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revenge.”
    â€œYou wrote the book on that one, cuz,” Jamal said, clinking his beer bottle against her glass of iced tea.
    Laura nodded and sat back, ruffling her hair with her fingers. “Precisely.”

Chapter 3
    T wo detectives stood over the body, shaking their heads as they pulled off their latex gloves and dropped them into a hazmat bag near the scene.
    â€œThis poor bastard can’t seem to catch a break,” the older of the two men said. “First his niece, then his son. This is old-school mob hit type of shit. A wire around the throat while the man was sitting in a chair in his own home eating breakfast. Wife walks in on the body after her morning constitution and freaks out. That old lady doesn’t have enough upper body strength to pull off something like this. Don’t seem like the type, either.” He glanced at the other officers on the scene. “Dust the house for prints, but I don’t think you’ll find anything out of the norm—this was a pro job.”
    â€œI hear you, Joe.” The younger detective turned his back on the grisly site and lowered his voice. “Did you hear how they did his son?”
    His partner nodded. “I heard he was a real asshole, but to sodomize a man to death ... geesh. They said the guy died from internal bleeding before the guards even found him—then what the coroner found inside him would make you lose your lunch. The man didn’t even have a chance to bury his kid before he got whacked ... what was it, twenty-four or forty-eight hours ago? Now there’ll be no media courtesy to allow the widow to privately grieve. All the gory details will be out. It’s a damned travesty, if ever I saw one.”
    â€œAll this bullshit is giving me the willies,” the younger man said, wiping the sheen of anxiety perspiration from his brow with the sleeve of his navy suit. “What do you think he was into that coulda gotten him and his boy handled like this? I mean, given who he was and all.”
    â€œWho knows? They all had their hands in the cookie jars, and we just got done with all of that insanity. Maybe some folks got nervous and just decided it was time to clean up the trail, since all roads eventually lead to Rome.”
    The more seasoned police veteran let out a long sigh then went to the window, motioning to the coroner’s black van. “Bag him and tag him,” he called out and then turned to his partner. “Get some coffee, kid. It’s gonna be a long day. Any time a VIP goes out like this, there’ll be a lot of paperwork and Cap is gonna need enough ammo to fend off the media in a statement by the evening news.”
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    James paid the bill and the emotionally weary fivesome stood slowly. Steve’s cell phone vibrated on his hip, and he exchanged a glance with James as he took the call.
    â€œYo,” Steve said, alarmed at the number that flashed on his display.
    â€œYo, Sulli, you should put on cable tonight and watch the news. A bad wind is blowing through Philly, and I’m just giving you a heads up that it wasn’t us.”
    The call disconnected, and Steve stared at his cell phone for a moment.
    â€œTalk to me,” James said in a quiet voice. “The color just drained from your face.”
    â€œThat was Caluzo. He said a bad wind was blowing through Philly, but it wasn’t his people. Said to watch the news.”
    James unhooked his cellular from his waistband and began dialing a number he knew by heart as the others around him remained mute, staring.
    â€œYo, Cap,” James said the moment the call connected. “Talk to me. I hear there’s some crazy shit going on in Philly.”
    â€œYou’re retired,” his old captain said. “Stay that way.”
    â€œC’mon, man, don’t front on me like—”
    â€œI’m serious, Carter,” Cap said, his tone low and lethal. “How did you hear about