It was supposed to be simple. All struggling actor Carlo Baresi had to do was pick a man up, drive him to the location he specified, then report where he’d taken him. The only problem is, the man isn’t who he says he is ... and they both know it. Bookstore owner Joe Donnelly has a reputation for helping those in need, but this plan has been a bad one from the second he stepped in. Discovering someone has switched out the driver is one more complication he doesn’t want, especially since Carlo is the kind of distraction that can get a man in serious trouble if he’s not careful. But they have something in common. They’re both loose ends, struggling to find out what is really going on. And murder is always complicated, even when you’re on the same side.

The Low Between

“He’s not going to like me stalling.”


Joe reached for his hat. At least it’d had time to dry out before he ventured back into the rain. “Do you know why I told you to let me take care of the meeting?”


“Because you thought I’d get hurt again.”


“Because I thought you’d get killed,” Joe corrected. “Halford thinks you’ve had the money for days. How else were you going to return it? He probably figured he could get his money back and find out exactly where his daughter was without paying you a single red cent.”


Carlo had thought the same thing, but one thing both he and Copper failed to realize was that men who pulled strings like Halford and Stout didn’t care. The young men were simply tools to be used to get what they wanted. And when tools had completed their purpose…


“Just be careful.” With a wave to Lizzie, Joe pushed open the door and walked back into the storm.


Chapter 14