Proof Positive (2006) Read Online Free PDF Page B

Ruiz, one of our dealers, Pablo explained to Felix.
    Tell him, you hijo de puta, Pablo ordered Corrales, his voice low and threatening.
    They took him. We were out all night looking, jefe, but we couldn't find him.
    Felix took another sip of his cafT con leche, then put down his coffee cup. He did not show any outward signs of anger or concern. It was his self-control that made him dangerous, because he seemed the same whether he was eating contentedly or sliding a stiletto into an unprotected stomach.
    If this fool doesn't explain what happened in clear, complete sentences, cut out his tongue, Dorado told Herrera.
    We were protecting Juan, Corrales answered rapidly. This guy came up. He was skinny, like a junkie. That's why we didn't pay him no mind. Then a car came up fast and the skinny guy pushed Juan in the back. They was gone before we could do anything. It wasn't our fault.
    Pedro Lozano hasn't reported in, either, Herrera said, and the guys we had guarding him also disappeared.
    Felix's skin darkened, his eyes narrowed, and he swore softly in Spanish.
    It's that fucker Breach, he said. He's making his move.
    That's what I thought. Word is that he's giving dope and money to anyone who points out our dealers. One of our people was in Lombardi's yesterday. He saw Charlie LaRosa and another of Breach's men talking to a junkie named Vincent Ballard. This was about an hour before Juan was snatched.
    Have someone talk to Ballard, see what he knows, Felix said.
    Done, Herrera answered. And we should take out some of Breach's dealers tonight for payback.
    Dorado was about to reply when the waitress walked up with a gift-wrapped box secured on top with a festive red bow.
    A man left this, she said cheerfully. He said it was a present and to wait to give it to you until you were finished with breakfast.
    Felix's eyes widened with fear, and he shrank back in his seat. Herrera grabbed the package, rushed out the back door into the alley, and flung the box into the deep metal dumpster. Dorado and his bodyguards were peering down the hall anxiously when Herrera dove back inside.
    You think it's a bomb? Herrera asked when several minutes had passed without an explosion.
    Send this idiot to check, Dorado ordered, flicking a thumb toward the bodybuilder who had lost Juan Ruiz.
    But, jefe, Corrales stuttered.
    Check the box, Pablo ordered.
    Corrales swallowed and walked down the corridor like a convict on the way to his execution. The door to the alley slammed behind him. Minutes passed without a big bang. Then the door opened and Corrales reappeared, carrying the box as far from his body as his muscle-bound arms would allow. The bodybuilder's face was ashy gray, and he had averted his eyes, which were wide with fear, so he didn't have to look at the contents of the box. He stopped a few steps from his boss and tilted the package so Dorado could see the present that Martin Breach had sent him. Dorado's normally nut-brown skin turned pasty, and he pulled back. Inside the box was Pedro Lozano's head.

    Chapter 4.
    THE MORNING AFTER HIS ABORTED DINNER WITH KAREN, DOUG Weaver woke up at nine o' clock more exhausted than he'd been when he passed out from drinking at two a.m. He dragged himself into the bathroom and splashed water on his face. Then he slapped his cheeks to get his adrenaline going. Nothing worked. Doug felt as if there were grains of sand in his eyes, and every thought seemed to take forever to get from the back to the front of his brain.
    After a breakfast of black coffee and unbuttered toast, Doug called Jerry Cochran, the attorney who had represented Jacob in the case that had sent him to prison. He knew Cochran from Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyers Association conferences and had seen him around the courthouse. Cochran's secretary said he'd be able to give Doug a few minutes at ten.
    Jacob Cohen's former lawyer was sharing space with several other sole practitioners in a suite on the third floor of a ten-story building in