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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

Cormack couldn’t feel the cold. He stood at the edge of the boardwalk, looking out at the water, seeing everything and nothing at the same time. The wind blew through him. Icicles formed on the tips of his beard and around his mouth as he exhaled. He thought about all that he had done in his lifetime—all the drugs he had helped smuggle, all the crime he’d tolerated, all the men he’d killed or had killed. There had always been a reason for it, he’d told himself: a reason beyond self-interest and individual profit. Crime existed. It was a fact. It was a reality that could never be overcome, particularly in places like this. Harbors, airports, border crossings … they were the funnels of international activity through which crime had to travel. The trick, he’d always told himself, was to make sure that crime was quarantined. His goal was to keep the crime from touching those who weren’t a part of it. If he could do that, he always felt that he served the public good. And if he made a buck or two in return, he figured that was more than fair.

But now the consequences had been visited upon him. Worse, those consequences had been visited upon Diamond.

“What the hell is happening, Cormack?”

He’d known she was behind him. He’d heard the gate on the side of the bathhouse creak as Kit Steele came through from the street. Still, he was so deep in thought and self-torment that her shout startled him. She grabbed him by the shoulder and spun him toward her.

“Seriously, what the fuck is going on?”

“The war has started,” Cormack responded quietly. “And it won’t end until I’m gone or Soh is.”

She took a step back and looked at him. His eyes seemed distant, and she wondered whether this was the same man she had known so intimately for months. “I know. I was over at the marshes,” she said. “You gutted one of Soh’s men.”

He shook his head. “Not gutted,” he said. “Captured.”

She considered this for a moment. “Did you get anything helpful from him?”

Cormack shook his head. “He’s well trained.”

“And the guy over by UMass?”

“One of mine,” Cormack replied.

“But they didn’t capture him,” she noted. “They weren’t looking for information from him.”

Cormack shook his head again, this time slowly.

“Why did they do it, then? What were they looking to get?”

“My daughter,” Cormack said quietly. “He was guarding her.”

Kit Steele gasped. “Oh my God!” she exclaimed. “Diamond!”