him the next morning. “She’ll talk to you,” he told Tony. “But it took a lot of persuading. And she won’t believe that John would do anything so drastic as to hire someone to kill her. You’re going to have a hard time selling her on the idea of protection,” he added.
    â€œWell, I’ll work on my people skills,” Tony replied.
    There was a pause. “I heard a comedian say that you can get a lot more with a smile and a gun than you can with a smile. That about sums up your people