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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

As he came to the spot in the trail where the second branch took him to the left, he was surprised to see an old woman walking toward him with a giant dog on a leash. He looked at her as she passed. She started to nod hello to him, but she stopped and a look of fear came across her face. He was used to it. The tattoos were hard to miss; they covered almost the entirety of his face. Ornate depictions of “MS-13” ran from his chin to his forehead. They sent a message to the world that he was a dangerous man who didn’t care what anyone else felt about him.

The woman put her head down and her pace increased as much as the dog’s languid trot would allow.

It was disconcerting to him that anyone would be out in this cold at all; only an insane New Englander would believe that it was reasonable to walk by the water in sub-zero temperatures. He would never understand the people who lived in this place. At least, though, her fear would prevent her from giving in to any curiosity, and there was no chance that she would return. He and Dr. Yee would not be disturbed.

At that moment, Dr. Yee was gathering his cash and belongings to leave the Boston area indefinitely. His involvement with Soh’s men was in the FBI file given to Cormack by Kit Steele. Cormack had passed on that bit of information to Cicero, with instructions to use Dr. Yee’s connections to get further information about Soh’s whereabouts.

Cicero had visited Dr. Yee the night before with John Hall in tow. They found him alone at his dental office. Dr. Yee had been reluctant to give them any information about Soh or MS-13, even faced with Cicero’s knife. Hall duct-taped Dr. Yee to one of his dental chairs, his head pulled all the way back, strapped to the headrest. Cicero began by removing two of the doctor’s teeth. He then began methodically experimenting with each of the various dental instruments and power tools until Dr. Yee was begging to cooperate. After Dr. Yee had given them all the information he had, they instructed him to text his contact and tell him that he needed to talk. Cicero still had Dr. Yee’s phone when Suarez texted the time and place to meet.

Dr. Yee knew he had to disappear as quickly as possible. Once MS-13 found out that he had given up information about Suarez, his time in the dental chair with Cicero would seem a pleasant memory.

As Cormack waited in the cold of the Belle Isle Marsh Reservation, he heard John Hall chuckle softly to himself.

“That fuckin’ chink doctor last night…” Hall said, his laughter trailing away. “That was too fuckin’ funny.”

Cicero shot him a glare.