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Chapters (36)
  1. VECTOR
  2. Copyright page
  3. Dedication
  4. AKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  5. Epigraph
  6. PROLOGUE
  7. ONE
  8. TWO
  9. THREE
  10. FOUR
  11. FIVE
  12. SIX
  13. SEVEN
  14. EIGHT
  15. NINE
  16. TEN
  17. ELEVEN
  18. TWELVE
  19. THIRTEEN
  20. FOURTEEN
  21. FIFTEEN
  22. SIXTEEN
  23. SEVENTEEN
  24. EIGHTEEN
  25. NINETEEN
  26. TWENTY
  27. TWENTY-ONE
  28. TWENTY-TWO
  29. TWENTY-THREE
  30. TWENTY-FOUR
  31. TWENTY-FIVE
  32. TWENTY-SIX
  33. EPILOGUE
  34. AUTHOR’S NOTE
  35. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY
  36. GLOSSARY

The three men walked quickly to the car. Jack wasn’t worried they’d be pursued, yet he wanted to get away as soon as possible. He knew he’d pushed Gordon over the edge with the skin sample maneuver. To a funeral director, disfiguring the face was the worst possible sin.

They piled into the car. Warren got it going, and they headed back toward Prospect Park, driving in silence. It was Flash who finally spoke: “Well, aren’t you guys going to say anything? What did you find?”

“I found out that I’m never going back into a funeral home until I’m carried in,” Warren said. “What in God’s name were they doing to that guy on the other table, vacuuming out his insides? I almost lost it, I gotta tell you. Man, this has been the worst experience of my life.”

“In other words,” Flash said angrily, “you didn’t learn crap about what happened to Connie.”

“We got the samples we needed,” Jack said. “Now you’re going to have to be patient. Like I said earlier, we won’t know anything definitive until these samples get processed.”

“I could see that he smacked her in the face,” Flash said. “That’s enough for me.”

Warren glanced up at Jack in the rearview mirror. “See what I’m up against with this guy? It’s like talking to a wall, you know what I’m saying?”

“Listen, Flash,” Jack said heatedly. “I’ve put myself out on a limb here for you. Do you understand?”

“I suppose,” Flash admitted reluctantly.

“I could be in deep trouble if Strickland or the Brooklyn office makes a stink about this, especially if the samples turn out to be negative. Now the least I can expect from you in return is to promise you won’t go out there to your brother-in-law’s house.”

“What about that black eye?” Flash demanded.

“For the last time, we don’t know how she got it,” Jack said. “I took a skin sample and we’ll see what it shows. It might have been from a punch, but then again, it might not have been. I’m telling you, I’ve seen bathroom falls much worse. In fact, I’ve seen it where it was the fall itself that killed the victim, not whatever went on before.”

“Promise the man,” Warren said. “Or I’m going to be royally pissed myself. I mean, there’s a lot of things I’d rather be doing today than standing in that funeral home getting grossed out, you know what I’m saying?”

“All right, I promise,” Flash said. “Are you guys happy now?”

“Relieved is a better word,” Jack said. He looked out the window at the rush-hour traffic and wondered what kind of price he would have to pay for his shenanigans.

TWELVE

________

TWELVE

Tuesday, October 19

4:35 P.M.