Blue Molly (Danny Logan Mystery #5) (27 page)
Read Blue Molly (Danny Logan Mystery #5) Online
Authors: M.D. Grayson
The audience responded with applause.
“And Grandmother Felicity. I was close to Grandmother Felicity for many years until she passed right after World War II. She missed George dearly, and she never stopped looking for him. In her heart, though, she always knew he’d be found one day. And now, he has.”
Still more applause and cheering.
“I remember in 1936, I was just eight years old. Grandmother took my mother and me to a cemetery—the very one where we held the burial earlier today. I asked her why there were two spaces. She told me then that one was for her, and one was for Grandfather George.” Lucille paused and wiped a tear away. “I remember thinking that was a little silly since Grandfather wasn’t even there.” She gave a little shrug. “Over the years, though, I came to understand why she did what she did.” She smiled. “And in the end, she was right. And we finally get to use that second space today. So here’s all I have to say.” She looked upward. “Grandmother Felicity, I know you’re still watching over our family. On this very day 117 years ago, Grandfather George left for the Yukon and, sadly, you never got to see him again.” She smiled. “Today, Grandfather has finally come home, and the two of you are reunited at last. May the two of you never ever—ever—be separated again.”
THE END
(. . . for now)
If you ever make it to Seattle, I’d advise you to take a tour of the Seattle Underground in Pioneer Square. It’s very interesting. Pick up a copy of Bill Speidel’s great book,
Sons of the Profits
. It’s a fantastic history lesson presented in a fun manner regarding people who were literally involved at the ground level in building this emerald city. (Maybe even below ground, for that matter.)
There’s so much history in the Pioneer Square area, the Great Seattle Fire of 1889 and the Klondike gold rush of 1897 just to name a couple, that I was only able to bring a small part of it into
Blue Molly
—Pioneer Square, after all, was the setting for
Blue Molly
, not the story itself. Still, the area is fascinating and well worth learning about, and I tried to keep my presentation of the history as faithful as possible. For example, even though George Tanner is a fictional character, the history of the areaways presented in
Blue Molly
is accurate (at least I believe it to be so) and George Tanner’s fate wasn’t actually all that uncommon: somewhere between seventeen and twenty people died from falling into the areaways in the early 1890s before the second-level sidewalks got built and covered them up. Not wanting to alarm visitors, the city took to calling them “voluntary suicides.” Of course, probably none of these unfortunate people got covered up by sidewalks only to be rediscovered 120 years later like George Tanner was, but then again, who knows? There are literally miles of areaways and they’re almost all sealed off today. I get an eerie feeling every time I walk over a prism skylight in a Pioneer Square sidewalk.
All of the descriptions about Seattle in general, and the Pioneer Square area in particular, are accurate except, of course, for the businesses owned by the characters involved in the story. The restaurants are real: the Grand Central Bakery (excellent muffins), Sushi Land, Duke’s (best chowder in Seattle) and, of course, Daniel’s Broiler—the wonderful restaurant where Danny finally makes his proposal to Toni (excellent Delmonico steaks!).
But there’s no Carta Rarus, no Pioneer Square Office Supply, no Freeman Fine Arts and, especially, no Lyon Gallery. (Although I highly recommend that you have a look at hyperrealist artists such as Diego Fazio. His drawing
Sensazioni
is the inspiration for Sylvia Lyon’s
Splash
. It’s mind-blowing.)
And, finally, there’s no ecstasy named Blue Molly. Thank goodness.
Blue Molly
required a great deal of research and specialized information, which I was fortunate to obtain through the efforts of many dedicated and talented people.
First, thanks to the staff at Bill Speidel’s Underground Tour for answering my questions.
Thanks to my developmental editor, Beth Jusino, for helping to identify and shape the real story hidden in the usual jumble of words that made up the early drafts of the book. I very much appreciate your good work, sense, advice, and conversation.
Thanks to my copy editors, Brynn Warriner and Carrie Wicks, for helping me take what I (mistakenly) hoped was a finished manuscript to a manuscript that really is finished now—a humbling but necessary experience.
Thanks to my dedicated group of beta readers: Ellen Johnson, Casey Jacobs, Jennifer Norton, Liz Spiller, and Dennis Doppe. They’ve read every word of each novel—they know Danny and Toni almost as well as I do. When I “stray,” they’re always there to straighten me out.
