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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

Jimmy’s head went even lower. “The cops don’t like human smuggling,” he said.

At this, Cormack exploded. “For Christ’s sake, Jimmy, it’s not the cops, it’s the fuckin’ Feds!” He lowered his voice. “Immigration, FBI, Homeland Security, the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Every single one of them has got fuckin’ jurisdiction. And it’s not that they don’t like it—it’s a fuckin’ holy war for them! Do you remember when they found that cargo container full of dead Chinese in the nineties? They shut the whole fuckin’ harbor up for a year. A few hundred kilos of coke—well, they find that, they make a few headlines and bust the people bringing it in, and then they go back to business as usual. But a cargo container full of dead chinks? That gets people really upset, and when people get really upset, the political types see opportunity.”

“These weren’t chinks,” Jimmy said. “These were girls, Cormack! Russian girls, and at a thousand a head, I’m not gonna get cheaper pros.”

“Slaves, you mean,” Cormack growled. He leaned over the desk so that his face was close to Jimmy. “Understand me, Jimmy, I don’t want you putting these girls to work. I hear that any of them are on their backs for you, you’ll be gettin’ a visit you don’t want.”

“What am I supposed to do with them?”

“How should I know? Buy them plane tickets back to Moscow. Or get them real jobs. I don’t give a fuck.”

“But that’s a waste, Cormack,” Jimmy protested. “I paid good money for these girls.”

“Consider it a fine for breaking the rules, and be thankful we go back a ways. Anybody else, Jimmy, and I’d have one of my boys take you out fishing, you understand? I hear a Russian accent on any girl in your club, or in one of your houses, or I see a girl on the street with a short skirt who even looks Russian, and I may change my mind. Got it?”

“Shit, Cormack, half the girls I’ve already got working got accents.”

“Then I’d get them elocution lessons if I were you, Jimmy.”

“Electrocution lessons?” Jimmy shook his head in confusion. He stared at Cormack, and Cormack ran a hand over his face. “I don’t get it.”

“No, Jimmy, that’s true, you don’t.” He looked down at the pile of work on his desk. Without looking up, he dismissed Jimmy with a flick of his wrist. “Leave the money on your way out.”

Jimmy started to say something, but then held his tongue. Cormack O’Connell had made it clear that the meeting was over.

NINE

“Cormack still around?”

Cookie glared at Buddy Cavanaugh, a young stevedore sitting at the bar nursing a Guinness. Nate Chaplain, another novice cargo man, sat next to him.