That’s one time too often, motherfucker. Devlin was ready now. Bingo Malone! Oh, yes! Brennan had it coming like no one else in the world! Devlin waved John off, grabbed the old man by the throat, pushed him back hard against the wall, and pinned him there. With Devlin’s hand against his windpipe, Brennan couldn’t make a sound. Devlin had to be quick, before the old man suffocated. In Brennan’s voice, he said, “That’s it, pull that wire loose so it doesn’t work. You want to hear? I’ll tell you one time, you little chickenshit. I used the same poison on her that I used on her father, and there isn’t a goddamned thing you can do about it, to trace it, anything.” Brennan’s eyes bulged. He clawed at Devlin’s hand. In Brennan’s voice, Devlin said, “Fuck yourself. I’ll kill you, too, if I get the chance.” Devlin let go of Brennan’s throat, and as Brennan gasped, Devlin dropped the transmitter onto the carpet and ground it beneath his heel. John was smiling in spite of himself. Brennan filled his lungs. Devlin said, “You had me right twenty years ago. I was the guy who was going to take everything away from you. No matter what you did, whatever choices you made, it was all for nothing. History is going to know you as a man who let his sons be killed. I did it to you, and I’m as happy about it as anything I’ve ever done.”