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“That Leary wouldn’t recognize him,” Derek supplied

A shaky nod

Derek pulled up a chair “I need to know the whole story Why Leary ith you What this plan of his was What happened between the two of you and Xiao Long Everything” Studying the top of Martino’s bowed head, Derek added, “You can call a lawyer if you’d like”

Martino’s response was an ironic laugh “What lawyer—my own? He handles wills, real estate—not criminal cases Sloane? She works with you Besides, once she knows about this, she’ll never speak to ain Neither will her father He’ll hate me And I don’t blame him”

Slowly, Martino raised his head, and the raw pain on his face was al to see “I don’t want a lawyer What I want is never to have been born You can’t give that to me No one can So askto hell”

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

Phil’s as held that Friday at the Tho Island He had grown up there, his farown children had ements He was to be buried at a local ceo after a long bout with cancer

Given the circumstances of Phil’s death, it was a closed casket, and the attendees were markedly solemn Many of them were still in shock

Matthew and Rosalyn were already there when Sloane and Derek arrived

Sloane went over and squeezed her father’s ar back her own tears She’d spent a lot of ti hi as much as she could—which wasn’t much He knew that Phil’s bookie was in custody and that a search was being conducted for the killers He knew—fro illegals, and that Xiao Long owned the eency he dealt with He also knew that the FBI had upped the security on all the reroup

Mattheasn’t stupid With or without further in-depth explanation, he knew that Phil’s death had soroup of theer

The partners hadn’t talked, except by phone, since the rieve alone, and in his oay The as the first tiether since Phil’s death

Leo was the next to arrive He was pale and grim, with dark circles under his eyes He went over to Matthew, and the two ed in mutual sorrow Then, Leo ordlessly over to pay his respects to the family

Watching everyone’s suffering, hearing the quiet weeping that accompanied the loss of a loved one, Sloane felt more tears dampen her lashes Maybe if she’d solved this damned case by now, Phil would still be alive Maybe if she’d put together just a few more pieces…

“Don’t even go there,” Derekyou could have done to prevent this All we can do is try to stop it froht people to justice”