He put down his hands.

I punched him in the chest with my right hand. He fell backward and landed hard on his butt and said, “Hey, what did you hit me for?” Surprised.

I grabbed him by the hair and lifted him as high as I could and I hit him in the face. His nose popped with a little spray of blood and I hit him again. He started to cry. I said, “Who’s lying right there? What’s her name?”

“Dani.” He still wouldn’t look at her.

“Look at her.”

“No.” Blubbering now.

I knotted his hair between my fingers and turned his face toward the body and pointed at her. “Look at her.”

He clenched his eyes tight. “No!”

I slapped him hard on the left side of his face two times and then I dug my fingers at his eyes, prying them open. I said, “Look at her, you sonofabitch. Dani’s lying there and not you. They killed Dani. Do you see her? They didn’t kill you.” Peter covered his face, peering out from between his fingers at what was left of the woman who picked up his candy wrappers. I said, “Do you see her, Peter?”

He coughed out a great whooping sob. “Dani.”

I let go of him.

He rocked forward and crawled toward her body. “It’s my fault,” he said. “Oh God, it’s my fault.”

I didn’t say anything. I was breathing hard and something sharp throbbed behind my right eye.

Peter sat on his knees next to her, and touched her muscular arm, and cried all the harder. It made me feel ashamed.

Pike came up behind me. “Ric will go to DeLuca. Things will happen fast now.”

“Yes.” I took a deep breath and let it out. “Peter?”

“What?” He didn’t look at me.

“Did you tell Charlie that we were on to the Jamaicans?”

He nodded, still not looking at me.

“Did you tell him we knew about the secret accounts?”

Another nod.

It felt cold and damp and ready to snow. Above us, the roadway vibrated with cars and trucks and thousands of people. Around us was a city of millions. We’d fired maybe fifteen high-velocity pistol rounds, yet no one came.

Pike said, “Charlie will panic. He’ll do the first thing he thinks of and that means he’ll come for us and for Karen and the boy. He won’t want anyone around who knows about the accounts or the Jamaicans.”

I looked down at Dani. “We’ll have to leave her.”

Pike said, “Yes.”

I lifted Peter Alan Nelsen to his feet. He didn’t look at me or at Pike and he didn’t resist; he stared at Dani’s body.

I said, “Did you hear? Did you understand?”

Peter nodded.

“All right.”

Pike took Peter by the arm and led him back to the car.