Last Call Read Free Page B

original hit series.At the bottom of the hour, a local news head-line caught his eye. He raised the volume.This time, it worked.
    “No sound,” said Rene.
    “It’s still on mute.”
    “Liar. I can hear it.”
    “That’s because you’re dreaming. In real life, I’m perfect. Only in dreams am I a total pain in the ass.”
    She was too tired to argue, or maybe it was his sense of humor that sent her back to sleep. Jack turned his attention to the television newscast. At such a low volume he could pick up only a few words here and there, but the image on screen was familiar. Jack had visited plenty of clients at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.A young and attractive reporter with ambition in her eyes and an Action News microphone in her hand was doing a live broadcast from outside the jail’s main entrance. Helicopters circled in the night sky behind her, powerful white searchlights sweeping the landscape.Those definitely weren’t media choppers.
    16
    James Grippando
    The words “Breaking News” and “Prison Escape” flashed in white letters against a bright red banner on the bottom of the screen.
    Jack glanced at Rene—still sleeping—and decided to risk a little added volume. With the press of a button, he immediately heard the excitement in the reporter’s voice, catching her in mid-sentence.
    “—the second escape from TGK Correctional Center in the past twelve months, and the first ever from the second floor, which is reserved for convicted or suspected sex offenders.TGK
    is operated by the Miami-Dade Corrections and Rehabilitation Department, which countywide houses approximately seven thousand inmates in the nation’s sixth-largest jail system. Last April, the department’s director resigned after a police and fire task force found that jail buildings were severely outdated, officer training was poor, and 134 positions were unfilled. Department officials say that last night’s escape occurred sometime after—”
    The air conditioner kicked on, and the hum completely drowned out the television. Jack increased the volume a few bars too many, which had Rene grumbling.
    “I’m going to kill you.”
    “You can’t. Hippocratic oath, remember?”
    “Sue me!” she said as she sprang to life like a lioness. A wres-tling match ensued. Rene was on top, then Jack, then Rene. The sheets ended up on the floor, right beside the clothes that had fallen there four hours earlier. Jack was about to retake control of the situation when she grabbed him where it counted, the sparkle back in her eyes.
    Jack froze, raising his hands in playful surrender. “Put the gun down, Rene. Unless you intend to use it.”
    She didn’t let go. “I’m wide awake now, thanks to you. Come on.We have some serious catching up to do.”
    “Slow down.We’ve got all week.”
    LAST CALL
    17
    She kissed him gently, so lightly that it was difficult to tell whether she’d actually made contact—a kind of sensual ambigu-ity that Rene had perfected and that could drive Jack crazy. Her lips drifted toward his ear as she whispered, “I have to fly back to Abidjan on Monday.”
    This time, her words barely tugged at his heartstrings. “It’s okay,” he said flatly.“I knew you did.”
    It was last call at Sparky’s Tavern.
    Theo Knight made the announcement from behind the long, crowded bar. He was smiling widely, and with good reason. Sparky’s was an old gas station that he’d converted into the last watering hole between the mainland and the Florida Keys. It was a true dive, but it was his dive.And business was better than ever.At this rate, it wouldn’t be long before he could say good-bye to the bikers, the rednecks, and the electric slide and open Sparky’s II, a true jazz bar in Coconut Grove. The mere thought blew his mind. Talk about beating the odds.
    Theo had never actually made it into the Grove Lords—stealing his own mother’s purse didn’t cut it—but life didn’t offer many choices to the