Kneeling beside the wheezing man, I move so that he can see my face above his.

“You the mayor?” he rasps, his breath almost corrosive with decay.

Meth addict, I think. “That’s right.”

“You shot me, motherfucker.”

“You asked for it.”

He raises a leather-clad arm and tries to grab my throat, but I easily bat his weak limb out of the way.

“You said you had a message for me.”

“Call the paramedics, man. I’m hurt bad.”

“Give me the message first.”

“Call the medics or I won’t tell you!”

“Tell me the message, or I’ll shoot you in the heart and tell the FBI you tried to stab me with that knife in your boot.”

The man starts to speak, but his words disintegrate into a wracking cough that sprays a mist of blood between us. I jerk back instinctively.

“Tell me, damn it!”

“It’s not for you. It’s for your old man. The doc.”

Something in me goes cold. “What?”

“Your daddy’s nigger lawyer’s gonna try to blame that old woman’s death on Snake.”

“What old woman? Viola Turner?”

He coughs again, but this time I manage to dodge the spray. “That’s the one,” he hacks. “The nigger nurse.”

“How the hell would Snake know what Quentin Avery is planning to do?”

The man shakes his head. “I’m just passing the message, man. Snake says: ‘Wives and children have no immunity.’ Those exact words. You got that?”

“I heard you.”

“If Avery tries to blame Snake, your daughter won’t live to hear the verdict.”

“You’re paying a high price to be a delivery boy.”

“Call the ambulance, man! You got the message.”

“I don’t like that message. I’ll call you an ambulance from the road. But I’ll be honest with you: I don’t think you’re gonna last till they get here. Better make your peace with whatever you believe in.”

His eyes roll back, then lock onto me again. “You son of a bitch.”

I rise to my feet and wipe my face on my sleeve.

“If I die,” he croaks, “you’re a dead man. And not just you . . . your whole family. That’s VK law.”

“VK? What the hell’s that?”

“The Kindred, man. You let me die here, you’ll find out more about it than you ever wanted to know.”

“Guess I’ll deal with that when the time comes. You shouldn’t have threatened my little girl.”