Hard Road (Jon Reznick, #1)

by J.B. Turner

The call came from a man he knew only as Maddox. Jon Reznick was sitting on his freezing deck as darkness fell over Maine, nursing a bottle of beer, staring out over the ocean. He let his cell phone ring a few times, knowing what lay ahead.

It had been ten long weeks. He pulled his jacket tight and watched his breath turn to vapor. He sighed long and hard before he picked up the phone.

“We got a delivery problem in Washington,...

Down below in the cove, the Atlantic breakers crashed with a deafening roar, sending salt water into the winter air. The silhouettes of the tall oaks and maples shorn of their leaves—trees his late father had planted in the garden when he was a boy—bent and creaked in the wind. Away in the distance, out in Penobscot Bay, Reznick could ...

Reznick knew the city well. He headed onto the airport toll road and drove due east on Interstate 66, over the Roosevelt Bridge, then exited onto Constitution Avenue. The traffic was still heavy, despite the late hour. His mind flashed back to the time he first visited the city with his father.

The blaring siren of a fire truck in the distance snapped him out of his reverie as he drove over the historic Taft Bridge, past the imposing concrete lions guarding each side. He took a left onto Calvert Street, the hotel up ahead. He pulled up outside the traditional, eight-story building and tipped the valet ten dollars.

His fake credit card was swiped and he took the elevator to the sixth floor. Reznick used the keycard to open his door and flicked on the lights. He hung a “Do Not Disturb” sign outside before locking the room.

It was too warm, but it was spacious. A huge TV was on one wall, a welcome message on the screen. The decor was the “classic” look—green, floral-patterned carpet, and a king-size bed with a couple of rosewood dressers. The drapes matched the carpet.

Reznick peered out the window over the upscale Woodley Park neighborhood: a good base, well away from downtown. He turned down the climate control switch to “Cool,” showered, an...