Mona Read online

Page 2


  And fell blissfully asleep.

  Her touch woke me. Not her voice, although much later I remember having heard it while I slept, about the same way you can remember the ringing of an alarm clock that you never got up to turn off.

  But her hands woke me. Soft hands on the back of my neck. Fingers drumming out not-too-complex rhythms.

  I rolled over and opened my eyes.

  "You shouldn't sleep like that," she was saying. "Not in this sun. You'll get a bad burn on your back."

  I smiled. "Thanks."

  "You don't have to thank me. I wanted to wake you up. I was lonely."

  I looked at her. I looked at the very good body in the one-piece red suit. The suit was wet and it hugged her like an old friend. I looked at the blonde hair that was blonde all the way to the roots. I looked at the mouth. It was red and wet. It looked ravenously hungry.

  And, out of habit, I looked at the fourth, finger of her left hand. There was a mark there from a ring, but she wasn't wearing the ring now. I wondered whether she had taken it off before coming to the beach, or when she spotted me.

  "Where's the husband?"

  "Away," she said, her eyes laughing at me. "Away from me. Not here. I'm lonely."

  "He's not in Atlantic City?"

  She reached out a finger and chucked me under the chin. She was just a little too good-looking. That bothered me. When a woman's beauty blinds you, your work suffers. A certain part of your anatomy leads you around. That can gum things up.

  "He's in Atlantic City," she said. "But he's not here."

  "Where's here?"

  "The beach," she said. "Where we are."

  Where half a hundred other people also were.

  "Want to go swimming?"

  She made a face. "I already did," she said. "It's cold. And my bathing cap is too tight. It gives me a headache."

  "So go without one."

  "I don't like to. I hate to get my hair wet. Especially with the salt water. You have to wash forever to get it out and it ruins the hair. I have very fine hair. I mean the hairs are thin, that is. I'm not complimenting myself."

  "You don't have to, I said. "Everybody else must do that for you."

  That one got the smile it had to get. A little experience and you learn the language. You have to.

  "You're sweet," she said. "Very sweet"

  "Isn't your husband sweet?"

  "Forget him."

  "How can I? He's married to the most beautiful girl in the world."

  Another smile.

  "Well?"

  "He's not sweet. He's old and he's fat and he's ugly. Also stupid. Also revolting."

  It was quite a list.

  "So why did you marry him?"

  "He's also rich," she said. "Very rich. Very very very rich."

  We forgot her husband. She did, anyway. I didn't, because he was an important part of the picture. The fat, ugly, old husband, who was also rich. The pretty wife, who wanted more than the old husband was giving her. It was almost standard.

  The deviations from the norm were small ones — they only bothered me a little. For one thing, she was too young. Not too young to marry a rich old goat, because you can do that at any age. But too young to chase.

  She was twenty-four — or twenty-five or twenty-six or twenty-seven. It was perfectly logical for her to be married to the old goat, perfectly logical for her to be interested in getting into the sack with somebody else.

  But at her age, and with her looks, she shouldn't be the one to do the pursuing. She didn't have to be chaste, but she should at least be chased, to coin a phrase.

  Later on, when the years went to work on the high breasts and the clear skin, then she could get into the act a little more. She could do the chasing, and she could do the paying. But at this stage of the game there were plenty of guys who would chase her without any encouragement whatsoever, plenty of guys who would bed down with her without expecting to be paid for their labors.

  Of course, we hadn't talked about payment yet. We hadn't even talked about bedding down.

  We were swimming.

  Anyway, we were in the water. Her bathing cap was trying to save her fine blonde hair from the horrors of the salt water; and the two of us were busy letting the waves knock us over. Then, of course, she wanted to learn how to swim, and I wanted to teach her.

  I held out my hands and she stretched across them, learning to float on her stomach. She managed to lie with her breasts on one of my arms and her thighs across the other. I could feel the sweet animal warmth of her even in the cold water.

  "Like this?"

  I told her she had it down pat.

  "Now what do I do?"

  "Move your arms."

