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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

Worse, his betrayal wasn’t complete. He still had to free Vincente Carpio. How, exactly, to do that without people finding out that he had sold himself to the devil was still a mystery. Then he saw the lead van slam into the side of the garage door. He jumped out of his vehicle. “Secure the perimeter!” he shouted to the corrections officers in the van with him. “I’m getting Carpio inside!”

As he hit the sidewalk, the entire area was in chaos. Nearly all the federal marshals who had been manning the barricades by the garage, waiting for Carpio to arrive, were dead or injured. Most of them were covered in dust and debris. It was, Martin thought, like a mini version of the scenes from the World Trade Center on September eleventh; some people were screaming and running, others wandered aimlessly with vacant eyes.

Martin ran to the lead van. Surveying the situation, he could see that one of the two guards in the back was dead, and the other was incapacitated. In the front, the driver and Kit Steele were both unconscious. That was good luck for him. He unlocked the door to the prisoners’ compartment. Vincente Carpio seemed to be the only one in the van who remained unscathed. He looked at Martin with malevolence.

Martin leaned over the seat and took the key off the dead guard in the back. “Your brother,” he said simply to Carpio. The tattooed man nodded in understanding. Martin unlocked Carpio’s wrists and unshackled his legs. “You’re on your own from here,” Martin said. “No one can know.” He handed his gun to Carpio. “If anything happens to you—if you get caught—tell them you overpowered me, understand?” He could live with people thinking he was incompetent, but not with people knowing he was dirty. Besides, with the money he had and his retirement, he could live a good life. He’d put in his twenty and he had a fat pension waiting for him.

He turned around to make sure no one was watching the scene unfold. It looked as though he was going to get away with it. No one was paying attention—everything was in a state of chaos.

When he turned back, he saw that Carpio was smiling at him. The gun was raised, and Martin was looking down its barrel. At first, he thought Carpio was merely playing his part, pantomiming the act of overpowering Martin. Then he saw the glint of pure evil in Carpio’s eyes. “No, wait!” Martin cried.

Carpio pulled the trigger.