She got married, had a daughter of her own.”

“Your daughter won’t visit?”

“She’s dead. Got killed by her own daughter, the one I mentioned.”

Sadie cocks her head. “Your granddaughter murdered her mother?”

“Killed both her parents, if you want the truth. Killed ’em both and spared me to mourn ’em.”

“Someone’s trying to kill me, too,” Sadie says, moving the pillow closer to Cecile’s face.

Cecile looks at her with great curiosity. “Who, child?”

“I don’t know. Some random guy called me on the phone. He killed my neighbor and says he’s going to kill me, too.”

“When?”

“Tomorrow.”

“You should kill him first. That’s what I’d a’ done if I’d known the type a’ kid we had in the house. I’d a’ killed my granddaughter the minute she got attacked, raped, and left for dead.”

Sadie tries to make her voice sound properly horrified: “Omigod! That’s terrible!”

Cecile nods. “Gordon Day’s the one who did it. But they never reported him.”

“Why not?”

“Mr. Day owned the company my son-in-law worked for. He paid ’em plenty to keep their mouths shut. ’Course, that didn’t set right with my granddaughter. When she got old enough she killed her parents. Killed Gordon Day, too, and some others, before they finally put her away.”

“She went to prison?”

“Crazy house.”

“I’m so sorry!” Sadie says, pleased with the amount of emphasis she put in her response. “But how could you expect her to visit if she’s locked away?”

“She’s out now. Been out for a half-dozen years.”

Sadie looks at the pillow and says, “I should get this over with.”

“Go ahead, child, I won’t put up a fight. But this man who’s threatening to kill you? You should kill him first.”

“I wouldn’t know how.”

“Call my granddaughter. She’ll know someone who can do it.”

Sadie laughs. “I don’t think so. Your granddaughter sounds awfully dangerous.”

“More dangerous than the man who’s going to kill you?”

“Good point.”

“Call my granddaughter. It’s what she does. For a living.”

“She kills people?”

“For a price.”

Sadie mulls it over. “Do you happen to know her phone number?”

Part 2: Ryan Decker


 

 

Who’s Ryan Decker, and why should we care?


 

DECKER’S A FORMER urban terrorist, currently working for Homeland Security.

He’s also Donovan Creed’s arch enemy.

 

 

 

1.


 

16 Hours Later…

 

RYAN DECKER, SITTING on a three-legged stool, makes the final adjustment to the hose. “You sure you want to be a part of this?”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” his new girlfriend coos.

Decker looks her over in the bright lights he placed around the perimeter to give passersby the impression he’s nothing more than a midnight water company employee, repairing a water line. She’s young, pretty, and crazier than bees in a cyclone. He runs through his mental checklist, says, “Anyone approaches, I’ll do the talking.”

She, sitting on a picnic cooler, says, “You think it’ll work?”

“Why wouldn’t it?”

“Seems too easy.”

“Five-sided wrench, two lengths of hose, pump, barrel of toxic chemicals, a rudimentary understanding of hydraulics….”

“It’s the rudimentary part that makes me nervous,” she says. “Has anyone done a formal study on this?”

“Actually, yes. The idea came from a report Donovan Creed sent to Homeland Security months ago. It’s all theory, of course, since field testing would require poisoning a portion of the populace. But it’s diabolically simple.