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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

Federal district court proceedings were moved to the old federal courthouse at Post Office Square for the four months that it would take to fix the damage done by Javier Carpio and his men, but Vincente Carpio was arraigned in F. Barton Baylor’s courtroom in the courthouse by the water, even as it was undergoing repairs. It would be the only hearing held in the building before the grand reopening. Baylor assured Carpio that he would be given all the protections of the United States judicial system as he was charged with thirty-two counts of capital murder. The United States Attorney’s Office refused to discuss a plea bargain, and no one really doubted that he would ultimately be strapped to a table and injected with a lethal combination of sodium thiopental, pancuronium bromide, and potassium chloride.

That winter would go down in the books as the coldest in Boston’s history—a record that would stand for more than a hundred years. Those who lived through it would talk of it in the mythic tones that only true New Englanders could carry. Eventually the city returned to normal, and all that remained were the smattering of new monuments to those who gave their lives on one fateful day in February when the cold snap finally broke and for one brief moment the city seemed to explode.

SEVENTY-FIVE

Friday, February 15

Cormack agreed to the terms of the meeting. At some level it was crazy, he knew—anything could happen when you were on the enemy’s turf. And yet he had to have closure. He wouldn’t live his life wondering when the other shoe was going to drop.

He went alone to the Colombian restaurant in East Boston, unarmed and unprotected. He walked in the front door and didn’t wait to be escorted to the back. He’d been to the restaurant before, and he saw no reason to wait.

There were three armed men in the back room, all looking twitchy, with automatic weapons slung across their shoulders. Cormack couldn’t blame them. After the turmoil of the past few days, everyone in the city seemed twitchy.

There was a table set up in the middle of the room with chairs placed at opposite sides. Cormack sat in one, leaning back in the seat as though he was the only one in the place with nothing to worry about. He had to sit there for a few minutes by himself. That was fine with him. Even without any men or weapons, Cormack felt confident that he had the upper hand.