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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

Buddy and Cicero threw all their weight and effort into the door, pushing as hard as they could. The table moved, tipping up on two legs. Buddy was able to get his hand inside the doorway and give the table one hard, direct shove, and it upended, crashing to the floor, spilling the supplies over the cement.

There was no chance now that the breach would go unnoticed; the table hitting the cement had been too loud. Both men knew that they had only seconds before Soh’s men would descend on them, and they would die in a hail of bullets.

They pushed the door open and ran through, into the rear portion of the northern section of the fort.

The man sent by Soh to bring the girl to him was standing outside the room where she was kept hostage when he and the two guards heard the table crash to the ground at the far end of the complex. They exchanged a look, and the most junior of them headed down the passageway to check out what had caused the noise. The other two opened the door to the girl’s room and stepped inside.

They found her cowering in a corner, her back turned toward them. One of them went over to her and grabbed her by the arm. “Levantate!” he shouted, telling her to get up. The girl pulled her arm back hard, though, and it slipped through his fingers. “Perra!” he yelled at her, pulling her hair this time to get her on her feet. “Levantate!” he yelled again.

He had nearly pulled her to her feet when he heard his partner make a noise behind him, and he turned to see what was happening. It was a terrible miscalculation on his part.

The younger MS-13 soldier hurried down the passageway toward the storeroom at the very rear of the northern half of Fort Strong. He had his gun drawn, but he was inexperienced and nervous. He had never seen close combat; he was a street soldier, and had been involved in drive-by shootings and had killed defenseless enemies, but he had never experienced true face-to-face fighting.

As he rounded the corner, he could see the table tipped on its side, the supplies covering the floor. Behind the table, he could see an opened door and a long passage. He’d never noticed the door before—the table had been backed up and covering it since the first time he had been in the fort, and he wondered whether anyone on Soh’s team knew that there were additional entryways.

The wonder was short-lived, though. As he stood there, looking down the newly discovered corridor, he lost his breath. At first he wasn’t sure what was happening, but then he felt the pain shoot through his torso, and a hand on his throat. The knife was withdrawn from his back and then plunged into his rib cage again.