Blood List(61)

"Yeah, but you never intended to keep it," Marty said.

"Right," said Gene, "but as long as he doesn't know that, as long as he thinks we can lead him to whoever sent an assassin after him, he'll stick close by. It'll be a lot safer to grab him once we're back at HQ."

"Goddamn it, boss, you're a fucking idiot sometimes," Marty said. "What's the difference between now and then, besides a little time?"

Gene looked his brother in the eyes. "I'd rather take him down in a secure facility, with no civilians around, surrounded by half the Bureau."

"Gene—" Marty said.

Gene held up his hand. "Just wait a minute, Marty." Marty rolled his eyes as Gene pulled Doug off to the side and muted his COM.

Gene leaned in close and kept his voice low. "Look, we're waiting to take him down because I'm protecting Marty, not Paul. He doesn't understand just how dangerous Paul Renner is." Doug raised an eyebrow. "He doesn't. He thinks he can just strong-arm him into submission like a common perp, and it's going to get him hurt. Just side with me on this, will you? It's just a few more hours."

Doug looked over at Marty, clenching and unclenching his gloved fists and swearing under his breath. "All right. I got it."

"Good," Gene said. They walked back over to Marty.

Marty took one look at Doug and snarled. "You're not siding with Gene, are you?"

Doug put his hand on Marty's shoulder. "Yes, I am."

Marty rolled his eyes. "You know what? Fine. But as soon as we're back at Hoover—"

"Yes," Gene said. "As soon as we're back at Hoover, Marty."

"Agent Palomini!" Gene turned around at the voice. The local Sheriff, Josephson, approached at a trot. "Hey! We need to get all these weapons secured. You can't just leave this stuff lying around my beach!"

Gene held up a hand to delay the sheriff and turned to his brother. "Look, we'll talk about this in a few minutes. Just keep your head." He turned back to Josephson, who glared daggers at Gene's upraised hand. "Forensics is en route via chopper. They're going to be here in fifteen minutes. Until they come, nobody touches anything."

Gene, Doug, and Sheriff Josephson walked away toward the beach, leaving Marty glaring at his brother's back.



Marty stepped into the empty living room. He saw no sign of Jerri or Renner. The bathroom door was closed, and he heard water running.

He drew his sidearm and tapped his COM. "Jerri, where are you?"

Marty stepped past the couch to the bathroom door. "Doug, can you get in here?"

"Let me finish this up. I'll be right there," Doug said.

Marty opened his mouth to reply. His breath left him as a knife punched straight through his Kevlar vest and into his back. It hurt, but not as much as it should have. Oh fuck. I'm already in shock. His knees buckled, and Renner held him upright against the door. Paul leaned close and plucked the COM bead from his ear, then spoke softly, intimately. "Didn't want to wait until Hoover, eh?" The knife came out with a gush of hot blood. "That was a lung." The knife went in again, lower, and twisted. Marty's legs turned to ice. "That was a kidney." Marty coughed, and blood flecked the white door. He tried to turn, but his body wouldn't respond.

"You think you're such hot shit, Marty? You think you're better than me? You fucking Feds are all alike. Holier than thou, sycophantic little fucks. You're just a bunch of killers. Underpaid killers." Marty gasped as the knife went in a third time. This one hurt like hell. "Liver, Marty. Time to quit drinking."

"Here." Paul's bloody hand came around Marty's side and grabbed the doorknob. "I left you a present." He turned the knob. The door opened and Marty fell through. He clumsily broke his fall and landed face-first on the floor. "You should have told her, Marty. Life is too short."

Jerri sat on the toilet, fully clothed, and stared at the ceiling with unblinking eyes. Her throat was an angry yellow bruise, already turning purple. Paul stepped over Marty's fallen body and wiped his hands on Jerri's shirt, then took her sidearm from her holster. Marty lay on the floor, trying to scream, trying to do anything, as the killer disappeared behind him.



Dressed in a heavy winter coat stolen out of the closet, Paul Renner climbed into the back of the ambulance. Two suspects, both critically injured, lay unconscious on their gurneys. A third, shivering despite a heavy blanket, was handcuffed to the door. The EMT changing an IV on the man with the shattered leg looked startled by Paul's sudden appearance.

"Okay, let's go," Paul said, flashing Jerri's badge in the darkness.

"You're coming with us, Agent?"