With a look of shock etched on her face, Mary fell as Charlie Mann stood in the doorway, the smoke rising from his gun.

“Coletti!” Mann called out frantically. “Coletti!”

“I’m over here,” Coletti said, as he retrieved his gun from the floor and stood over the body.

Mann came in and stood next to Coletti as he grieved for the little girl he barely knew, and for the woman he almost loved.

“How did you know where I was?” Coletti said as he stared at Smithson’s dead blue eyes.

“I put a GPS tracking key on your car yesterday, in case you stopped answering the phone.”

“You’re a wise man,” Coletti said with a wan smile. “Must be from hanging around old guys like me.”

Mann looked down at Smithson’s body and shook his head. “I’m sorry it was her,” he said with genuine sadness in his voice. “I know how you felt about her.”

“Yeah,” Coletti said, trying his best to mask the true depths of his feelings. “I’m sorry, too.”

“The commissioner should be on his way,” Mann said. “I guess I’ll meet him out front.” He patted Coletti on the shoulder and took a last look at the body before going outside. “Take all the time you need.”

As the sound of approaching sirens filled the air, Coletti stared at Smithson and knew he couldn’t retire. There were too many lives to be touched and too many wrongs to right.

As he turned to leave, a cold breeze blew through the factory, causing a cloud of dust to form in the air. Coletti covered his eyes, and when he opened them, there was a figure kneeling near Smithson’s body.

He was dressed in white linen and his legs shone like gold. His face glowed like lightning and his eyes burned bright as fire.

The angel took her spirit up in arms of polished brass. He rose into the air and paused at the ceiling. Then he dove through the floor and disappeared.

Coletti wasn’t sure if he was dreaming or awake, but as he clutched at the golden crucifix around his neck, he knew that the war was over and that Mary Smithson was about to find out that vengeance is indeed the Lord’s.

Also by Solomon Jones

The Bridge

Ride or Die

C.R.E.A.M.

Payback

Acknowledgments