The First Three Rules

Dear Reader,

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At the end of this book you will find book blurbs from fellow authors who have been kind enough to do an exchange with me. Please take the time to look over these available books and discover some hidden gems.

It was a beautiful day to die.

Clear blue sky overhead and budding leaves. The ground covered in tender grass and bright yellow patches of daffodils. There were a lot of flowers in the park. Almost overnight they had created mounds of color between the trees.

The small town of Gilford started early when it came to making the place welcoming. Tourism was big in the area, although Jon Foster wasn’t sure why. It didn’t matter. Not today. Or tomorrow.

He closed his eyes and lifted his face. Broken pieces of sunlight touched his skin, chasing away last night’s chill. Soon the Georgia heat would rise and days like this would disappear until fall.

For some reason fall always made him think about Danny.

Jon brushed his fingertips against the cool metal of the .38 in his coat pocket. It was the only firearm he had left. After the botched takedown at the warehouse, Jon had to turn over his department issued gun. He sold the rest and put the money in the account set up for Alex’s wife to help cover the funeral bills.

Alex shouldn’t have died that day. Him or Detectives Franco and Cruise. They were the ones supposed to be alive right now, laughing with their families, driving their kids to school. The only rotting body should have been Jon’s.

He leaned back and the aged slats on the bench curved against his back. A breeze made the trees sway and the light dance across the ground. The earthy scent of cut grass filled him with every breath.

It was definitely a beautiful day to die.

“Hi.”

Jon yanked his hand out of his pocket.

The stranger sat beside him. Dressed in a button up and khakis, he could have been any man on the street but the smile he gave Jon belonged to a child. The man rocked and worked his oversized hands around the deck of baseball cards he held.

“Would you like a piece of gum?” He dug in his pocket until he came up with a stick of pink bubble gum. Lint clung to the edges. “It comes with the cards, but Ellis says I can’t chew it because I swallow it. Ellis says gum is for chewing not swallowing, but it’s hard you know. I just chew and chew and then I forget. Maybe I’m thinking about pie or cookies.” He waved the candy around.

“No, thanks.”

The man’s happy expression crumbled. “You don’t like gum?”

There was no reason for the lie to be difficult. Lying was all Jon did these days. To himself. To the people around him. “I’m allergic.”

The man’s eyes widened. “Wow. I’m allergic to bees. They sting. And they hurt.”

“Yeah.”

“My name is Rudy.” He stuffed the gum back in his pocket and held out his hand.

Jon shook it then wiped the sticky residue left behind on his jeans.

“Are you going to tell me your name?” Rudy hugged the cards to his chest and his bright blue eyes crinkled up at the corners. “Or is it a secret?”

“Is what a secret?”

“Your name. Is that why you won’t tell me?”

“No.”

Rudy bounced and kicked his feet. “So it is a secret.”

“No. I mean. Never mind. Jon. My name is Jon.”

“Jon. Jon. Jon. I have to say it three times or I’ll forget. I’m bad with names.” Rudy stared at his feet. His lips moved and his brow scrunched up. “I think I can remember it now.” The smile returned. “Would you like to get ice cream? Ellis promised me ice cream today.”

“I don’t think so, but thanks.” Jon stood.

Rudy said, “Are you allergic?”

“What?” He took a step.

“To ice cream. Is that why you don’t want to go?”

“No. I just…I really need to go. Sorry.”

Beyond the clump of bushes and trees someone yelled Rudy’s name. “That’s my brother Ellis. You’ll like Ellis.”

On the other side of the bushes, a man with his hands cupped around his mouth hurried across the wide green lawn. “Rudy!”

“I’m over here!”

Jon winced and pressed his fingers against his temple. With the numbness he’d found in solitude broken, every splash of dappled light stung his eyes and the sound of leaves brushing together might as well have been twisting metal. He turned to get away from the chaos and almost ran into Ellis. He had the same color eyes as Rudy.

“Hi Ellis!” Rudy waved.

