light, and the first thing she saw was J

de down. By the last word

s Scof

pocket. He looked as if he had

to. That message is about me. The g

guard the docks, even my own boss, they all send him a share. His name is a door, and if you say it in the wrong room, every head turns." He tur

e of her mind. "Is he the name

hen Cynthia and

sn't an

said. "

in her chest. But the clock on the wall read 06:10 a.m, and every minut

are you

He took his jacket from the chair. "Bolt the do

ou don't

body had asked him that in years. "There's bre

her men sold fruit. He did not look up when Jackie walked into the office. He was

ry yard, which was exactly what made th

ow long it wo

last night. Seventeen. A si

the hills for a few days, then they cross my yard in produce trucks bound for the coast. I've watched those trucks for six

the tru

ere's more. Table nine was booked three weeks ago, paid in cash. Whoever booked it knew exactly which three girls were coming

the man at the top. Sophie had her mother's jaw, and her mother's trick of narrowing her eyes just be

you,

me. Pay me wh

ose-out beside a fence, and the driver's window was dark. It had not been the

road a block behind him. He took the market route, left, right, left, then drove via a fountain twice and double

ow. But a man who had followed him all the

en a pale hand on the wheel and the collar

ived the weather, from the back of a seafood restauran

leach and old fried fish hung over the empty room. Victor sat alone beside

You look

g ni

re not happy, Jackie. One of his clubs lost a piece of inventory last night, and a man named Dario i

knees. "He put his hands on a gir

orange and offered him half. Jackie shook his

and I think she saw who was skimming. I was going to ask her quietly." Jackie shrugged as if the w

e empty room, the tank, the upturned chairs. "Everything we have stands on Scofield's good mood. I let you work because you're careful, and last night wasn

t happen

e. I want to he

word in front of you. Give me a fe

kets. "Do you know what I admire about you, Jackie? You have never lied

is

r witness, or I start asking questions of the people who love you. Your mother's ho

his face change, but the room

stopped wanting to shake. Victor had given him three days. Victor had also, wi

he ignition and his hands still not

from Beto, and

night, not Sunday. Eleven o'clock, the prod

be gone for good, and the only person he trusted to help him stop it was a

th her chin lifted and her fists closed, and he knew exactly what she would say if he came back with the

and for once he did not check the mirror, because the