Excerpt of Included!

JOHN HART“If I share my information?”“I want to know what Grantham knows.”“I can’t make blind promises, Adam.”“I need to know. I don’t think I have much time. My prints are on the gun.”“A gun that may or may not be the murder weapon.”“Grantham knows I spoke to Danny right before he died. It’s enough for anarrest warrant. He’ll bring me in and hammer me. Just like the last time.”“You were in New York when Danny was killed. You’ll have alibis, witnessesthat can put you there at the time of death.”I shook my head.“What the hell does that mean?”“No alibi,” I said. “No witness.”“How is that possible?”“It had been five years, Robin. That’s what you have to understand first. I’dburied this place so deep I couldn’t see it anymore. It’s how I got through thedays. I forgot. I made an art of forgetting. That changed after Danny called. Itwas like he’d put a demon in my head. It wouldn’t shut up. It wanted me to gohome. It told me that it was time. If I tried to think, I heard the voice. When Iclosed my eyes, I saw this place. It made me insane, Robin. Day after day. Ithought of you, of my father. I thought of Grace and of the trial. That dead kidand the way that this town just chewed me up and spit me out.“Suddenly, I couldn’t stand my life. It was so empty, such a goddamnsham, and Danny’s voice tore down everything I’d built. I didn’t go to work. Istopped seeing friends. I locked myself away. It just ate at me until I found myselfon the road.”I lifted my hands, let them drop. “No one saw me, Robin.”“Demons in the head and no alibi is not something you should ever sayagain. Grantham has already put in a request with N.Y.P.D. They’ll check upon you. They’ll be thorough. They’ll find where you worked. They’ll find outthat you quit and when you quit. You need to think hard about that alibi.Grantham’s going to wonder if you didn’t drive down here and kill Danny.He’ll hold your feet to the fire. He’ll roast you if he can.”I held her gaze. “I didn’t kill anybody.”“Why are you home, Adam?”154