  She moved more than her arms. She moved them in an overhand crawl so that her breasts bounced around on my arm. She kicked gently with her long legs and her thighs worked on the other arm.

  I wondered who was getting a lesson.

  We clowned around some more. She told me her name was Mona and I told her my name was Lennie. She was a lot of fun, besides being a sex symbol. From time to time I even managed to forget that she was somebody else's wife, a potential meal ticket. I thought we were just two nice people having fun on a beach.

  Then I would remember who she was and who I was and the pleasant illusion would fade and die.

  "Lennie —"

  We were on the sand again and I was drying her back with a big striped towel.

  "I have to get back to the room, Lennie. I think he's waiting for me. It's been a while."

  I knew who he was.

  "When can I see you again, Mona?"

  "Tonight"

  "Can you get away?"

  "Of course."

  "Where and when?"

  She thought for all of three seconds. "Right here," she said. "At midnight."

  "Isn't the beach closed at night?"

  She smiled at me. "You're a clever man," she said. "I'm sure you can find a way to get out here all by yourself. Don't you think so?"

  I thought so.

  "Midnight," she said. "I hope there's a moon tonight. I like it when there's a moon."

  She turned and left. I watched her go — she had a good walk, just a step on the right side of whorishness, as much provocation as a woman could get away with without looking like a slut. I wondered how long it had taken her to learn to walk like that. Or if it was natural.

  The sun dried me. I walked back over hot sand to the passageway, through the passageway to the bathers' entrance. I tossed my towel back to the attendant and smiled at him. I rode up in the elevator to the top floor and walked to my room. I had buttoned the room key into the pocket of my swim shorts. I brought it out, wet, and opened the door.

  I took another shower, this one to get rid of the salt water. It took longer than it should have, because the hotel had a cute set-up whereby you could take a salt water shower or a fresh water shower, depending upon how you felt about life in general. I goofed the first time around. It was a nice shower, but it left me as salty as ever. Then I figured out the system and rinsed with fresh water.

  By the time I was done it was time for dinner. The idea of wearing the same damn clothes I'd worn on the train didn't particularly appeal, and I decided to have a look at L. K. B.'s donation. With luck, his clothes might fit. With more luck, he might have packed some cash in his suitcase. Some people do, believe it or not.

  The bags were locked. But suitcase locks, like trunk locks, are all the same. I found a key that fit the little bag and opened it.

  Whoever the hell he was, he was the wrong size. His pants were too short and too big in the waist and the behind. His underwear fell off me. But his feet, God bless him, were the right size. There were two pairs of expensive shoes in the little bag and they both fit me. There were also ten pairs of socks which I didn't bother to try on. If the shoes fit, the socks would fit, Unless the guy had very unusual feet.

  That took care of the little bag. I put his junk in my drawers
and stuck the bag back in the closet. I got the big bag and propped it up on my bed, then opened it with the key.

  I hung up the jackets in the closet without looking at them. I was pretty sure they wouldn't fit anyway, and I didn't want to chance running into the bum with his jacket on. Shoes and socks he wouldn't notice, whoever he was. A suit he might.

  I got lucky again with his shirts. We were built differently, he and I, but his arms were the same length as mine and his neck the same circumference. His shirts fit me, and he had a lot of shirts. I put them in the drawers.

  There was the usual junk — tie pins, cuff links, shirt studs, miscellaneous junk. I went through everything and put everything away. His clothes were from New York and I wondered if he was, too, or if he simply went shopping there.

  Then I came to the box.

  I thought of money, first of all. It was a small wooden box made of teak or mahogany and it was about the same size and shape as a dollar bill. I took a deep breath and prayed that it held a stack of hundreds. Maybe the bastard was a doctor and he wasn't depositing his receipts, working some kind of a tax dodge. Maybe a hundred different things.

  The box gave me trouble. It was locked and none of my keys fit it. I gave up fooling around after awhile and set it on the dresser. It was hinged at the back. I had a little file that went right through those hinges,

  I started to open the box. Then I stopped, found a cigarette, and lighted it. I was playing a little game with myself. The box was a present, and I had to try to guess what the present was. Money? Pipe tobacco? Fertilizer?