Thanks to all the fans of Danny and Toni who’ve written and told me how much they enjoy reading about these two. I like hearing from you! If you enjoyed this book, send me an e-mail or a Facebook post and leave me a review on Amazon or Goodreads. Also, I have a mailing list that I'm getting fired up. You can sign up on the website.
Finally, as always, a special thanks to my wife, Michelle, for her constant support in this and all my other endeavors.
Chapter 1 Looking back, I should never . . .
Chapter 2 Ever watch a Super Bowl . . .
Chapter 3 The next morning, we parked . . .
Chapter 4 Nine thirty the next morning . . .
Chapter 5 “Boy, it’s good to be . . .
Chapter 6 There’s a small conference room . . .
Chapter 7 Saturday morning, eleven o’clock, . . .
Chapter 8 Dwayne’s office is on the . . .
Chapter 9 Toni said she wanted to . . .
Chapter 10 Two days later was “building. . .
Chapter 11 Little by little, things that . . .
Chapter 12 Doc stepped out of his . . .
Chapter 13 Two hours after Doc and . . .
Chapter 14 A light Seattle drizzle fell . . .
Chapter 15 Next morning on my training . . .
Chapter 16 I walked into the office . . .
Chapter 17 I’m not sure when I . . .
Chapter 18 As Pri had promised, just . . .
Chapter 19 At Pri’s insistence, I skipped . . .
Chapter 20 “Form up!” Greg said, motioning . . .
Chapter 21 In a panic, I turned . . .
Chapter 22 There were no gunshots. Miguel. . .
Chapter 23 It’s always nice when a . . .
Chapter 24 I had a meeting set . . .
Chapter 25 “We’re just around the corner!” . . .
Chapter 26 It’s said that crime doesn’t . . .
Chapter 27 “I’m told you have a . . .
Chapter 28 “I’ve got something for you,” . . .
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events or locales is entirely coincidental.
BLUE MOLLY
M.D. Grayson
Copyright © 2014 by M.D. Grayson
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. This e-book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this e-book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your retailer and purchase your own copy. No part of this e-book may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of Cedar Coast Press. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Bainbridge Island, WA 98110
Cedar Coast Press and the “Cedar Tree” logo are trademarks of Cedar Coast Press, LLC, or an affiliated company.
Cover design by M.D. Grayson
Cover art:
Copyright © Fotolia # 49458591
Human Skull
by Vlad Ivantcov
GNU Free Document License
Seattle Underground
by AdmrBoltz
First e-Book Edition: July 2014
ISBN—eBook 978-0-9905725-0-3
ISBN—Paperback 978-0-9905725-1-0
Ver. 073014
Library of Congress Control Number: 2014946339
M.D. Grayson is the author of the Danny Logan mystery series including (so far)
Angel Dance
,
No Way to Die
,
Isabel’s Run
,
Mona Lisa Eyes
,
and now,
Blue Molly
. He lives on an island near Seattle with his wife, Michelle, and their three German shepherds.
Before becoming a full-time writer, Mr. Grayson worked in the construction industry, as an accountant for six l-o-n-g weeks (square peg—round hole), and as a piano player on the Las Vegas strip. When he’s not writing, he loves zooming about on two wheels—bicycles and motorcycles alike. In addition, he’s a pilot, a boater, and an accomplished musician—always ready for a jam session!
Connect online:
Twitter:
http://twitter.com/md_grayson
Facebook:
http://facebook.com/mdgraysonauthorpage
In the Danny Logan series debut, beautiful Seattle business heiress Gina Fiore has vanished without a trace. Desperate for help, her family turns to Danny Logan, Gina’s former boyfriend, to find her and bring her home safely. Logan is a fifth-generation Seattle native who owns Logan Private Investigations. Along with his associates, Antoinette “Toni” Blair, Kenny Hale, and Joaquin Kiahtel, he accepts the case and begins the hunt for Gina.
Logan and his team dig for clues and soon find that they’re not the only ones looking for Gina. The Tijuana-Mendez drug cartel is keenly interested in her whereabouts, as is the Calabria crime family from Chicago. The race is on to locate Gina—the stakes could not be higher. In order to prevail, Logan’s going to need all the skill and luck he can gather, and he’s going to need to confront the unresolved feelings he still has for Gina—feelings that might just get him killed!
