Not Even Past Read online

  Donne logged off and exhaled. A moment passed. Then the entire coffee shop turned toward him as he screamed. They asked him to leave.

  He drove home.

  That night, as the snow fell and carpeted his lawn, he drank an entire four-pack of Heady Topper and passed out. The next morning, head throbbing, he went out and shoveled all four bed-and-breakfasts. He left his own front walk for last. The snow was heavy and wet, as if the temperature was just barely cold enough for snow.

  The tears in his eyes blurred the whiteness away.

  Dave White is a Derringer Award-winning mystery author and educator. White, an eighth grade teacher for the Clifton, NJ Public School district, attended Rutgers University and received his MAT from Montclair State University. His 2002 short story “Closure,” won the Derringer Award for Best Short Mystery Story the following year. Publishers Weekly gave the first two novels in his Jackson Donne series, When One Man Dies and The Evil That Men Do, starred reviews, calling When One Man Dies an “engrossing, evocative debut novel” and writing that his second novel “fulfills the promise of his debut.” He received praise from crime fiction luminaries such as bestselling, Edgar Award-winning Laura Lippman and the legendary James Crumley.

  Both When One Man Dies and The Evil That Men Do were nominated for the prestigious Shamus Award, and When One Man Dies was nominated for the Strand Critics Award for “Best First Novel”. His standalone thriller, Witness To Death, was an ebook bestseller upon release and named one of the Best Books of the Year by the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. All three books have been reissued by Polis Books and are available wherever ebooks are sold. Follow Dave White on Twitter at @dave_white.

  If you enjoyed this book, or any of my books, you need to thank Jason Pinter. Jason, the brilliant mind behind Polis Books brought Donne to print and then saved him off the scrap heap two years ago. Without Polis Books, Donne would have gone away like a lot of other private detectives. I am so happy he’s back on the page, and for that I am so thankful for Jason and Polis Books.

  My wonderful agent Allan Guthrie is also to thank, for early read-throughs, smart advice, and a shoulder to lean on.

  No one can get by without good friends: Sarah Weinman, Duane Swierczynski, Bryon Quertermous, Jay Stringer, Russell McLean, Chuck Wendig, Chris and Katrina Holm, Bill Cameron, Thomas Pluck, Angel Colon, Hector Acosta, Dan and Kate Malmon, and Alex Segura. To everyone else in the mystery community too. You’ve always been there for a helping hand and Twitter pep talks.

  And, of course, the family. I am forever in Carol and Martin White’s debt—you know because they’re my parents. I also thank Thomas White, Jessica Schupp, Eleanore Richard, Thomas Richard, Fred Aguilera, Kristen Richard Aguilera, and Daniel and Brandon Aguilera. Thank you for the support.

  To my readers, I hope you enjoyed this book. And all of the other ones. Thank you.

  And finally Erin and Ben White. I love you. Thank you for being there for me.

  The following is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in an entirely fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2015 by Dave White

  Cover and jacket design by Adrijus Guscia

  Interior designed and formatted by: E.M. Tippetts Book Designs

  ISBN 978-1-940610-36-8

  eISBN 978-1-940610-03-0

  First trade paperback edition February 2015 by Polis Books, LLC

  60 West 23rd Street

  New York, NY 10010

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Also by Dave White

  Dedication

  Quote

  PART I

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  PART II

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  PART III

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Chapter 47

  Chapter 48

  Chapter 49

  Chapter 50

  Chapter 51

  Chapter 52

  Chapter 53

  Chapter 54

  Chapter 55

  Chapter 56

  Chapter 57

  Chapter 58

  Chapter 59

  Chapter 60

  Chapter 61

  Chapter 62

  Chapter 63

  Chapter 64

  Chapter 65

  Chapter 66

  Chapter 67

  Chapter 68

  Chapter 69

  Chapter 70

  About the Author

  Acknowledgements

  Copyright Notice