Too Far Gone by John Ramsey Miller Page A

whatever I can.”
    â€œI have to go. I don’t want Deana to wake up and not find me there. She’s already upset that Gary isn’t home, and the excitement and strangers in the house has her terribly confused. Please try to help us, Alexa. Without Gary, my daughter doesn’t have a chance. As deeply as I love her, I think without Gary I can’t stand up to Unko. I simply don’t have it in me to give her all that Gary can. We need him in our lives.”

11
    When the phone rang, Michael Manseur had been asleep less than forty minutes. His wife, Emily, rolled over to face him as he put the receiver to his ear. The clock read 5:12. Manseur repressed a groan.
    â€œHello?”
    â€œDetective Manseur, Jackson Evans.”
    Manseur sat up. “Yes, sir.”
    â€œI’ll see you in my office in one hour.”
    Manseur started to say something, then realized that his superintendent had already hung up.
    â€œIs everything all right?” Emily asked.
    â€œCover your eyes, doll. I need to turn on the light for a second.”
    â€œYou’re not getting enough sleep, Michael,” she scolded gently. “You need to take a few days off.”
    â€œThat isn’t going to happen any time soon.” He settled back into the pillows with a soft sigh. “With authority comes sacrifice.”
    â€œYou didn’t sleep a night through when you
weren’t
head of Homicide.”
    â€œI didn’t?” he said, smiling. “No, I guess not. Shouldn’t miss what I never had.”
    â€œWho was that on the phone?”
    â€œThe super.”
    â€œWhat did he want?”
    â€œHe wants you and the girls to evacuate to Birmingham.”
    â€œThe hurricane isn’t definitely coming here, Michael. If it becomes obvious that it is, we’ll go.”
    â€œGet everything packed this morning. I filled the Toyota last night. I want you and the girls gone while the going’s good. No arguing, please, Emily. I can’t get my work done if I’m worried about y’all.”
    â€œOkay. We’ll leave this afternoon. Now, what did Evans really want?”
    â€œI think he wants to give me a lesson on how gravity affects stinky objects that have been set into motion down an incline.”
    Emily laughed, placed her hand on his arm. “You need to learn to step out of the way of trouble, Michael.”
    â€œDarling, I try. But sometimes the trouble that gets in my way comes at me faster than I can jump clear.”

12
    As much as Alexa wanted to help Casey, it wasn’t going to happen unless Jackson Evans asked her to help, and that was no more likely to happen than the moon was likely to deflate. She had packed her bag, was dressed and watching the latest hurricane news on the Weather Channel, glad she was leaving before the tempest came roaring in from the Gulf of Mexico. She had made arrangements to have a cab pick her up at the lobby entrance in thirty minutes, which gave her three hours before her nine-twelve flight, plenty of time even if traffic was heavy, or an accident stopped traffic. The room phone rang twice before she picked it up.
    â€œYes?” she answered.
    â€œSpecial Agent Keen?” a stern female voice asked.
    â€œYes.”
    â€œPlease hold for the director.”
    FBI Director Bender?
Alexa waited with the phone frozen to her ear, a hollow churning in her stomach. It was a feeling she was familiar with. She had experienced it on the occasions when she was waiting to be disciplined.
    After a long pause, during which time the weatherman on her television set droned on about Katrina, there was a click and a man’s voice filled the earpiece.
    â€œAgent Keen, I’ve heard a lot of good things about you. I need for you to do me a big favor.”
    â€œIf I can, sir.”
    â€œIt’s just come to my attention that a fellow named…” he paused, Alexa assumed so he could check a note, “Gary