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  I shook, matching his surprising firmness. “I’m Jack.”

  “Welcome, Jack. It’ll be strange seeing someone new here. Did your real estate agent tell you about the previous owners?”

  “Only that the place has been unoccupied for over a year.”

  “They disappeared. Husband and wife, little girl no older than yours. Never found them. Vanished without a trace. Creepy, isn’t it?”

  It was creepy.

  Equally creepy was the old man who decided this story was a good way to introduce himself to his new neighbors.

  “The police never had any leads?”

  “No. And it drove them crazy. The husband, he was a cop. Homicide detective. They spent months looking for him. Not a trace. Not a trace.”

  “Cops make enemies.” I knew this from experience.

  “Yes, they do. Could be an old case came back to haunt him. But his wife was to local gossip. Always snooping around in other people’s beeswax. Wouldn’t surprise me none if she was the target all along.” He smiled again, leaning in closer. I saw spinach stuck to his gums. “Are you a snoop, Jack?”

  I didn’t like the way he asked.

  I didn’t like this guy at all.

  “Even worse. I’m an ex-cop. Homicide.”

  “What a lovely coincidence. Old cop disappears. New cop arrives. Well, I’ve taken up enough of your time. I’ll let you unpack, get settled in. Would you like a hand with some of these boxes?”

  “No thanks.”

  “I haven’t seen your husband around. He in the house?”

  “Nice to meet you, Mr. Wintergarten.”

  I nodded and turned my back on him, taking a garbage bag full of old clothes from the moving truck and walking back into the house.

  Sam had the GameMaster 2 box open, and was attempting to hook it up to the TV.

  “I told you we can do that later, honey.”

  “Did you talk to the nice old man?”

  “I did. I don’t want you talking to him when I’m not around.”

  “I already talked to him. He told me a little girl used to live here, but I’m even prettier than she was. Isn’t that nice?”

  It didn’t seem nice. It seems inappropriate.

  But I was probably just overreacting. My old cop instincts firing up, even though there was no threat.

  He was probably just an eccentric old man, eager to meet the new neighbors and share some gossip.

  I mean, what could he be, other than harmless?

  I’ve dealt with way more than my fair share of crazies over the years. The odds would be astronomical that we moved next door to someone dangerous.

  Right?

  JOE KONRATH’S

  COMPLETE BIBLIOGRAPHY

  JACQUELINE “JACK” DANIELS THRILLERS

  WHISKEY SOUR (Book 1)

  BLOODY MARY (Book 2)

  RUSTY NAIL (Book 3)

  DIRTY MARTINI (Book 4)

  FUZZY NAVEL (Book 5)

  CHERRY BOMB (Book 6)

  SHAKEN (Book 7)

  STIRRED with with Blake Crouch (Book 8)

  RUM RUNNER (Book 9)

  LAST CALL (Book 10)

  WHITE RUSSIAN (Book 11)

  SHOT GIRL (Book 12)

  CHASER (Book 13)

  OLD FASHIONED (Book 14)

  LADY 52 with Jude Hardin (Book 2.5)

  JACK DANIELS AND ASSOCIATES MYSTERIES

  DEAD ON MY FEET (Book 1)

  JACK DANIELS STORIES VOL. 1 (Book 2)

  SHOT OF TEQUILA (Book 3)

  JACK DANIELS STORIES VOL. 2 (Book 4)

  DYING BREATH (Book 5)

  SERIAL KILLERS UNCUT with Blake Crouch (Book 6)

  JACK DANIELS STORIES VOL. 3 (Book 7)

  EVERYBODY DIES (Book 8)

  JACK DANIELS STORIES VOL. 4 (Book 9)

  BANANA HAMMOCK (Book 10)

  KONRATH DARK THRILLER COLLECTIVE

  THE LIST (Book 1)

  ORIGIN (Book 2)

  AFRAID (Book 3)

  TRAPPED (Book 4)

  ENDURANCE (Book 5)

  HAUNTED HOUSE (Book 6)

  WEBCAM (Book 7)

  DISTURB (Book 8)

  WHAT HAPPENED TO LORI (Book 9)

  THE NINE (Book 10)

  CLOSE YOUR EYES (Book 11)

  SECOND COMING (Book 12)

  HOLES IN THE GROUND with Iain Rob Wright (Book 4.5)

