get away with.'
'You don't know shit. And I didn't kill anybody. At least not yet.'
'It doesn't matter what I know. Harry knows you used Blues's fingerprint in his personnel file to forge the one on Cullan's desk. That will be enough for him. He'll hunt you down like a dog. You won't be able to use Cullan's files to wipe your ass.'
Zimmerman spat into the snow. 'Ryman's too old and too slow.'
'We'll put that on your tombstone.'
Zimmerman gave Mason a sharp shove in the small of the back. 'Move it!'
Mason marched toward the shelter, squinting against the snow. There was no sign of Tony or Blues. Fiora was still down. Zimmerman shoved Mason again as they stepped beneath the shelter, knocking him into Mickey, who was handcuffed and sitting cross-legged on the floor.
Toland pressed the barrel of his shotgun under Mason's chin, dragging it down to Mason's chest until Mason joined Mickey. Toland crouched down to Mason's eye level, keeping the shotgun flush against Mason. Mason smiled at the trickle of blood frozen on the side of Toland's face.
'Cut yourself shaving?' he asked Toland.
'That big moose you had chasing us in the woods scratches like a girl. I had to damn near kill him just so I could tie him to a tree. Don't make me tie you to a tree.'
Zimmerman said, 'We've got these three. Tony is out of commission, which leaves Bluestone.'
High-beam headlights flooded the shelter as a vehicle bore down on them, make and model invisible in the dark.
'Who in the hell is that?' Toland yelled.
The vehicle was aiming directly at them as it picked up speed over the fresh snow. The engine was revving hard as if the driver had floored the accelerator.
'Damn!' Zimmerman shouted as it got closer. 'That's my Suburban!'
'It's got to be Bluestone,' Toland said. 'He's going to ram us. Shoot him!'
Toland fired his shotgun, pumped, and fired three more rounds while Zimmerman emptied his clip into the Suburban. Mason and Mickey jumped to their feet and ran to Fiora. Crouching down with their hands behind their backs, they each grabbed him by the shoulders and dragged him out of the path of the Suburban.
The windshield on the Suburban shattered, but the truck roared on like an enraged beast made angrier by the gunfire, crunching and packing the snow beneath its tires, oblivious of the barrage of firepower. Zimmerman and Toland leaped out of the way at the last moment as the Suburban crashed into one of the poles supporting the shelter, toppling the roof. The car flew past them, becoming airborne before plunging headfirst into the lagoon, sizzling and bubbling as it found the muddy bottom.
Harry and Blues were following on foot behind the Suburban. Blues ran low and straight at Toland, colliding with him and rolling across the snow. Toland managed to get to his feet first while Blues was on one knee. Toland launched a booted kick at Blues's head. Blues caught Toland's boot and sprang up, sending Toland tumbling onto his back.
The power line had snapped off the roof of the shelter with the impact from the Suburban, its deadly blue current dancing and writhing across the snow, measuring Toland like a cobra as he struggled to get to his feet. Toland slipped in the snow, clawed at the ground on all fours, and screamed as the power line stung him with a lethal jolt, the line lying across Toland's electrocuted body as the snow sizzled around him.
Zimmerman was in a shooter's crouch, knees bent, arms extended, aiming Mason's gun in a rapid arc, looking for a target. Harry tackled him from behind, flattening him against the pavement and pressing his face into the snow. He planted his knee in the middle of Zimmerman's back and wrapped his hand around Zimmerman's gun hand, forcing the barrel against Zimmerman's ear.
'Pull the trigger, you piece of garbage! Blow your fucking brains out!' Harry screamed. 'Pull it, goddammit! Pull it!'
Blues ran to Harry's side, reached down, and covered Harry's hand with his own. 'Let it go, Harry. You got him. Let it go.'
Harry was heaving. 'Okay,' he said at last. 'Okay.' Harry cuffed Zimmerman. 'Don't move, partner.'
Mason looked at the lagoon, where the back end of the Suburban barely broke the surface. He staggered to his feet and made his way over to Blues and Harry.
'How did you do that?'
'I'll bet Blues hot-wired the Suburban, put a rock on the gas pedal, and steered with the door open while he ran alongside it,' Mickey said.
'Good call, kid,' Blues told him. 'How'd you know?'
'That's exactly the way I would have done it,' Mickey said.
'Next he'll tell people it was his idea,' Mason said.
'That's public relations. Get us out of these cuffs.'
CHAPTER SEVENTY-SEVEN
Harry unlocked their handcuffs.
'What's with Fiora? Did Toland clock him or shoot him or did the putz just have a heart attack?'
Fiora was still lying prone in the snow, not moving from the spot where Mason and Mickey had dragged him.
'I think he fainted,' Mickey said. 'When he walked up to the shelter, he raised his hand as if we were having a reunion. Next thing I knew, he took a dive. Toland didn't touch him.'
They walked over to Fiora. Mason nudged him with his shoe. 'Looks dead to me.'
'It's a real shame,' Mickey added. 'He didn't live to see us kick the crap out of those guys.'
'Weather like this,' Harry said, 'it could be hours before an ambulance gets here. Guess it doesn't matter since he's already gone.'
Fiora stirred, groaned, and slowly rolled over on his back. He blinked the snow off his eyelids and groaned some more. 'What happened?'
'How about that. Back from the dead. It's a miracle,' Blues said. 'I'll go find Tony. We may really need an ambulance for him.'
Mason turned to Harry. 'So I was right. Zimmerman forged Blues's fingerprint.'
Harry hung his head for a moment. 'Yeah. No one ever would have checked Blues's print against the ones in his personnel file if you hadn't asked me.'
It was the first time in years that Mason had heard Harry refer to Blues by his nickname. Harry had always insisted on calling him Bluestone, rejecting any closer ties to their days as partners. Harry's face was drawn and he was shivering from more than the wind.
'Zimmerman counted on that. Don't be too hard on yourself.'
Harry shook his head. 'Carl counted on me wanting it to be Blues.'
'Why'd you come out here with Blues?'
'I figured I owed him that. And I had to see Carl for myself. I had to be sure. If I was wrong, it would stay private.'
'What happens now?'
'It's up to the prosecutor. The case against Blues is pretty weak without the fingerprint. Carl has a lot of explaining to do. I guess we're back to square one.'
'Zimmerman told me that he didn't kill anybody. You think he's telling the truth?'
Harry thought for a moment. 'I'm the wrong one to ask. I was his partner and I didn't see anything that made me think he was dirty.'
'Toland was killed while he and Zimmerman were committing a felony. Under the felony-murder statute, Zimmerman will be charged with Toland's death. That's a capital-murder charge. Zimmerman is looking at the needle. He'll talk.'
'That's not what worries me. It's who's going to be listening.'
