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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

He held one of his pistols in his left hand, and placed the other on the ground, where it would be easy to grab. Then he picked up one of the flash-bangs, pulled the pin, and threw it as far as he could toward the entryway. As the concussive was in the air, he reached down and grabbed his second gun and aimed both weapons at the entryway, waiting for the explosion.

Diamond was sitting against the wall in the tiny room toward the back half of the northern section of Fort Strong, her knees pulled up to her chest, her arms wrapped around her knees, trying to keep her belly as warm as possible. The cold had overtaken her at that point, and she wondered whether the baby could survive the night. She was aware of how fragile a pregnancy could be in the first three months under the best of circumstances. And these were, most certainly, not the best of circumstances. The doctor had said the spotting was totally normal, but fear still haunted her. If the baby was strong enough to live through this ordeal, it would be strong enough to live through anything once born, she believed.

She could hear two voices outside the room, talking in low, tired tones in Spanish. Neither was the Asian man who had let her use the bathroom; their voices were too deep, and it was clear that they were men for whom Spanish was their native tongue. She looked at the door to the room where she was being kept. She was pretty sure it wasn’t locked—the place they were in had been deserted and in disrepair for a very long time, and it seemed likely that even if there had been a working lock at some point, it wouldn’t work now. Of course, the fact that her room wasn’t locked was hardly cause for optimism. If she opened the door, she guessed she would be confronted by more than a dozen men. She still had the bottle hidden in her jacket, but that would be useless against so many men with so many weapons.

The explosion shook the entire fort. For a moment, Diamond thought that it had come from inside, the noise was so loud. Perhaps they had accidentally detonated some sort of a bomb in the room where all the men were loitering around. Quickly, though, she realized that the explosion had come from outside. She heard the men inside yelling and rushing somewhere, presumably toward the entrance.

Then the gunfire started. Diamond was sure that her young life was about to come to a very violent, premature end—and she lamented the possibility that she would never get to see her child.