Excerpt from Blood Is The Sky by Steve Hamilton, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

"Okay, then."

"Okay."

Vinnie walked in just then and saved us. He came to the bar and sat down next to me.

"Give the man some beef stew," I said.

"No thanks," he said. That's when I knew something was wrong. If you have any appetite at all, you don't turn down Jackie's beef stew.

"What's going on?" I said.

"I'm sorry I wasn't around today. Something sort of came up."

"You don't have to apologize," I said. "Hell, it's not like I'm paying you anything."

Vinnie thought about it. "You realize," he said, "that I'm the one paying you. For what happened. This is how I'm settling my debt to you."

"You don't owe me anything," I said. "We've been through this, remember?"

I sure as hell didn't want to go through it again. Not when we both seemed to be finally getting over it.

"I remember," he said. "But still…"

"For God's sake," I said, "are you gonna tell me what's wrong?"

He sat there for a long moment, while Jackie looked back and forth between us, clearly expecting the worst.

"It's Tom," he finally said.

"Your brother."

"Yeah."

I didn't know a hell of a lot about Tom LeBlanc. I knew he was a few years younger than Vinnie, and that he had caused his family enough trouble to make Vinnie look like the golden boy. There was one incident at the Canadian border that Vinnie never wanted to talk about - I had to read about it in the Soo Evening News. That was the last time I had seen Tom, in fact - right before he had gone off to serve his two years at Kincheloe.

"What's the problem?" I said. I knew he was out on parole now, and saying all the right things about staying straight. But hell, if he was in trouble again, it wouldn't exactly shock me.

"He was on a hunting trip in Ontario. He was supposed to be back a couple of days ago."

"And he didn't make it back?"

"No." "You don't think…"

"What, that he's passed out in some bar in Canada? Is that what you mean?"

"Vinnie, come on."

"It's different this time, Alex."

Here it comes, I thought. He's been going to the meetings, he's a changed man. The whole speech. That's what I expected.

That's not what I got.

"This time," Vinnie said, "he's me."

From Blood Is The Sky by Steve Hamilton. Copyright © 2003 Steve Hamilton, published by St Martin's Minotaur. All rights reserved, reprinted with permission from the publisher.