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Back Blood in the Water Save as PDF
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

“Who said anything about Cormack being here?” Cormack almost never stayed at the Mariner into the evening. It wasn’t the sort of place he would want to be if something ugly transpired, as was often the case in the evening. And Cormack didn’t often telegraph his plans to anyone. He was very careful about that.

“He called us,” Buddy said, nodding at Nate. “He told us he might have some work for us tonight.”

Cookie knew that Buddy moonlighted for Cormack, taking care of low-level muscle jobs, but his suspicion wouldn’t let go easily. “Then maybe you should wait for him to call again.”

“Sure. He said if it didn’t happen by ten, it wasn’t gonna happen. We’ve got an offload tomorrow. But I don’t want to leave Cormack out in the lurch if he needs us is all. I just wanted to know if he was here.”

“Greek freighter?”

“Yeah, I think so. It’s the only one that’s in right now, so it’s gotta be, right?”

“What’s the cargo?”

“I don’t know, and I don’t care. I know I’m not gettin’ rich off whatever it is.”

“No doubt,” Nate grumbled.

Cookie glared at Nate. He didn’t like the young man. There was something about his air of entitlement that set Cookie off. Cookie had been born just before the baby boom, and shared the attitude of the Greatest Generation that had stood firm against the onslaught of both the Nazism of Germany and the Communism of the Soviets. Cookie took his first job when he was seven, sweeping up the floors at Old Man Murphy’s shop out in Worcester, and he’d worked every day of his life since. He was loyal and trustworthy, and while he might fairly be described as taciturn at times, he’d never been heard to complain about his lot in life. Young men like Nate Chaplain, who felt that life owed them something, got under Cookie’s skin. Men like that could never have beat back the Nazis.

“Could be worse,” Buddy pointed out. “We got jobs at least.”

“If you call it that,” Nate said. “I was hoping to make some real coin tonight. Maybe not even have to show up tomorrow.”

Buddy shook his head. “Showing up is half of it,” he said. “Even if we had gotten some work tonight.”

“Jesus, Buddy, live a little. You’ve never missed a goddamned day. I don’t think there’s anyone else who hasn’t played hooky at least once.”

“And you’ve missed more days than anyone. You miss another, they’ll pull your union card.”