Another voice said, “Shut up and pass me the screwdriver.” Moments later, the sound of furniture being moved again was followed by receding footsteps and the opening and closing of the apartment door.

“So?” said CC, flicking off the recorder. “What’s that all about?”

Jack looked at CC and said, “Keep playing.”

The next noise was Jack coming home, taking a shower, and then phoning several people to tell them he was getting married. CC could only hear Jack’s side of the conversation. The second-to-last call caught her interest. It was an incoming call, and she heard Jack say, “What is it, Sid?” Jack later repeated Sid Bishop’s address out loud. The last call was Jack calling Danny to say that Sid wanted to meet them both.

“If it actually was Sid who called you,” said CC, “what did he want to meet you about?”

“Some questions about the wiretap application. It was a ruse to kill us. Keep listening.”

The noise of Jack leaving his apartment was followed by his door being opened again.

Wizard’s voice commanded, “I’ll stand six. Put them in his bedroom someplace. Under the mattress will do.”

Booger’s voice was heard saying, “Have you seen these pictures, man? This guy you call The Suit is one sick fuckin’ dude!”

“I’ve seen ’em. Hurry up! The pigs could be here to look for ’em soon!”

CC clicked the tape recorder off and said, “Oh, my God, Jack, I’m so sorry.”

Jack didn’t hear her. He put his hands to his face and sobbed when he saw Natasha and Marcie running toward the car.

CC stood beside the car and watched as the three of them hugged, kissed, cried, and slowly regained their composure. The police officer who brought them up from the dock gave CC a quick summary of what had happened to them. Another officer called her on the radio, and she reached in through the open window and retrieved the microphone.

“Crane, here. Go ahead.”

“I’m at Emergency with O’Reilly. He regained consciousness and is being really difficult. Wants to know about Natasha and Marcie.”

“Tell him they’re both okay. So is Taggart.”

“Who cares about Taggart?”

“We were set up. Taggart is still one of the good guys. I’ll explain later. What is O’Reilly’s status?”

“Don’t know yet. He’s going in for x-rays and a CAT-scan. Looks like he’ll lose an eye.”

“Stay with him. Charlie will coordinate security.”

CC passed the microphone to Charlie and said, “Take care of it. The hospital and the Anderson farm until we straighten this mess out!”

Jack said, “CC, please lend me your cell. I’m going to call Susan and pick her up.”

“O’Reilly’s wife?”

Jack nodded.

“I need a statement from you. From what I hear, there are bodies strewn all over.”

“I’ll give you a statement tomorrow! I’m taking Natasha and Marcie with me right now! We’re going to get Susan!”

“Sorry, Jack. You know this can’t wait. I’ll wait until tomorrow for formal statements from Natasha and Marcie, but I need one from you now.”

“I think I’m in too much shock to remember. Give me a night to recover.”

“Come on, Jack! If you’re going to play that game, then you’re also in too much shock to be driving! I’ll put you in a hospital room under security until you’re out of shock!”

Natasha put her hand around Jack’s arm and said, “Jack, I need to take Marcie to the hospital. She is going into shock.”

Jack looked at Marcie and saw that she was shaking uncontrollably.

“Tell you what,” said CC. “I’ll have someone drive Natasha and Marcie to the hospital. Give me a few minutes, then I’ll go with you to pick up Susan. We can talk on the way.”

Jack looked at Natasha, who nodded her head in agreement. He kissed them both goodbye and stared after them as they drove out of sight.

“Here’s my cell,” said CC. “Call Susan. I’m going to take a quick look around and then we can pick her up.”

A few minutes later CC returned. Jack passed her phone back and said, “Susan insisted on driving herself. She’s on her way to the hospital. I want to be there, too.”

He could tell by the look on her face that something was troubling her. “Damn it, CC! Look what we’ve been through! Come with me to the hospital. I’ll give you a statement there!”

“Tell me what happened. Nutshell version.”

Jack quickly told her, then said, “Satisfied? Now let me get to the hospital. Someone can take formal statements from me there!”

“I will,” said CC, taking Jack by the arm and leading him slightly away from everyone else. “You might want to talk to O’Reilly. You know, to see how he’s doing.”

“What are you saying? Of course I want to see how he’s doing!”

“Listen to me. I’ve seen the bodies. Everything appears to make sense except for one.”

“Which one? I don’t understand.”

“A crispy critter behind the house. Looks like he tossed his weapon and lay down on the ground. Then he was soaked in petroleum and torched. O’Reilly might want a lawyer. Especially if it’s his bloody fingerprints all over the lighter we found.”

chapter forty

It was after midnight when Jack used a payphone at the hospital to call Lance.

“Where the fuck you been?” asked Lance. “Don’t you ever turn your cell on?”

“It got wet this afternoon. Doesn’t work. I’ll have a replacement tomorrow. Anything going on?”

“Anything going on! Christ! You call me at this time of night to ask me if anything is going on? You know fuckin’ well there is! Have you seen the news?”

“You mean the part where it said that five members of Satans Wrath were killed in a shootout when police raided a home in search of an abducted woman and a young girl?”

“Yeah, that part of it. I take it you were involved?”

“The news doesn’t quite have it correct at this point. The woman is my fiancée and the girl is a friend of mine. It was only Danny and I involved in the shootout.”

“Oh, fuck! Wiz and Rolly! They ambush ya?”

“At The Suit’s house. It was a crown prosecutor by the name of Sid Bishop.”

“Damn it! I’m sorry….”

“Glad you’re sorry.”

“Not for you, for me. It means I still owe ya five years.”

“Maybe not. He escaped. You find him before I do and the deal is still on.”

“All right! I hear ya! So you and Danny are okay? What about your woman and the girl?”

“Danny is in the hospital. He might lose an eye. The rest of us are okay.”

“Lose an eye? Well, I guess shit happens. He’ll be a twin for Halibut. Who else was killed? I figured it was Wiz and Rolly. They take two strikers with ’em? T-Bone and Booger?”

“They did. How do you know? The names haven’t been released yet.”

“We’ve been trying to do a head count and figure out who’s missing. It’s tough. Damien is going nuts. We got guys runnin’ around all over because of the election tomorrow. Over a dozen chapter presidents have already flown in. The rest are arriving in the morning.” Lance paused, then asked, “Who was the fifth?”

“Thumper.”

“Thumper! He’s not even with our chapter. He’s with the east side. You sure?”

“I’m sure.”

“That dirty fucker! I bet he stuck his nose up Wiz’s ass because he thought Wiz was gonna win the election.”

“You can strike Wizard’s name off the ballot.”

“Then this happens in the middle of everything! It’s like someone drove a car into a yard full of hornets’ nests. Guys are talking revenge. Wait until they find out it was you and Danny! I bet Damien knows already.”

“What’s he saying?”

“Not much. Makes him look bad that he didn’t know what was going on and didn’t have control over his guys. I bet he loses the election now.”

“Who do you think will win?”

“Probably someone from back east. Damien wants me at his house at eight in the morning. I’ve never been invited there before.”