  It could be anything.

  I took off the lid. There was a piece of tissue paper on top and I removed that right away.

  There was nothing under the paper but white powder.

  I was completely destroyed. There is nothing quite so compelling as a sealed box. I had the contents turned into a mental fortune, and now old L. K. B.'s box turned out to be a bust. Powder!

  Maybe there was something underneath the powder. I got ready to blow it away, and then all of a sudden some little bell rang deep inside my head and I changed nay mind.

  I stared at the powder.

  It stared back.

  I managed to finish my cigarette and butt it in an ashtray thoughtfully provided by the management of the Hotel Shelburne. Then I turned back to the box. I put one finger to my lips and licked it, then dipped it gingerly into the powdery substance.

  I licked the finger.

  It was absolutely astonishing. I blinked rapidly, several times, and then licked my finger again, dipping it once more into the box.

  I licked it another time.

  There was no mistaking the taste, not now, not after many years. When you work in a racket, even briefly, you learn what you can about the racket. You learn the product, first of all. No matter how small your connection with the racket or how little time you spend with it, this much you learn. I had played the game for two months, if that, in a very small capacity, but I knew what I had on my dresser.

  I had approximately sixty cubic inches of raw heroin.

  Chapter 2

  * * *

  For a few minutes I just stood there and felt foolish. I'd picked up more than a wardrobe at the railway station. I'd picked up a fortune. How much was the heroin worth? I couldn't even begin to guess. A hundred grand, a quarter of a million, maybe more, maybe less. I had no idea and I didn't even want to think about it.

  I couldn't keep it and I couldn't sell it and I couldn't give it back. If L. K. B. ever found me with it he would kill me as sure as men make little green virgins. If the government ever found me with it they would lock me up and drop the key in the middle of the China Sea.

  I could throw it away. Did you ever try throwing away a hundred grand, or a quarter of a million?

  I put the lid back on the box and tried to figure out what to do with it. I couldn't hide it. People who carry around large quantities of heroin are not amateurs. If they search a room, they find what they are looking for. And if L. K. B. and his buddy boys realized I was their pigeon, no hiding place in the room would keep the heroin away from them. And I had to hold onto the stuff. It could be my trump card, the only thing that would keep me alive if they ever caught on. I could use it to work a deal.

  I needed a hiding a place for the time being, though. I rejected the standard ones, the cute places where a real pro always looked first. The toilet tank, the bed, the outer window sill. I stuck it on the floor under the dresser and tried to forget about it

  I got dressed in a hurry and left the hotel. The store I was looking for two long blocks off the Boardwalk on Atlantic Avenue near Tennessee. I went in and bought a good attaché case for twenty dollars and change. It was a nice case — I didn't know you could get them that good so far from Madison Avenue.

  I lugged the case back to the hotel, bought a pair of Philly papers at the newsstand in the lobby, then went back to my room. The little box with the hinges filed through was right where I'd left it under the dresser. I took it out, wrapped it up tight in paper so it wouldn't come open, and put it in the attaché case. Then I crumpled up paper and packed it in tight so that nothing would rattle around. I used all of the paper, closed the case and locked it up. I made a mental note to get rid of the key. When the time came, I could always break the thing open. But I didn't want to have the key on my person.

  I hefted the case a few times experimentally. It was neither too heavy nor too light. It could have been almost anything.

  Then I took it back down to the lobby and hauled it over to the front desk. The room clerk waited obligingly while I picked up my case and put it on the desk between us.

  "Wonder if you'd do me a favor," I said. "I've got a commercial presentation here that I'm in the middle of. Not valuable to anybody but me, but there's always the chance that somebody might walk off with it not knowing what was in the case. The company would raise hell if that happened. Could you stick it in the safe for me?"

  He could and did. He started to write out a claim check for me but I shook my head.

  "I'd only lose it," I told him. "I'm not worried about it. I'll pick it up before I go."

  I gave him a dollar and left him with a safeful of heroin.

