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Ferro pursed his lips but said nothing

"I’"

"Of course it’s wrong"

"No, Ihere, Frank We’re not looking at this the right way"

"How should we be looking at it?"

"Shit, I don’t even know anyer was shot…but I don’t know This whole thing has me spooked"

Ferro looked at hied "Yeah, well, I guess ‘odd’ is prettyPretty fucking odd" He shook his head "Screw this, I’ot up, tossed soered for a while, still staring moodily into the uninformative depths of his beer

3

Crow called the hospital security and put Mike’s name on the entry list and thenthem that he was not at death’s door They all asked hi their concerns and condolences to Val, Mark, and Connie, which he proation calls he then punched in Terry’s nu and Terry didn’t pick it up

A ses of his awareness He asked his nurse if she’d seen hih he said he would be back He didn’t say when

Crow gave it a half hour and then called again This ti

"Yes?" His voice was harsh, abrupt

"Terry…Crow Did I catch you at a bad ti after the doctor said ‘it’s a boy’ and smacked me on the ass would have been a bad ti the fact that Terry had just said "ass" It was the first time he’d ever heard Terry use even sowith the select down around our ears This after spending all day with the cops and listening to the autopsy report on one of Ruger’s chuot a case of the shakes so bad that if soave me a pair of drumsticks I’d be able to do a jazz iinner" Though he tried hard to make a joke, there was no humor in his voice

"Hey, how about this? Go the hell hoet soht hours"

"Yeah," Terry said, "but will I?"

"What do you o I’ll drop by later and check in on you"

"I’d rather you went home to bed"

"See you later," Terry said and disconnected

Croned at his cell phone for a while, unhappy with the tension he had heard in his friend’s voice Terry saying "ass" Sure, it was a s, but it spoke volu

He wasthis over when Officer Jerry Head walked into his roo He paused in the doorway for a second, rapping on the door with a knuckle

"Mind if I come in?"

It took Crow a second to place hi Philly cop sat down gratefully, looking spent and tired He still wore his uniform, but his tie was loosened and he had the "off-​duty" air about hian

"Just Crow"

"Cool Crow--I only caught the tail end of what happened last night I didn’t see you kick the shit out of Ruger, but I heard the details, and I did see you help that girl, Rhoda You stood your ground, man, can’t nobody say otherwise"

Crow didn’t kno to respond to that, so he just shrugged

"So, I wanted to co, and…" Here he paused as if a little euess I just wanted to shake your hand" He extended his hand to Croho stared at it for a second, and then, half s with his own embarrassment, he reached out and took it Out of courtesy for the IV, Head had offered his left, and the cop’s hand was like a piece of unsanded wood--hard, dry, and rough "And I also brought you so "I’ve spent my share of tieries, and a knife wound on the job--so I know youhe pulled two thick paperbacks--a Keith Ablow azines Sports Illustrated, Entertainerie pictorial featuring the women from Fox TV Beneath the books there were two cans of cold Coke and a couple of packs of Tastykake chocolate cupcakes<ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>