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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

Juan Suarez stood on the bridge of the Lucy Dunovan III, looking out at Boston Harbor as the boat pulled away from the pier behind the East Boston warehouse where he’d been dropped off by Cormack O’Connell’s lackey. His head ached. His chest ached. He had so many contusions that every movement caused pain. He was alive, though, and that was no small miracle. He had assumed as O’Connell’s men were beating him that his life was over. His only goal was not to break—not to give them any information. It was a point of pride for him. He’d had a strict code of loyalty beaten into him from a tender age, and he was determined to live up to that code until someone put a bullet in his head.

The bullet had never come, though. Without explanation, the beatings had stopped and he was left alone. Someone had come to look at him, apparently to make sure that none of his wounds was life-threatening. He was left alone for close to a day, and then he was put in a car, driven to the warehouse, and left at the entrance. He had no idea why he was still alive until he spoke to one of the MS-13 soldiers in the warehouse.

“We took a girl,” was all he’d said, but that was enough. Suarez knew that O’Connell had a daughter. It would make sense for Soh to go after her—having control over her would create a weakness in O’Connell and give them a strategic advantage. It was what Suarez would have done. It was what he’d learned over time: threaten a man’s life, and he will often comply; threaten a man’s family, and he will always comply.

“How long?” he asked the man driving the boat.

“Fifteen minutes,” the man responded. “Maybe twenty.”

Suarez nodded. As the boat pitched, his body rocked in pain. He welcomed the pain, though. Reveled in it, even. From the time that he was young, he’d been taught that there was only one certainty he could count on … dead men don’t feel pain.

Tommy Breslin ran a tug out of Chelsea, and that morning he was piloting a barge full of scrap metal from the South Shore up to Everett. He was headed north past the airport when he passed the Lucy Dunovan III. He gave a tip of his cap to the skipper of the other boat, as was the custom. Then he picked up the handset to the radio.

“Cormack, you on?”

“Yeah, Tommy,” the voice came back.

“I just passed them. Headed south just off Logan.”

“How many?”

“I could see two in the pilothouse. There could be more, but that’s all I saw.”

“OK. Thanks Tommy.”