  I had time to kill and thinking to do. I left the hotel again and took a walk on the Boardwalk. If anything, it was worse then when I'd been in town three years back. There were more hotdog and fruit juice stands, more penny arcades, more bingo games and carney booths and flashy souvenir shops. Sex was also present. The professionals stuck to the bars on the side street, but the amateur competition cluttered every board on the Boardwalk. Young girls walking in twos and threes and fours; blondes who got their hair from bottles; fifteen and sixteen and seventeen-year-olds with their blouses too sheer and their blue jeans too tight their makeup too thick and their strut too obvious. Victory girls who didn't know the war had been over for fifteen years.

  The boys were there because the girls were there. They played a game as old as the world, the boys trying to score, the girls trying to be scored upon without looking cheap about it, as though there was a way in the world for them to look otherwise. The boys were clumsy and the girls were clumsier, but somehow they would manage to get together, manage to find a place to neck and pet and make sloppy love. The girls would get pregnant and the boys would get gonorrhea.

  One hotel had a terrace facing on the Boardwalk with umbrella-topped tables and tall drinks. I found an empty table and sat under the shade of the umbrella until a waiter found me, took my order, left me and returned with a tall cool vodka collins. It came with a colored straw and I sipped it like a kid sipping a malted. I lighted a cigarette and settled back in my chair. I tried to put everything together and make it add up right

  If I had a tighter connection with a branch of the narcotics trade it would have been easier. A while back I'd done a few jobs for a man named Marcus. It was strictly messenger-boy stuff — pick up this, take it there, give it to so-and-so. I hadn't seen
Marcus in years and I didn't know where he was. He probably wouldn't even remember me.

  That made selling the stuff impossible.

  My other connection was L. K. B. I didn't know who he was, but I had an idea that it wouldn't be too hard to find out. He had arrived just that day, and he had probably checked into a hotel already. All I had to do was run down the list of recent arrivals at the six best hotels in town. Somebody would have those initials, and he would be my boy. I could get in touch with him from a distance, try to work a deal with him and sell his own stuff back to him.

  It might work. It also might get me killed. The best I could hope for was a few thousand, a slim fraction of the value of the stuff. And I would spend the rest of my life waiting for a knife in the back.

  I didn't like that.

  I sipped more of the drink. A man walked by with a girl on his arm. Two old ladies rolled by in a rolling chair pushed by a bored Negro. Victory girls passed, looked at me, decided I was too old, and hurried on with their tails twitching.

  I decided to sit tight For the time being I was in the clear. The way things stood, the worst that could happen was that I skipped the hotel and left them with a box of heroin. If everything broke right, I could get out with the box in tow, hold it for a few years until everybody forgot about it, then find a way to sell it off a little at a time without raising anybody's eyebrows.

  In the meantime there was Mona. I thought about her and remembered that she would be on the beach at midnight, waiting for me. I almost forgot the heroin, just thinking about her.

  I dropped a buck for the drink and some change for the waiter on the table, and I left. Two blocks further along the Boardwalk I found a good restaurant where they served me a blood-rare steak and very black coffee.

  The movie was lousy, a historical epic called A Sound of Distant Drums, a technicolor cinemascope package with pretty girls and flashing swords and people getting themselves killed flamboyantly. I dozed through most of it. It was a little after ten when I finally got out and headed for the hotel.

 

