Free Play Dead by David Rosenfelt

can hear the worry in her voice. Laurie is one of the toughest people I know, but she’s well aware that toughness is a trait she and I don’t share.
    She’s frustrated that she can’t get away from her job to come back east until the end of the month, and cautions me to be extra careful. She also has one other piece of advice, the one I expected.
    “Get Marcus.”

M ARCUS C LARK IS a terrific investigator, but that is not what initially comes to mind when one thinks of him. Focusing on his investigating talents first would be like somebody asking for your view of Pamela Anderson, only to have you respond that you hear she’s a pretty good bowler. It may or may not be true, but it’s not “top of mind.”
    Marcus is the scariest person I have ever seen, and there is no one in second place. He is cast in bronze iron, impervious to fear or pain, and possesses a stare that makes me want to carry around a piece of kryptonite, just in case.
    He has been one of my key investigators since even before Laurie went to Wisconsin, and has displayed an uncanny knack for getting people to reveal information. They confide in him, operating under the assumption that they can talk or die. I, for example, would tell Marcus whatever he wanted to know, whenever he wanted to know it. And I would thank him for the opportunity.
    Because I seem to have an involuntary knack for pissing off dangerous people, I sometimes employ Marcus as a protector, a bodyguard, rather than an investigator. That’s why I’ve called him into the office this morning. I’ll probably have a need for him to gather information at some point, but right now that takes a backseat to my need to stay alive.
    I stop on the way in to drop my car off so that they can replace the window that’s been shot out. They drive me to my office and promise to bring me the repaired car before the day is out.
    I’ve had Kevin come in for this meeting as well. When I meet with Marcus, I like as many other people in the room as possible. It makes me feel safer, although if Marcus wanted to do me harm, the Third Infantry on their best day couldn’t help me.
    All I really need to tell Marcus is that some people tried to shoot me and that for whatever reason, it’s very possible that I am a target. His job is to keep me safe and alive, pure and simple. But because I have respect for Marcus’s investigative skills, and because I think he should have as much information as possible about whom he might be dealing with, I tell him all I know about the Richard Evans case.
    My recitation of the facts takes about ten minutes, and Marcus is either silently attentive or asleep the entire time. His eyes are open, but that doesn’t really mean anything one way or the other. Kevin sits as far away from Marcus as is possible while remaining in the same room.
    When I’m finished, I wait for him to comment, and after twenty long seconds it’s obvious that is not going to happen. I prompt him with “So that’s it. Any questions?”
    “Unhh,” says Marcus. Marcus is a man of very few words, most of which are not actually words.
    “Will you need anything from me?” I ask.
    “Unhh.”
    “Can you get started right away?”
    “Yunhh.”
    I don’t quite know how to end this, so I turn to Kevin. “Kev, you got anything you want to add?”
    He shakes his head a little too quickly. “Not me. Not a thing. Nope.”
    Marcus gets up to leave, without my asking him how he will perform his protective functions. I’ve learned long ago that he will be there if I need him, and I won’t see him if I don’t. It’s comforting to me, though I’ll certainly miss our little chitchats.
    As he reaches the door, it opens from the other side, and Karen Evans is standing there. She is one of the most talkative people I know, but the sight of Marcus stuns her into silence. Her eyes widen, and her mouth opens, but nothing comes out.
    “Oh, my God…,” she says, once Marcus has left. “Is he on our