BooksBarbecue
Back Blood in the Water
Chapters (82)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Notice
  3. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  4. ONE
  5. TWO
  6. THREE
  7. FOUR
  8. FIVE
  9. SIX
  10. SEVEN
  11. EIGHT
  12. NINE
  13. TEN
  14. ELEVEN
  15. TWELVE
  16. THIRTEEN
  17. FOURTEEN
  18. FIFTEEN
  19. SIXTEEN
  20. SEVENTEEN
  21. EIGHTEEN
  22. NINETEEN
  23. TWENTY
  24. TWENTY-ONE
  25. TWENTY-TWO
  26. TWENTY-THREE
  27. TWENTY-FOUR
  28. TWENTY-FIVE
  29. TWENTY-SIX
  30. TWENTY-SEVEN
  31. TWENTY-EIGHT
  32. TWENTY-NINE
  33. THIRTY
  34. THIRTY-ONE
  35. THIRTY-TWO
  36. THIRTY-THREE
  37. THIRTY-FOUR
  38. THIRTY-FIVE
  39. THIRTY-SIX
  40. THIRTY-SEVEN
  41. THIRTY-EIGHT
  42. THIRTY-NINE
  43. FORTY
  44. FORTY-ONE
  45. FORTY-TWO
  46. FORTY-THREE
  47. FORTY-FOUR
  48. FORTY-FIVE
  49. FORTY-SIX
  50. FORTY-SEVEN
  51. FORTY-EIGHT
  52. FORTY-NINE
  53. FIFTY
  54. FIFTY-ONE
  55. FIFTY-TWO
  56. FIFTY-THREE
  57. FIFTY-FOUR
  58. FIFTY-FIVE
  59. FIFTY-SIX
  60. FIFTY-SEVEN
  61. FIFTY-EIGHT
  62. FIFTY-NINE
  63. SIXTY
  64. SIXTY-ONE
  65. SIXTY-TWO
  66. SIXTY-THREE
  67. SIXTY-FOUR
  68. SIXTY-FIVE
  69. SIXTY-SIX
  70. SIXTY-SEVEN
  71. SIXTY-EIGHT
  72. SIXTY-NINE
  73. SEVENTY
  74. SEVENTY-ONE
  75. SEVENTY-TWO
  76. SEVENTY-THREE
  77. SEVENTY-FOUR
  78. SEVENTY-FIVE
  79. SEVENTY-SIX
  80. Praise for Blood in the Water
  81. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  82. Newsletter Sign-up

The union offices were on the second floor. The first floor was an open warehouse area that was sometimes used to hold union meetings. It was large and bare, with concrete floors and no windows. Folding chairs were stacked in one corner. It was often bustling with men in between shifts, waiting to go out to a job, or just shooting the shit. As Buddy stepped in, he saw that the room was nearly empty, which was odd. There were only four men milling around, and Buddy sensed nervous tension in the room. He recognized John Hall, one of Cormack’s most loyal soldiers. They all seemed shocked to see him.

“Shit, Buddy Cavanaugh!” one of them exclaimed.

“Yeah,” Buddy responded. “What’s going on?”

Hall looked at Buddy like he was a ghost. “You showed up,” he said. “Just like that?”

“There’s a freighter coming in,” Buddy said. “I’m scheduled to work the offload.”

Hall looked at one of the other men and gave a laugh. “He thinks he’s working today. You hear that?”

Buddy looked at the other man, confused. When he turned back to Hall, he saw the iron rod in the man’s hand. Buddy didn’t have the time to react before it connected hard on the back of his knees, buckling them, and driving him down onto the concrete.

“What the fuck!” he shouted.

The iron rod came down on his back, smashing into his ribs, driving the wind from his lungs. He gave a pained cough and fell over on his side, gasping for breath.

Hall was looking down at him. Buddy tried to talk, but there was no air in his lungs to work his voice. He wanted to ask what was happening—after all, he’d only missed one shift. He would have understood if he’d been given a reprimand, or even had his pay docked. But he never expected a beating. Finally, he regained his wind enough to squeak out a word. “Why?”

Hall just shook his head, raised his giant fist, and punched Buddy in the face. Buddy could feel the blood pour forth from his nose, and his eyes squeezed shut against the pain. As he gave himself up to unconsciousness, he heard Hall speak one last time.

“Call Cormack,” he said. “He wanted to deal with this personally.”

FORTY-ONE

Diamond had no idea where she was. She’d been blindfolded in the van when she was taken off the street. As near as she could tell, there had been three men in the van, but the man who had pushed her into the van hit her hard on the back of the head as soon as the door closed, and everything went black for a time.