Breaking the Rules Read Online Free PDF Page A

clamp.” Izzy took the bag from him. “Danny needs blood, Jay, and I’m O, you’re not. Give me the tubing—and two needles.”
    Lopez silently—but swiftly, bless him—added what Izzy needed to the bag.
    And Izzy dashed back out into the sniper’s kill zone.
    Luckily for him, the dickweed was a relatively crappy shot.
N EW Y ORK C ITY
T HURSDAY , A PRIL 16, 2009
    “This isn’t the way to do this, Jack.” Jenn stood her ground even as the big man took a step forward, on the verge of invading her personal space with the crutches he’d needed to get around since 1968. She held his gaze, too, refusing to let it waver, not even to glance behindhim at the small crowd of other intimidating-looking men who’d gathered grimly to support him. Some of them had pulled back their jackets when she’d first arrived, to let her know that they were armed. And wasn’t
that
just great? “You know that the assemblywoman—”
    Jack Ventano interrupted her. “Isn’t getting this done.”
    “It takes time,” Jenn told him. “There are laws—”
    “There should be laws,” he agreed, “insisting that the men and women who serve our country get the care and the support that they need, instead of—”
    “You
know
we’re on your side.”
    “That’s not enough, and
you
know that.”
    Jenn was silent then, because he was right.
    The big man pushed his gray hair back from his face, revealing the edge of the long, rough scar he bore on his forehead. He’d gotten that in ’Nam, at Khe San, he’d told her once, when she and Maria had taken a tour of the shelter, back when Maria was running for office. He’d lost most of his leg in the same battle. But worst of all, he’d lost his best friend, a man named Tom Terwilliger—which was why this shelter bore Terwilliger’s name.
    Lost. What a funny euphemism for it. As if Tom and Jack’s leg had both been accidentally misplaced.
    “Maybe, this way, we’ll finally get news coverage,” Jack told her now.
    “Maybe,” she pointed out, “you will. Fat lot of good that’ll do you, serving time upstate, in jail.”
    “Won’t be the first time I have a temporary vacation in Ossining,” he said with a smile that softened his harsh, weather-beaten features. “And if it helps this place get rebuilt …” He shrugged. “I can do the time standing on one hand.”
    “As soon as I walk out that door,” Jenn warned him, “the police are coming in. If you or anyone with you kills a cop … Your trip upstate won’t be temporary. And this place will never open again.”
    “No one’s going to kill anybody,” Jack reassured her.
    “You can’t promise that,” she said.
    “Yeah,” he said, and the expression on his face was almost apologetic. “I sort of can. The police aren’t coming in, because … you’re not going anywhere.”
    Jenn laughed, but then stopped as the men behind Jack moved between her and the door. This was just perfect. “So what am I?” she asked. “Your hostage? For the love of God, Jack. We’re
friends
. Friends don’t hold friends hostage.”
    “
Hostage
is such an ugly word,” he said. “But yeah. If that’s how we have to do it.” He shrugged again. “We were kind of hoping it would be Maria. Thought it might give her a positive bump in the polls. A win/win …”
    “No,” Jenn said. “Nope. No, Jack—” Her cell phone rang. “Think about what you’re on the verge of doing. If you keep me here against my will? That’s a felony.” She checked her screen—it was Maria. “This is the assemblywoman,” she told him, holding up her phone. “I’m going to take her call, and when I’m done? We’re all going to walk out of here together. We’re going to go get some coffee, and we’re going to figure out a way to get you news coverage without a crime and a victim and a trial and a jail sentence.” She looked around at his buddies. “Jail
sentences—
plural, gentlemen.”
    They seemed uneasy at that, looking to Jack for