Ryan Goldberg was facedown with a cop on his back, a gun to his head, and twenty cops ready to beat the shit out of him if he moved. His hands had been drawn behind his back and secured with a plastic tie. A pistol lay a few feet away from where he had been tackled.

Decker was rendered speechless.

Somehow Liam O’Dell had made it through the yellow tape and over to the scene. He was frantic, waving his arms and shouting over and over: “Why’d you do it, Mudd? Why’d you do it? Why’d you do it?”

Ryan answered. “Because Rudy is bad.”

The cops hoisted Ryan to his feet and pushed O’Dell aside. He tripped and almost fell on the ground. As he got up, he shouted. “Fuck, Mudd! Now you’re going to jail. You’re going to jail!”

Ryan turned around and smiled beatifically. “Irish, I’ve been in jail for the last fifteen years. Wherever I’m going, it’s got to be better.”

“Oh Christ!” Liam tried to run after him, but the cops held him back, threatening him with jail if he didn’t get the fuck out. He shouted, “I’ll get you a lawyer, Mudd.”

“Call my brother,” Goldberg shouted back. “He’s a lung doctor.”

CHAPTER 42

IT TOOK A full week for Rina to even speak to him, and when she did, her conversation ran monosyllabic.

“I’m sorry!” Decker told her for the umpteenth time.

“It’s fine, Peter.”

“It was stupid. I admit it. It was stupid, stupid, stupid. It’ll never happen again.”

“I said it’s fine. I know you were just doing your job.” Rina tightened her robe. “I’m very tired. I’m going to bed.”

He heard the door close a little harder than it needed to. He sat at the dining room table in his pajamas, looking down at his dinner plate. The meat loaf had congealed and the vegetables were wilted. When he looked up, Hannah was looking at him with pity. “Not too hungry?”

“Not really.”

“I’ll wash your plate.”

“No, I’ll do it.” He checked his watch. “It’s almost ten.”

“Top of the morning,” Hannah said. “She’ll get over it.”

“Eventually, I suppose she will.” Decker said.

“She has a point. It was stupid, Abba.”

“Et tu, Brute?”

Hannah came over to him and hugged his neck. Decker patted her arm. “Thanks, Hannah, I needed a hug.” When he turned around to look at her, she was in tears. He took his daughter into his arms and embraced her tightly. She was wearing flannel bottoms and an oversized sweatshirt and looked so forlorn and vulnerable. Just when he thought his guilt level had topped out, it went up another notch. “I’m so sorry, pumpkin. I’m so, so sorry.”

“I was so scared!”

“I know, pumpkin. It was wrong for me to do something so dangerous.”