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On soht a few hours later

Okay, it was not great that sootten shot in the face, or that none of the neighbors wanted to say a word about what theyout the soles of their shoes for nothing But this was normal-course-of-hard-business shit This was not about his father or freaky, no-footprint-leaving, ht-stalker shit

The victi in the driver&039;s seat of his SUV at this twelve-building apartal cash-and-carry co crews, there had been no drugs or cash on the body or in the vehicle, but they had found a list of nauy&039;s coat, crack residue in a series of plastic bags in the back, and a total of five guns in the car

None of which he&039;d evidently been able to get to fast enough

Unless you assumed that the ones that had been easy-access had been lifted along with the rest of the valuables

By noon, he and de la Cruz ell into their rounds of the buildings, knocking on doors, trying to get people ere suspicious of cops and rightfully scared of retaliation to talk

As he went frorimace as the kid sat slumped behind that wheel, the seat belt across his chest all that kept hiht, the facial features that had once identified him to his mother and his fa hi back to Kroner in those woods, Veck re to take out an evildoer had made it seem more justifiable - at least, to one part of him - but did that really matter?

Hell, the motherfucker who&039;d shot this victim in the SUV no doubt had his or her reasons, however twisted they ht have appeared on an objective moral scale Except a et&039;s disposition

Too bad none of that ive a crap whether Kroner was a saint or a sinner - the killing, the taking had been the thing The object of the wrath? Iet to hit

Which was undoubtedly how his father felt about other people

And what a happy thought that was

As the sun started sinking, and the shadows grew longer, the warrungier He and de la Cruz had split up and were focusing on the buildings around where the body was found, but given that there were six stories of apartments, they&039;d be lucky to wrap this part up by five o&039;clock

Turning away from yet another no-answer, Veck hit the bald concrete stairs, descending to the lobby The front doors were supposed to be locked, of course, but they&039;d been kicked open so many ti his face and wishing he had a cigarette, he turned to the east and headed for the last apart that was his responsibility He was just at the door when his phone went off The text fro over to the hospital noith Bails

Well, at least that gave his up on this case

And afterward, maybe take a little trip down to Connecticut , an inner voice suggested To see your father

He actually looked behind hi to hiht on his tail

As well as the conviction that he was probably going to do just that Soon

With a curse, he turned back to the entrance, and as he pivoted, he happened to glance down at the cracked cement of the sidewalk

What he saw stopped hiain The sun was setting right behind hiht source And there was no huge reflective surface to throw a second illuht, for God&039;s sake

He looked back down at his feet There were two shadows thrown by his body Two separate and distinct shadows, one leading north, one leading south

Graphic evidence of what he&039;d always felt - of two halves of hi him in opposite directions

Look down at your feet, Thoet scared enough

As Jiht of Reilly He&039;d beonfident of protecting her fro sure he could be what she needed But all that cock and balls did not apply to this shit on the ground He didn&039;t understand it hiht it for her?

And Reilly was on the line Otherwise she wouldn&039;t have spent the night before sitting up in a chair with a gun in her hand

I&039;m the only one who can help you

God knew if Heron had wanted to hurt either of theuy had done was point theht direction at the quarryand disappear

Decision ed for his phone He&039;d saved Heron&039;s nuuy, and as he dialed it now, he prayed that the man who left no footprints would answerand tell him about as at his own feet

The sound of a cell phone ringing out loud behind hi three feet away fro - which he had been, hadn&039;t he

Veck narrowed his eyes and took a careful visual picture of the h in his leather jacket and his fatigues And as he exhaled smoke from his Marlboro, the shit floated over and tickled Veck&039;s craving button

But he wasn&039;t real, was he

Heart pounding in his chest, Veck hit end on his phone and the sound co fro short," the guy said

And this made Veck think about his father: That note in the ot closer and closer to the execution

Which was co so very soon, wasn&039;t it

This was it, he thought Everything, his whole existence, had led up to thiswhatever the fuck it was

As Veck h theaware the shit was blurry The caotten with the progra world

Especially given the fact that the fading light of day was couy&039;s feet No shadow at all

"What the fuck are you," Veck demanded

"I&039;uy took a drag on his cig and exhaled slowly "You ready to talk to me now?"

Veck stared at his own pair of outlines, both in the shape of his body "Yeah I am"

Reilly was behind the wheel of her unmarked as she and Bails went over to the St Francis Hospital coer seat as she navigated heavy traffic and got stuck at red lights and then hit a detour that took her in the opposite direction

"Anyso to Kroner," she lance over "Yeah"

More silence To the point where she was going to ask hi they needed was this kind of tension when they were in front ot killer

Bails spoke before she did, however "I&039; I just don&039;t knohat to do"

"About what?" When it was safe to take her eyes off the road, she spared hiainst the door, and staring out of the windshield as if he were searching for answers in the glass

"I know you saw my e-mail," she said after aprobleed "You know Veck and I are tight, yeah?"

"Yes"

"And you know that I&039;ve always been behind him one hundred percent To the death That boy is mine"

As he pounded over his heart, she said, "Okay"

"So, yeah, I saw the e-mail he sent you I didn&039;t mean to, but it was up on your screen when I came over to you two" He looked over "I wasn&039;t eavesdropping It was just there"