    Tanner on Ice Read onlineTanner on IceHit Me Read onlineHit MeHit and Run Read onlineHit and RunHope to Die Read onlineHope to DieTwo For Tanner Read onlineTwo For TannerTanners Virgin Read onlineTanners VirginDead Girl Blues Read onlineDead Girl BluesOne Night Stands and Lost Weekends Read onlineOne Night Stands and Lost WeekendsA Drop of the Hard Stuff Read onlineA Drop of the Hard StuffThe Canceled Czech Read onlineThe Canceled CzechEven the Wicked Read onlineEven the WickedMe Tanner, You Jane Read onlineMe Tanner, You JaneQuotidian Keller Read onlineQuotidian KellerSmall Town Read onlineSmall TownTanners Tiger Read onlineTanners TigerA Walk Among the Tombstones Read onlineA Walk Among the TombstonesTanners Twelve Swingers Read onlineTanners Twelve SwingersGym Rat & the Murder Club Read onlineGym Rat & the Murder ClubEverybody Dies Read onlineEverybody DiesThe Thief Who Couldnt Sleep Read onlineThe Thief Who Couldnt SleepHit Parade Read onlineHit ParadeThe Devil Knows Youre Dead Read onlineThe Devil Knows Youre DeadThe Burglar in Short Order Read onlineThe Burglar in Short OrderA Long Line of Dead Men Read onlineA Long Line of Dead MenKeller's Homecoming Read onlineKeller's HomecomingResume Speed Read onlineResume SpeedKeller's Adjustment Read onlineKeller's AdjustmentEight Million Ways to Die Read onlineEight Million Ways to DieTime to Murder and Create Read onlineTime to Murder and CreateOut on the Cutting Edge Read onlineOut on the Cutting EdgeA Dance at the Slaughter House Read onlineA Dance at the Slaughter HouseIn the Midst of Death Read onlineIn the Midst of DeathWhen the Sacred Ginmill Closes Read onlineWhen the Sacred Ginmill ClosesYou Could Call It Murder Read onlineYou Could Call It MurderKeller on the Spot Read onlineKeller on the SpotA Ticket to the Boneyard Read onlineA Ticket to the BoneyardA Time to Scatter Stones Read onlineA Time to Scatter StonesKeller's Designated Hitter Read onlineKeller's Designated HitterA Stab in the Dark Read onlineA Stab in the DarkSins of the Fathers Read onlineSins of the FathersThe Burglar in the Closet Read onlineThe Burglar in the ClosetBurglar Who Dropped In On Elvis Read onlineBurglar Who Dropped In On ElvisThe Burglar Who Painted Like Mondrian Read onlineThe Burglar Who Painted Like MondrianThe Girl With the Long Green Heart Read onlineThe Girl With the Long Green HeartThe Burglar Who Counted the Spoons (Bernie Rhodenbarr) Read onlineThe Burglar Who Counted the Spoons (Bernie Rhodenbarr)Burglar Who Smelled Smoke Read onlineBurglar Who Smelled SmokeRude Awakening (Kit Tolliver #2) (The Kit Tolliver Stories) Read onlineRude Awakening (Kit Tolliver #2) (The Kit Tolliver Stories)Don't Get in the Car (Kit Tolliver #9) (The Kit Tolliver Stories) Read onlineDon't Get in the Car (Kit Tolliver #9) (The Kit Tolliver Stories)CH04 - The Topless Tulip Caper Read onlineCH04 - The Topless Tulip CaperYou Can Call Me Lucky (Kit Tolliver #3) (The Kit Tolliver Stories) Read onlineYou Can Call Me Lucky (Kit Tolliver #3) (The Kit Tolliver Stories)CH02 - Chip Harrison Scores Again Read onlineCH02 - Chip Harrison Scores AgainStrangers on a Handball Court Read onlineStrangers on a Handball CourtCleveland in My Dreams Read onlineCleveland in My DreamsClean Slate (Kit Tolliver #4) (The Kit Tolliver Stories) Read onlineClean Slate (Kit Tolliver #4) (The Kit Tolliver Stories)The Burglar Who Traded Ted Williams Read onlineThe Burglar Who Traded Ted WilliamsBurglar on the Prowl Read onlineBurglar on the ProwlIn For a Penny (A Story From the Dark Side) Read onlineIn For a Penny (A Story From the Dark Side)Catch and Release Paperback Read onlineCatch and Release PaperbackRide A White Horse Read onlineRide A White HorseNo Score Read onlineNo ScoreLooking for David (A Matthew Scudder Story Book 7) Read onlineLooking for David (A Matthew Scudder Story Book 7)Jilling (Kit Tolliver #6) (The Kit Tolliver Stories) Read onlineJilling (Kit Tolliver #6) (The Kit Tolliver Stories)Ariel Read onlineArielEnough Rope Read onlineEnough RopeGrifter's Game Read onlineGrifter's GameCanceled Czech Read onlineCanceled CzechUnfinished Business (Kit Tolliver #12) (The Kit Tolliver Stories) Read onlineUnfinished Business (Kit Tolliver #12) (The Kit Tolliver Stories)Thirty Read onlineThirtyThe Burglar Who Thought He Was Bogart Read onlineThe Burglar Who Thought He Was BogartMake Out with Murder Read onlineMake Out with MurderOne Last Night at Grogan's (A Matthew Scudder Story Book 11) Read onlineOne Last Night at Grogan's (A Matthew Scudder Story Book 11)The Burglar on the Prowl Read onlineThe Burglar on the ProwlWelcome to the Real World (A Story From the Dark Side) Read onlineWelcome to the Real World (A Story From the Dark Side)Keller 05 - Hit Me Read onlineKeller 05 - Hit MeWalk Among the Tombstones: A Matthew Scudder Crime Novel Read onlineWalk Among the Tombstones: A Matthew Scudder Crime NovelRonald Rabbit Is a Dirty Old Man Read onlineRonald Rabbit Is a Dirty Old ManThe Burglar Who Studied Spinoza Read onlineThe Burglar Who Studied SpinozaThe Burglar Who Liked to Quote Kipling Read onlineThe Burglar Who Liked to Quote KiplingKeller in Des Moines Read onlineKeller in Des MoinesHit List Read onlineHit ListThe Dettweiler Solution Read onlineThe Dettweiler SolutionHCC 115 - Borderline Read onlineHCC 115 - BorderlineA Drop of the Hard Stuff: A Matthew Scudder Novel Read onlineA Drop of the Hard Stuff: A Matthew Scudder NovelStep by Step Read onlineStep by StepThe Girl With the Deep Blue Eyes Read onlineThe Girl With the Deep Blue EyesIf You Can't Stand the Heat (Kit Tolliver #1) (The Kit Tolliver Stories) Read onlineIf You Can't Stand the Heat (Kit Tolliver #1) (The Kit Tolliver Stories)The Topless Tulip Caper Read onlineThe Topless Tulip CaperDolly's Trash & Treasures (A Story From the Dark Side) Read onlineDolly's Trash & Treasures (A Story From the Dark Side)The Triumph of Evil Read onlineThe Triumph of EvilFun with Brady and Angelica (Kit Tolliver #10 (The Kit Tolliver Stories) Read onlineFun with Brady and Angelica (Kit Tolliver #10 (The Kit Tolliver Stories)Burglars Can't Be Choosers Read onlineBurglars Can't Be ChoosersWho Knows Where It Goes (A Story From the Dark Side) Read onlineWho Knows Where It Goes (A Story From the Dark Side)Deadly Honeymoon Read onlineDeadly HoneymoonLike a Bone in the Throat (A Story From the Dark Side) Read onlineLike a Bone in the Throat (A Story From the Dark Side)A Chance to Get Even (A Story From the Dark Side) Read onlineA Chance to Get Even (A Story From the Dark Side)The Boy Who Disappeared Clouds Read onlineThe Boy Who Disappeared CloudsCollecting Ackermans Read onlineCollecting AckermansWaitress Wanted (Kit Tolliver #5) (The Kit Tolliver Stories) Read onlineWaitress Wanted (Kit Tolliver #5) (The Kit Tolliver Stories)One Thousand Dollars a Word Read onlineOne Thousand Dollars a WordEven the Wicked: A Matthew Scudder Novel (Matthew Scudder Mysteries) Read onlineEven the Wicked: A Matthew Scudder Novel (Matthew Scudder Mysteries)Hit Man Read onlineHit ManThe Night and The Music Read onlineThe Night and The MusicEhrengraf for the Defense Read onlineEhrengraf for