The Approach Read Free Page A

right.
    Come last call, I offered her a ride. She politely declined. Said she’d call a cab instead. Find someplace a little nicer to stay tonight, and leave town in the morning. Could be she read too much into my invitation. Could be she read it right.
    On the way back to the Mustang, buzzing slightly but not drunk, I remembered I owed Lester a call. His phone barely let out half a ring before he picked up.
    “Jesus, Mikey, I was starting to get worried. You’ve been dark awhile. How’d it go?”
    “It didn’t. She was dead when I arrived. Whoever whacked her was long gone.”
    “Shit. Sorry to hear it.”
    “Yeah. Me, too. Hey, do me a favor, would you?”
    “Name it.”
    “Make sure the communiqué you intercepted that ties this Ronnie shitbag to the hit finds its way to the authorities, okay?”
    “You got it. Listen, if it makes you feel any better, I’ve got a line on a new client.”
    “Yeah? Who?”
    “Business guy outta Miami by the name of Morales. Seems he ran afoul of the Cuban mafia—and he’s rich, so he’ll have no trouble coughing up our fee.”
    “Sounds promising. When’s it going down?”
    “Soon.”
    “You got an ID on the hitter?”
    “Sure do,” Lester said. “Javier Cruz.”
    “No shit? That bastard is as mean as they come. I’d love the chance to put him in the ground.”
    “I thought you might say that. I’ve got you on the next flight out.”
    I climbed into the car, its white leather upholstery creaking beneath me, and thumbed the ignition. The Mustang’s V8 roared to life. “Thanks, buddy. I’m headed to the airport now. You can read me in on the way.”

Also by Chris Holm

    The Killing Kind
The Collector Series
    The Big Reap
    The Wrong Goodbye
    Dead Harvest

The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
    Copyright © 2016 by Chris Holm
Author photograph by Joshua Atticks
Cover design by Henry Sene Yee; photograph © Matt Mawson/Getty Images
Cover copyright © 2016 by Hachette Book Group, Inc.
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    First ebook edition: August 2016
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    ISBN 978-0-316-46533-5
    E3-20160719-DA-PC