BooksBarbecue
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

He lingered for a moment, and then looked at his phone, and suddenly he was somewhere else. She saw the change in his face. He had been warm and tender and vulnerable talking to her, but now that was gone. Now he was rock steady, and all sense that he could have mercy or pity or love was gone from his expression. For the first time, she had an understanding of why so many seemed so afraid of him. “I’ve got to go,” he said. “Don’t leave the house until I say it’s OK to.”

She stared at him, not fully comprehending. “I’m just supposed to stay here?”

“For now.” He nodded.

“I have a life!” she protested.

“Aye, you do,” he said. “I intend to keep it that way.” He nodded again and walked past her and out the kitchen door.

THIRTY-TWO

Cormack’s hands gripped the steering wheel as he guided the car through the streets of Southie. He needed to focus. T’phong Soh was a worthy adversary—a dangerous, smart, ambitious young man with a solid cadre of men behind him and the will and ruthlessness to follow through on his plan to take over Boston Harbor. If Cormack wasn’t mentally engaged, this young man would kill him, he knew.

And yet his focus was elsewhere right now. One simple phrase echoed in his mind, and he seemed unable to stop it.

I’m going to be a grandfather.

He wasn’t sure exactly how he felt about that. He still thought of himself as too young to be a grandfather. Even with the ravages of age, and the injuries he’d sustained recently, he still felt young and strong and virile.

He was also concerned for Diamond. She was only nineteen, and while there were plenty of young girls in the neighborhood who got knocked up and had kids when they were young, he’d always hoped that Diamond would choose a different path—go to school, get a good job, become a professional. She was always at the top of her class, and she had more street sense than almost anyone he knew.

That was why, he knew, her child would be special. And that thought made his heart swell with pride. She would be a great mother, even at her young age, and she would love and protect her child better than anyone had ever protected her. He felt guilty as he thought back on how she had been forced to live her childhood—without any real stability or continuity. It was a miracle that she had turned out as well as she had. He blamed himself for all that she had gone through, and he vowed that his grandchild would never have to go through the same sorts of things.