the DefenseThe Merciful Angel of Death (A Matthew Scudder Story Book 5) Read onlineThe Merciful Angel of Death (A Matthew Scudder Story Book 5)The Burglar in the Rye Read onlineThe Burglar in the RyeI Know How to Pick 'Em Read onlineI Know How to Pick 'EmGetting Off hcc-69 Read onlineGetting Off hcc-69Three in the Side Pocket (A Story From the Dark Side) Read onlineThree in the Side Pocket (A Story From the Dark Side)Let's Get Lost (A Matthew Scudder Story Book 8) Read onlineLet's Get Lost (A Matthew Scudder Story Book 8)Strange Are the Ways of Love Read onlineStrange Are the Ways of LoveMOSTLY MURDER: Till Death: a mystery anthology Read onlineMOSTLY MURDER: Till Death: a mystery anthologyMasters of Noir: Volume Four Read onlineMasters of Noir: Volume FourA Week as Andrea Benstock Read onlineA Week as Andrea BenstockScenarios (A Stoiry From the Dark Side) Read onlineScenarios (A Stoiry From the Dark Side)The Sex Therapists: What They Can Do and How They Do It (John Warren Wells on Sexual Behavior Book 15) Read onlineThe Sex Therapists: What They Can Do and How They Do It (John Warren Wells on Sexual Behavior Book 15)Like a Thief in the Night: a Bernie Rhodenbarr story Read onlineLike a Thief in the Night: a Bernie Rhodenbarr storyA Diet of Treacle Read onlineA Diet of TreacleCommunity of Women Read onlineCommunity of WomenDifferent Strokes: How I (Gulp!) Wrote, Directed, and Starred in an X-rated Movie (John Warren Wells on Sexual Behavior) Read onlineDifferent Strokes: How I (Gulp!) Wrote, Directed, and Starred in an X-rated Movie (John Warren Wells on Sexual Behavior)You Don't Even Feel It (A Story From the Dark Side) Read onlineYou Don't Even Feel It (A Story From the Dark Side)Zeroing In (Kit Tolliver #11) (The Kit Tolliver Stories) Read onlineZeroing In (Kit Tolliver #11) (The Kit Tolliver Stories)The Wife-Swap Report (John Warren Wells on Sexual Behavior) Read onlineThe Wife-Swap Report (John Warren Wells on Sexual Behavior)Keller's Fedora (Kindle Single) Read onlineKeller's Fedora (Kindle Single)Speaking of Lust Read onlineSpeaking of LustEverybody Dies (Matthew Scudder) Read onlineEverybody Dies (Matthew Scudder)Defender of the Innocent: The Casebook of Martin Ehrengraf Read onlineDefender of the Innocent: The Casebook of Martin EhrengrafAfter the First Death Read onlineAfter the First DeathWriting the Novel Read onlineWriting the NovelHow Far - a one-act stage play Read onlineHow Far - a one-act stage playChip Harrison Scores Again Read onlineChip Harrison Scores AgainThe Topless Tulip Caper ch-4 Read onlineThe Topless Tulip Caper ch-4The Crime of Our Lives Read onlineThe Crime of Our LivesKilling Castro Read onlineKilling CastroThe Trouble with Eden Read onlineThe Trouble with EdenNothing Short of Highway Robbery Read onlineNothing Short of Highway RobberySin Hellcat Read onlineSin HellcatGetting Off: A Novel of Sex & Violence (Hard Case Crime) Read onlineGetting Off: A Novel of Sex & Violence (Hard Case Crime)Coward's Kiss Read onlineCoward's KissAlive in Shape and Color Read onlineAlive in Shape and ColorBlow for Freedom Read onlineBlow for FreedomThe New Sexual Underground: Crossing the Last Boundaries (John Warren Wells on Sexual Behavior Book 10) Read onlineThe New Sexual Underground: Crossing the Last Boundaries (John Warren Wells on Sexual Behavior Book 10)April North Read onlineApril NorthLucky at Cards Read onlineLucky at CardsOne Night Stands; Lost weekends Read onlineOne Night Stands; Lost weekendsSweet Little Hands (A Story From the Dark Side) Read onlineSweet Little Hands (A Story