The Return of the Fallen Angels Book Club (A Hollis Morgan Mystery 3) Read Free Page A

contacts so you could get your job at Barneys? I don’t remember Jeffrey ever telling us he couldn’t spare the time to get involved.”
    “That’s mean, Hollis,” Rena muttered, looking down at her feet. “I can’t … no, I’ll be honest. I don’t want to play detective when it’s clearly police business and could be dangerous. Jeffrey would be the first to agree with me, and you know it.”
    Hollis grimaced. Rena was right, but Hollis would have pushed the point with Jeffrey, too. She sighed. “Okay, I understand why you don’t want to participate.”
    They turned back to view the game of toddler touch football.
    After a few more minutes, Rena took a step back. “I hate it when you agree with me. Oh, what the hell! I can’t sit on the sidelines. I wouldn’t be able to look at myself in the mirror.”
    Hollis broke into a big smile. “Are you sure?”
    “I never did everything Jeffrey wanted me to do anyway.” Rena rubbed the back of her neck. “What’s a little risk of exposure? Besides, it will be good to have the Fallen Angels back together.”
    Hollis nodded. She didn’t realize how much she had counted on Rena’s participation until there was a chance she wouldn’t have it.
    “Thanks, Rena.” She patted her on the arm.
    “Yeah, sure. So when’s the meeting?”
    “Gene is going to contact Miller and I’ve got to locate Richard.”
    Rena waved to Christopher, who was riding on Mark’s back like a cowboy.
    “Richard, good luck with his paranoia. You’re going to have to do some heavy guilt-tripping to get him to come back. But first, how are you going to find him?”
    “When we were going through the murder trial, Richard admitted that he didn’t work far from me. Except for the fact I caught him in a couple of understandable lies about his home life, I think he just wanted off the suspect screen.” Hollis tapped her chin thoughtfully. “I’ll stake out his office building—as soon as I find it.”
    The murder trial that had ended the year before had caused an upheaval in the lives of the Fallen Angels, whose past felony convictions were laid bare in the light of the six o’clock news.
    “Do you have that kind of time? I mean, will you still be able to help Shelby?”
    “Won’t be a problem.” Hollis waved her hands for her not to worry. “I have a young friend who can help me locate Richard.”
    Hollis smiled to herself. This would be the perfect assignment for Vince Colton. Hollis was convinced her friendship with him was one of life’s left turns. She met the teenager during the weeks she was waiting for her scores from taking the bar. He was sitting in the lobby at the police station battling the aftereffects of detox, while waiting for his mother to be released from jail on drug charges. She still couldn’t explain why she reached out to help him, except that she had come to believe that everyone deserved at least one second chance. Since then they had become friends.
    Now clean, Vince worked where he could, but he didn’t earn enough for him and his mother to live on. He’d been begging her to let him run errands and fix things that needed fixing, but she’d been holding back. First, at nineteen, he needed to finish high school; he still didn’t have his GED. Second, she couldn’t afford to pay him. And third, she couldn’t afford to pay him. She was accelerating her law school loan payments as much as possible, but it would be years before she would have any appreciable discretionary income.
    But she did owe him. He had come to her aid when both their lives were in jeopardy. He risked his life for hers. After he came out of the hospital, his gruff street manner disguised the vulnerability of a young man who desperately needed a friend. She took on the role and never looked back.
    Yes, Vince would work out just fine.

 
    Chapter 4
    “S o, Hollis, what do you want me to do once I spot this guy?” Vince seemed to inhale his hamburger and fries.
    She’d caught up