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Authors: Joel Goldman

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BOOK: The Dead Man
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Chapter Seventy-one

 

May 2009

 

My parents lived in Dallas when I was assigned to the FBI office there. My dad and I had lunch together every Friday. The best part of lunch was arguing over whose turn it was to pay, each of us trying to convince the other to pick up the check. He and my mother stopped by our house one Sunday morning and the conversation turned to whose turn it was to buy, my dad reminding me that he'd bought the week before. I said he would have to pay because I was broke and turned one pant pocket inside out to show that it was empty. He pointed to the other pocket and I turned it out. It was as empty as the first. He looked at me and said wear a different pair of pants, telling me not to make excuses when it was my turn to step up.
I told Kate that story when we had lunch at the end of May. We were sitting at a table on the sidewalk at Axios. It was my way of explaining why I had gone with Joy to her doctor appointments, sat in the waiting room during her surgery, and moved her into the house Lucy and I shared when she came home from the hospital. Joy's surgery had gone well but she was struggling with chemo and radiation. Her hair was falling out and she was losing weight and hope.
"What's your relationship with her now?" Kate asked.
"I'm taking care of her. When we were married, she went through some pretty hard times when I didn't do that."
"What's that mean for us?"
Sherry Fritzshall had been true to her word, reaching an agreement with Kate to compensate her for the damage Milo Harper had caused her firm. After the ink was dry, she tried to recruit Kate to the institute but Kate told her she had accepted a job in California.
"I don't know. You're moving to San Diego next week so you can take care of Brian. We're both doing what we need to do."
Kate finished the last of her wine, setting her glass down and folding her hands on the table. "Will you come see me?"
"When I can."
She rose from the table. "Don't wait too long."
I watched her drive away. My cell phone rang. It was Lucy.
"It's after one o'clock. Are you planning on coming in to the office today?"
I never asked Lucy or Simon about the money that showed up in Kent's and Dolan's bank accounts and they never said a word about it. Some things are better left unknown and unsaid.
"You and Simon are the partners. You're supposed to be in the office. I'm just a consultant and consultants don't punch a clock."
She laughed. "Well, try to work us in to your schedule. You won't believe who just hired us."
THANKS

 

Thanks for adding The Dead Man to your digital library. The ebook revolution has opened new doors. Thanks for walking through one of mine.

 

Find out more about Joel Goldman at
http://www.joelgoldman.com

 

 

Sign up for his newsletter at
http://www.joelgoldman.com/newsletter.php

 

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http://twitter.com/#!/JoelGoldman1

 

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

 

Thanks to Jim Born for his help with firearms, to Doug Lyle for his help on forensic matters, to Doug Stone for his explanation of parabolic curves, and to Rick Shteamer for reminding me that the more you do the more you do. Thanks also to Starbucks for reserving my table and not raising my rent and to Jott.com for helping me remember all the brilliant insights that came to me when I was walking instead of writing.
This book, like everything in my life, would not be possible without my wife, Hildy, whose love, support, patience, and encouragement spring from a bottomless well. As always, my agent Meredith Bernstein gave invaluable advice and my editor, Audrey LaFehr, sharpened, shaped, and shepherded the story, both making a good book better. I am grateful to all of them.
Table Of Contents

 

 

The Dead Man

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

 

Joel Goldman is an Edgar and Shamus nominated author who was a trial lawyer for twenty-eight years. He wrote his first thriller after one of his partners complained about another partner and he decided to write a mystery, kill the son-of-a-bitch off in the first chapter and spend the rest of the book figuring out who did it. No longer practicing law, he offices at Starbucks and lives in Kansas City with his wife and two dogs.
NOVELS BY JOEL GOLDMAN

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you like the knockout suspense of Michael Connelly and the gritty "who done its" by Linda Fairstein, you'll love Joel Goldman's
Shakedown
!

 

"Goldman tells a story at a breakneck pace…"
—Kansas City Star

 

"A killer identified via a fleeting facial expression and behavioral cues turns a middle-agend FBI agent dealing with a disruptive disability into an unexpected hero in Goldman's latest terrific thriller."
—Publisher's Weekly

 

When FBI Agent Jack Davis investigates a mass murder, a leak of crucial information and his imploding personal life throw him into the ultimate danger zone – where truth lies at the heart of betrayal.

 

Need a thrill pill? Take
Shakedown
and stay up all night!

 

"
Shakedown
is a really fine novel. Joel Goldman has got it locked and loaded and full of the blood of character and the gritty details that make up the truth. Page for page, I loved it."
—Michael Connelly, NYT Bestselling Author

 

"
Shakedown
is a chillingly realistic crime novel – it's fast-paced, smartly plotted, and a gripping read to the very last page. Joel Goldman explores – with an insider's eye – a dark tale of murder and betrayal."
—Linda Fairstein, NYT Bestselling Author

 

James Patterson fan's - take off on a rocket-fueled suspense ride with
Shakedown
, the first book in the Jack Davis Thriller series by Joel Goldman.

 

Lee Child and Michael Connelly recommend
Motion To Kill
! If you like the action, suspense and excitement in their books, you'll love
Motion To Kill
!

 

"The story line never skips a beat. Fans will set in motion a plea for Mr. Goldman to return with more Mason (Lou not Perry) legal thrillers."
—Harriett Klausner

 

"Lou Mason is still the sexy, brilliant but flawed counselor who is thrown into chaos and finds order. The plot leads you to the edge like the thrilling Yungas cliff road in Bolivia."
—Elizabeth Wenig

 

When two of his partners are killed, corruption, sex and murder fill trial lawyer Lou Mason's docket as he tracks the killer. Will Lou be the next victim? Found out in
Motion To Kill
, the action-packed, can't-put-it-down first book in the Lou Mason thriller series!

 

"Joel Goldman is the real deal!"
—John Lescroart, Bestselling author of the Dismas Hardy thriller series.

 

"A real page-turner with plenty of action and many surprising twists and turns along the way driven by the wise-cracking protagonist and a great supporting cast."
—David A. Berman

 

"The plot races forward."
—Amarillo Globe-News

 

If you love the twists, turns and suspense of John Grisham, you'll love
The Last Witness
!

 

"Fast, furious and thoroughly enjoyable,
The Last Witness
is classic and classy noir for our time, filled with great characters and sharp, stylish writing."
—Jeffery Deaver, author of The Vanished Man and The Stone Monkey

 

"
The Last Witness
is an old fashioned, '40s, tough guy detective story set in modern times. There's a lot of action, loads of suspects, and plenty of snappy dialogue. It's a fun read from beginning to end."
—Phillip Margolin, author of The Associate and Wild Justice

 

Lou Mason is back and this time it's personal when his surrogate father, Homicide Detective Harry Ryman, arrests his best friend, Wilson "Blues" Bluestone, Jr., for murder. Mason unearths secrets someone will do anything to keep as he closes in on a desperate killer, setting himself up as the next target. Goldman goes Grisham one better!

 

"Joel Goldman has written another fast-paced legal thriller. Find a comfortable chair and plan to stay up late."
—Sheldon Siegel, Author of The Special Circumstances and Criminal Inten

 

"
The Last Witness
is a legal thriller written the way criminal law should be practiced: from the gut…one of the premier crime novels of the year."
—Jeremiah Healy, author of Turnabout and Spiral

 

Move over John Grisham! Joel Goldman is in the courthouse!
THE DEAD MAN

 

JOEL GOLDMAN

 

Copyright © 2009 Joel Goldman

 

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Author, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

 

This novel 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 events is entirely coincidental.
BOOK: The Dead Man
7.23Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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