'Hello and good-bye, Jack. Looks like the best man won.'
Then a shot rang out from the tube above us.
Harry.
The flashlight fell away from my face, and Charles Kork howled in pain. I felt around for my gun, instead finding the keys. I flicked on the key light and Harry dropped to the ledge next to me.
Charles moaned. I put the light on him. He was bleeding from the shoulder, clutching the wound with his good hand. His gun was gone.
I let out the breath I'd been holding.
The Gingerbread Man offered a lopsided grin. He looked small, petty, like the sewer rats that scampered behind him.
'Well, looks like you got me, Jack.'
'Stand up, put your hands on your head.'
'I can't get up.'
I took a step closer. My reserves were almost gone, and my entire body ached and smelled like sewage. But I could honestly say I never felt better.
'Turn over on your stomach. Hands behind your back.'
'How'd you find me?'
'You'll find out at the trial. Now turn over.'
Charles Kork shook his head. 'I'm not going back to prison.'
And then he rolled off the ledge and into the river of muck.
The current began to take him away at a surprisingly brisk pace. He floated chest-deep in the sewage, his good arm flopping ahead of him in an effort to paddle.
'I'll see you again, Jack!' he called out to me. 'Soon!'
Before I had a chance to consider my next move, there was a terrific boom! and Kork's head exploded in a plume of red.
I looked at McGlade. He holstered his .44 and shrugged.
'He was trying to escape. Were you gonna jump in that shit and go after him?'
The headless corpse of the Gingerbread Man floated off into the blackness on a river of filth. It bobbed in the gentle current once, twice, and then began to sink.
Following him were a swimming legion of rats.
Harry came over to me, eyes serious.
'Hey, Jackie -- you're not pissed, are you?'
I didn't say anything.
'I mean, he was a scumbag. Think of all the money I just saved the taxpayers. Do you know how expensive those high-profile trials are?'
I found Charles's gun. It was a .38. My .38. I took a plastic bag out of my jacket pocket and put the gun inside, lifting it by the barrel with two fingers.
'Jack, you're not really thinking of arresting me, are you?'
'He died in the shoot-out, Harry. That's what's going into my report.'
'You had me worried. I thought you were still pissed about me stealing your bust.'
'You saved my life, Harry.'
'Yeah. I guess I did. So we're even now, right?'
I made a fist and clipped him across the jaw. It was hard enough to stagger him back.
I shook my hand, the knuckles aching wonderfully.
'Now we're even.'
Harry wiped at his mouth and grinned.
'It took you fifteen years to finally do that. Feel better?'
I thought about it. 'Yeah, I do.'
'Then let's get the hell out of this sewer. It offends my delicate sensibilities.'
First we spent a few minutes finding my dropped gun. When it was safe in its holster, we took the nearest ladder up to the surface.
A few moments after we emerged through the manhole, a swarm of cops came running toward us. Several cops went down into the sewer after the body. My radio was finally working again, and I contacted Herb.
'The woman is okay,' he reported. 'Did you get him?'
The words felt so good coming out of my mouth. 'We got him.'
