City on Fire (Danny Ryan, #1)(93)

Terri’s gone and he can’t find the woman he knew.

Danny don’t know if it’s real or he imagined it, but he could swear that she opens her eyes for a second and says, “Take care of our son.”

“I will.”

“Promise.”

“I promise,” he says. “I swear.”

Then he straightens up.

So what’s it going to take, he asks himself.

First you gotta get out of here, out of this trap.

Say you can, then what?

Money—it’s going to take a lot of money to go on the run and stay off the radar. Money for you and Ian, money for the rest of them.

Like the money ten keys of dope will bring in.

You have to get out of here and get the heroin.



“Where are you going?” Liam asks. He’s stretched out on the bed, but his hand is on his revolver.

“To take a shower,” Pam says. “Is that okay with you?”

“Leave your clothes here on the bed.”

“Liam—”

“Do it.”

Pam sheds her clothes and goes into the bathroom. Lets the water get hot and then stands under it. The bruises have come out on her body, purple and red; her ribs hurt and she wonders if one of them is cracked. Her neck is tight from when he slapped her and she turns around to let the water hit it.

Then she slides down the shower wall.

Sits there and cries and cries.

She doesn’t hear the motel room door open, but does hear a man’s voice say, “Don’t do it, Murphy. Let the gun drop.”

Pam doesn’t get up.

She hears Liam yelling, “You fucking bitch! You fucking whore! You’ve killed me, Pam! You’ve killed me! I loved you!”

Then she hears the door shut.



Danny goes out into the hallway, where Jimmy is waiting.

“Tell Ned to go by my place,” Danny says, “pick up Ian, get down to my dad’s and wait. Tell Kevin and Sean to head down there, stay in the area but don’t go in. Watch for me on the road.”

“What about me?”

“You’re going to help me get out of here.”

Jimmy goes downstairs; Danny finds the staircase to the roof and goes up. Walking to the edge, he can see all of Dogtown, the old neighborhood, the Gloc, the basketball courts, the house he grew up in, the house he lives in now.

Or used to live in, he thinks.

That’s over now. It’s all over.

Dogtown is gone.

He looks into the parking lot at the cars. At least one of them will be Moretti’s people, another one at least will be feds. He’ll know which in a minute. Then he hears the engine and sees Jimmy’s Charger roar out, making as much noise as possible.

A car pulls out and goes after it.

Then another.

Good, Danny thinks. If anyone can lose them, it’s Jimmy Mac, and if he can’t, well, Jimmy’s a good soldier. And he knows that I’ll take care of Angie.

He walks to the other side of the roof and goes down the fire escape.

Five minutes later, he’s on the road, headed for Mashanuck and the heroin.

Just let me get there, Danny thinks, before Jardine does.



Jardine shoves Liam into the passenger seat, then opens the trunk of his car.

A suitcase is sitting there. Jardine opens it and sees three bricks of heroin. He shuts the trunk, gets in behind the wheel. “You’re fucked.”

“Why are we taking my car?” Liam asks.

“Your vehicle,” Jardine says, “is confiscated and is now the property of the United States government. I’m using it to take you in.”

Liam figures this is his one shot. He talks fast. “You’re missing ten keys. The shipment we jacked was forty kilos. There are ten still out there. I can give them to you. I can give you Danny Ryan, too. He’s the top guy now, this was his play, he’s the one you want. I’ll testify against him, against my father, but I want immunity. Total immunity from prosecution. I go into the program, I get a new life.”

“What about Pam Davies?”

“Fuck her,” Liam says. “She already cut her deal, right?”

“If I promise you’ll never spend a day in prison,” Jardine says, “you’ll tell me where the ten keys are?”

“I can tell you where they were,” Liam says. “I don’t know if Danny’s gotten to them.”

“Okay. If we get the dope, you have a deal.”

Liam gives him the address. Jardine drives a little farther, then pulls off into a parking lot behind a bunch of warehouses.

“What are we doing?” Liam asks, suddenly scared.

“I’m a man of my word.” Jardine takes Liam’s revolver and shoots him in the head, then puts the gun in his hand.

He takes the three bricks of heroin from the trunk and gets out.

A car is waiting for him.



Pam is lying on the bed in her towel when the door opens.

“Hello, bitch.”

Paulie points the gun at her.



Danny drives.

He’s made this trip a thousand times, but this time it’s different. This time it’s one-way. He’s going to take the fucking heroin—Please, God, let it still be there—grab his father and his son, and never come back.