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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

She gave a nod at the attempted humor, but didn’t smile. “Looks like you had a bit of an accident,” she said, examining the cuts that were still healing on his face.

“My wife’s got a temper,” Cormack replied without missing a beat.

The woman nodded matter-of-factly. “And you got a wandering eye, I bet,” she said.

Cormack shrugged.

“I walk Charlie here every day,” the woman said. “No matter the weather. He likes it.”

“I bet,” Cormack said. He was praying that she would just move along. He had the sense that Cicero Andolini would have no qualms about killing her and Charlie and dragging their bodies out into the marsh. That would complicate matters. “We’ve got to get back to work,” he said.

“What kind of work?” she asked, her eyes narrowing.

“Surveying,” Cormack said, improvising as quickly as he could. “There’s been some complaints about vagrancy here during the summer. We’re trying to survey the land to see what effect cutting back some of the growth would have on the place. It might prevent the homeless from setting up camps.” He turned to look at Hall and Andolini. Hall nodded sheepishly. Andolini just stared at the woman.

“Well,” the woman said, “you just be sure that you don’t cut back too much! Those of us who live around here like this park just the way it is. You cut back too much, and I promise you, you’ll hear about it from not just me. Others, as well!”

With that, she turned and headed up the pathway, leaving them behind.

“Fuck,” Hall said, taking his gun out of his pocket. “I thought we were gonna have to kill the bitch.”

Cormack looked at Cicero Andolini. He was staring straight back into Cormack’s eyes, and Cormack knew that Cicero was thinking the same thing. The old woman and giant dog had no idea how lucky they were that they were still breathing.

The synthetic opioid fentanyl, usually mass produced in Eastern Europe and Asia, is at the heart of the American opioid crisis—a crisis that claimed sixty-four thousand lives in 2016 alone. It’s cheap to make and ten times more powerful than heroin. It’s easy to cut with other more expensive drugs, like heroin and cocaine, as well as with prescription drugs like oxycodone. It can be mass produced in Asia and Latin America and made available on the black market at discount prices.