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Ruger, of course, had His cold eyes missed very little He saw Boyd’s tears just as clearly as he saw the blood and the life seeping out of Tony’s gut He upped the wattage on his smile and chuckled low in his throat, too low to be heard over the roar of the engine

Three minutes later, Tony crashed the car

Chapter 3

1

"This place is a slaughterhouse"

Detective Sergeant Frank Ferro nodded but said nothing He and Detective Vince LaMastra stood shoulder to shoulder in the doorway of the warehouse Ferro was tall, his younger partner much taller, and their shadows stretched far across the bloody floor There were corpses and spent shell casings everywhere The stink of cordite hung like a pall in the close air of the warehouse, but beneath the gunpowder reek they could smell the blood, like freshly sheared copper

Ferro tapped the shoulder of a unifor the scene in his notebook "Al, who’s been called?"

The officer looked up "Hey, Sarge Some mess, huh?"

"Yeah OK Corral Who’s been called?" he asked again

"ME’s on his way, and the photographer’s already around back taking soer’s car"

"You’re sure it was Ruger?" LaMastra asked, brightening

"Yeah, the surveillance teaot a positive on hiuys when this shit storm went down"

"Where are they?"

"Northeastern Hospital Ruger must have sniffed them ’cause he fired a clip into the van when he and the others took off"

"Jim and Nelly hurt bad?"

Al snorted "They’re lucky as shit Cuts frolass and debris, but they hit the deck on the first shot and all the other rounds just tore up the can Missed them completely"

"What about Johnston?"

The officer shook his head "He’s around back"

Ferro’s lugubrious brown face tightened and he flicked a quick glance at LaMastra A er man’s clamped jaw

Al led them around back to where Johnston lay in a lis wide in a red pool The photographershot after shot

"You alrapher took another shot before answering

"Yeah," he said as let his ca from its strap "I’m to do the inside now"

Alone, Ferro and LaMastra looked down at the corpse

"Jesus H Christ," LaMastra breathed

They said nothing for a couple oftheir cop faces intact despite as going on behind their eyes

"Ruger," LaMastra said, needlessly

"Yeah"