From the Dark Side)Blood on Their Hands Read onlineBlood on Their HandsA Dance at the Slaughterhouse Read onlineA Dance at the SlaughterhouseHeadaches and Bad Dreams (A Story From the Dark Side) Read onlineHeadaches and Bad Dreams (A Story From the Dark Side)Keller's Therapy Read onlineKeller's TherapyThe Specialists Read onlineThe SpecialistsHit and Run jk-4 Read onlineHit and Run jk-4Threesome Read onlineThreesomeLove at a Tender Age (John Warren Wells on Sexual Behavior) Read onlineLove at a Tender Age (John Warren Wells on Sexual Behavior)The Devil Knows You're Dead: A MATTHEW SCUDDER CRIME NOVEL Read onlineThe Devil Knows You're Dead: A MATTHEW SCUDDER CRIME NOVELFunny You Should Ask Read onlineFunny You Should AskCH01 - No Score Read onlineCH01 - No ScoreSex and the Stewardess (John Warren Wells on Sexual Behavior) Read onlineSex and the Stewardess (John Warren Wells on Sexual Behavior)A Madwoman's Diary Read onlineA Madwoman's DiaryWhen This Man Dies Read onlineWhen This Man DiesSinner Man Read onlineSinner ManSuch Men Are Dangerous Read onlineSuch Men Are DangerousA Strange Kind of Love Read onlineA Strange Kind of LoveEnough of Sorrow Read onlineEnough of Sorrow69 Barrow Street Read online69 Barrow StreetA Moment of Wrong Thinking (Matthew Scudder Mysteries Series Book 9) Read onlineA Moment of Wrong Thinking (Matthew Scudder Mysteries Series Book 9)Eight Million Ways to Die ms-5 Read onlineEight Million Ways to Die ms-5Warm and Willing Read onlineWarm and WillingMona Read onlineMonaIn Sunlight or In Shadow Read onlineIn Sunlight or In ShadowA Candle for the Bag Lady (Matthew Scudder Book 2) Read onlineA Candle for the Bag Lady (Matthew Scudder Book 2)Conjugal Rites (Kit Tolliver #7) (The Kit Tolliver Stories) Read onlineConjugal Rites (Kit Tolliver #7) (The Kit Tolliver Stories)Speaking of Lust - the novella Read onlineSpeaking of Lust - the novellaGigolo Johnny Wells Read onlineGigolo Johnny WellsDark City Lights Read onlineDark City LightsVersatile Ladies: the bisexual option (John Warren Wells on Sexual Behavior) Read onlineVersatile Ladies: the bisexual option (John Warren Wells on Sexual Behavior)Passport to Peril Read onlinePassport to PerilThe Taboo Breakers: Shock Troops of the Sexual Revolution (John Warren Wells on Sexual Behavior) Read onlineThe Taboo Breakers: Shock Troops of the Sexual Revolution (John Warren Wells on Sexual Behavior)Lucky at Cards hcc-28 Read onlineLucky at Cards hcc-28Campus Tramp Read onlineCampus Tramp3 is Not a Crowd (John Warren Wells on Sexual Behavior) Read online3 is Not a Crowd (John Warren Wells on Sexual Behavior)Manhattan Noir Read onlineManhattan NoirThe Burglar in the Library Read onlineThe Burglar in the LibraryDoing It! - Going Beyond the Sexual Revolution (John Warren Wells on Sexual Behavior Book 13) Read onlineDoing It! - Going Beyond the Sexual Revolution (John Warren Wells on Sexual Behavior Book 13)So Willing Read onlineSo WillingThe Burglar Who Traded Ted Williams br-6 Read onlineThe Burglar Who Traded Ted Williams br-6Candy Read onlineCandySex Without Strings: A Handbook for Consenting Adults (John Warren Wells on Sexual Behavior) Read onlineSex Without Strings: A Handbook for Consenting Adults (John Warren Wells on Sexual Behavior)The Devil Knows You're Dead: A MATTHEW SCUDDER CRIME NOVEL (Matthew Scudder Mysteries) Read onlineThe Devil Knows You're Dead: A MATTHEW SCUDDER CRIME NOVEL (Matthew Scudder Mysteries)Manhattan Noir 2 Read onlineManhattan Noir 2The Scoreless Thai (aka Two For Tanner) Read onlineThe Scoreless Thai (aka Two For Tanner)