  DRACULAS with Blake Crouch, Jeff Strand, F. Paul Wilson (Book 5.5)

  GRANDMA? with Talon Konrath (Book 6.5)

  STOP A MURDER PUZZLE BOOKS

  STOP A MURDER – HOW: PUZZLES 1 – 12 (Book 1)

  STOP A MURDER – WHERE: PUZZLES 13 – 24 (Book 2)

  STOP A MURDER – WHY: PUZZLES 25 – 36 (Book 3)

  STOP A MURDER – WHO: PUZZLES 37 – 48 (Book 4)

  STOP A MURDER – WHEN: PUZZLES 49 – 60 (Book 5)

  STOP A MURDER – ANSWERS (Book 6)

  STOP A MURDER COMPLETE CASES (Books 1-5)

  CODENAME: CHANDLER SERIES

  (CO-WRITTEN WITH ANN VOSS PETERSON)

  FLEE (Book 1)

  SPREE (Book 2)

  THREE (Book 3)

  HIT (Book 4)

  EXPOSED (Book 5)

  NAUGHTY (Book 6)

  FIX with F. Paul Wilson (Book 7)

  RESCUE (Book 8)

  TIMECASTER SERIES

  TIMECASTER (Book 1)

  TIMECASTER SUPERSYMMETRY (Book 2)

  TIMECASTER STEAMPUNK (Book 3)

  EROTICA

  (WRITING AS MELINDA DUCHAMP)

  WANT IT BAD

  FIFTY SHADES OF ALICE IN WONDERLAND (Book 1)

  FIFTY SHADES OF ALICE THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS (Book 2)

  FIFTY SHADES OF ALICE AT THE HELLFIRE CLUB (Book 3)

  FIFTY SHADES OF JEZEBEL AND THE BEANSTALK (Book 1)

  FIFTY SHADES OF PUSS IN BOOTS (Book 2)

  FIFTY SHADES OF GOLDILOCKS (Book 3)

  THE SEXPERTS – FIFTY GRADES OF SHAY (Book 1)

  THE SEXPERTS – THE GIRL WITH THE PEARL NECKLACE (Book 2)

  MISCELLANEOUS

  65 PROOF – COLLECTED SHORT STORIES

  THE GLOBS OF USE-A-LOT 3 with Dan Maderak

  A NEWBIES GUIDE TO PUBLISHING

  OLD FASHIONED

  Former Chicago Homicide Lieutenant Jacqueline “Jack” Daniels has finally left her violent past behind, and she’s moved into a new house with her family.

  But her elderly next door neighbor is a bit… off.

  Is he really as he appears, a kind old gentlemen with a few eccentricities?

  Or are Jack’s instincts correct, and he’s something much, much darker?

  And what is it he’d got in his basement?

  Jack Daniels is about to learn that evil doesn’t mellow with age.

  OLD FASHIONED by JA Konrath

  How well do you know your neighbors?

  SHOT GIRL

  Jack is a retired cop who knows and respects firearms. A recent victim of gun violence, she is confined to a wheelchair, getting physical therapy in a rehab facility, and teaching handgun safety and Second Amendment history to the elderly residents.

  A thousand miles away, a very disturbed individual with a modified 9mm pistol, a thousand rounds of ammo, and a singular obsession—to make history as the biggest mass murderer ever—decides to make that active shooting fantasy a reality.

  It has been said the only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.

  Jack is about to find out if that’s true.

  SHOT GIRL by J.A. Konrath

  America has 300 million guns. This is the story of one of them.

  WHAT HAPPENED TO LORI

  Three people.

  Each has a secret.

  Each has an agenda.

  All three are liars.

  One of them committed a terrible crime.

  One of them is on the run.

  More than one of them is a killer.

  These three people are about to find out what happened to Lori.


  And they’re going to wish they never did…

  WHAT HAPPENED TO LORI – THE COMPLETE EPIC

  Is she dead? Or is it much worse?

  Sign up for the J.A. Konrath newsletter. A few times a year I pick random people to give free stuff to. It could be you.

  http://www.jakonrath.com/mailing-list.php

  I won’t spam you or give your information out without your permission!

  CHASER

  Copyright © 2019 by Joe Konrath

  Cover and art copyright © 2019 by Carl Graves

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from the authors.

  December 2019