Jon went right and so did Ellis. They exchanged a look. Jon went left and Ellis cut around him. “Jesus Rudy. I turn my back for a minute. You know you’re not supposed to wander off. Rule number two remember? Don’t wander off.”

“Sorry.”

Ellis took Rudy by the arm and he stood. The brothers were almost the same height. But where Rudy was built soft, Ellis had more definition. And instead of child like wonder in Ellis’s eyes there was wariness. The kind found in someone who carried too much for too long. Jon had seen those same eyes in the mirror for over two and a half decades.

“This is my friend Jon.” Rudy out held a hand in Jon’s direction. “He’s allergic to gum.”

“That’s nice Rudy.” Ellis took him by the arm. “C’mon, we need to go.”

Rudy pulled back. “But Jon’s going to get ice cream with us.”

“I’m sorry.” Ellis’s face reddened. “I didn’t mean for him to bother you.” He tugged on Rudy’s arm again. “Please Rudy. We need to go.”

“He wasn’t bothering me,” Jon said.

“I’m sorry anyhow.” The flush in Ellis’s cheeks darkened. “Rudy. Let’s go.”

“But we were going to get ice cream.”

“It’s nine o’clock in the morning. There is no ice cream.”

“Paulie’s Diner,” Jon said.

Finally Ellis brought his gaze up. Jon was wrong about their eye color being the same. Ellis’s had streaks of gray so when the light hit just right, they looked pewter.

“Paulie’s Diner. They serve ice cream all day long and they’re open for breakfast.” Why was Jon telling Ellis this? Why did he even care? Jon stuck his hands in his pockets. He brushed the gun and yanked them back out.

“Yeah, I know where it is,” Ellis said. “We’ve eaten there a couple of times.”

Rudy fought off another one of Ellis’s attempts to drag him away. “But Jon is nice and he’s my friend. And he wants ice cream. We never get to go to Paulie’s. I want to go.”

Ellis leaned close to Rudy but his whisper still carried. “We don’t have the extra money. Please Rudy, please be good and don’t make a scene.”

“I’ll buy.” Jon almost choked on his words.

Ellis shook his head. “I’m sorry, we can’t.”

“Please.” Guilt made the gun in Jon’s pocket heavier. What if Rudy had walked up on him a minute later? What if he’d been the one to discover Jon with the top of his head blown off? Was that why he offered? Was he trying to make amends for possibly scarring Ellis’s brother for life with the image of a dead man? If it was, ice cream was a piss poor way to do it, but it was all Jon had.

Ellis knelt in front of Rudy long enough to tie his shoe. “I appreciate your offer. But—”

“I won’t take no for an answer.” Jon smiled and for the first time in a very long time his face didn’t strain with the effort to hold it in place.

Rudy grinned like he knew the battle was won.

“Are you sure?” Ellis almost met Jon’s gaze.

“Yeah.”

Paulie’s sat on the corner of Main Street, parallel to the old court house, now town museum. Jon had no idea what kind of nostalgia the town of Gilford had that people paid two dollars each for the privilege to gawk at.

Paulie’s lime green trim against red brick clashed with the earth tones of the surrounding shops. From the outside it could have passed for a saloon. A lot of the stores around the square looked like something from the old west. The General Store next to Paulie’s sold cheap tourist items, like pretty rocks and shirts with pictures of the nearby mountains.

Rudy made a dash for the door and Ellis caught his wrist. “No running.”

“But there’s ice cream.”

And bacon, eggs, and toast. The heavy scent of breakfast food left a greasy coating on the back of Jon’s tongue. His stomach growled reminding him he hadn’t eaten anything since yesterday.

Jon held open the door. Ellis looked surprised for a moment before ushering Rudy inside.

The outside of Paulie’s might have resembled a saloon but the inside was a bubble trapped in the fifties. Red vinyl barstools on silver poles lined up in front of a speckled gray counter. A black and white checkered floor added to the chaos.