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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

The shot hit Soh in the shoulder, and knocked him back. The knife went skittering along the street. Rage flashed in his eyes, and for a moment Buddy thought he was going to retrieve the knife and come back to finish him off. In a flash, though, the rage seemed to ebb. He looked around and seemed to realize where he was. He put his hand up to his shoulder and felt the blood. Then he turned and ran toward Northern Avenue. Buddy watched as he disappeared into the crowd fleeing the chaos.

“Buddy!” Diamond was at his side now. “Let me see, roll over!” He did as he was told. “It’s bleeding, but it doesn’t look too deep,” she said. “We need to get you to a hospital.”

He was looking around, still shocked by the madness. “I’m not the only one,” he said.

“What happened?” She was looking around too, now, taking in the carnage.

“I don’t know,” Buddy replied. “Your father said it was an escape attempt, but I wasn’t expecting anything like this. Looks like no one was. Jesus Christ.”

“Can you walk?”

“Yeah,” he said. “I can walk. Are you OK? Did he hurt you? Did he hurt the baby?”

She put a hand to her abdomen. She had no way to know for sure, but everything felt OK. She shook her head. “I think we’re both fine.”

SEVENTY-THREE

Kit knew she was going to die. That didn’t concern her. The only thing she could focus on was Vincente Carpio’s words.

You will not be the last.

She’d failed. She’d spent years fighting to protect those who couldn’t protect themselves. She’d devoted herself to keeping predators like Vincente Carpio off the street, but it was pointless. She’d caught the man who’d killed Ollie and now he was going to escape. She looked down at the blood pouring out of her and felt more lost than ever before. There would always be evil in the world, and there was nothing she had been able to do about it.

She couldn’t accept that. She wouldn’t accept that. She fought back against the agony ripping through her body and forced air into her lungs. As Vincente Carpio turned to leap onto the other boat, she threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around him and burning through the last of her life’s energy as she pushed her legs forward and the two of them toppled into the harbor.