I was twenty‑four, in my third month at the precinct. The first two, I was like a squirrel on a wheel — running coffee and donuts for McCain from morning till night, and for his deputy, Matt Foster, just donuts. And all the while, I watched the room and kept my mouth shut— because saw it right away: a real snake pit.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOu62ZRB9GR
Of course, the biggest piece of shit was McCain. And like leader, like herd... But at least every Friday, I had enough to sit at the bar with Eric. Eric Garber — the only one I could talk to straight, no bullshit. And he told me a lot — about McCain, about Matt Foster. I kept quiet — that was the deal Eric made.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk1V0mpBsp4
The fourth run was that goddamn dive... The runs were what they called the new guys' first callouts. After the twentieth, the count stopped — and if you were still alive, you were "one of them." That goddamn dive — the one Loir mentioned...
Anyway — the shooting was brutal. The junkies were packed with guns and didn't count rounds. Two of our guys were carried out in bags. When it started, I caught a graze on the shoulder, threw myself sideways into a door, stumbled into some room, and rolled behind a couch. A second later, from the floor, I see a pair of torn sneakers by the door — I fire into the foot. The scream was insane: when a bullet tears through your foot, the pain's unearthly, and there's nothing you can do about it. I jumped up to finish the guy... and out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a bag. Just an ordinary beat‑up shoulder bag with a strap.
The guy with the hole in his foot twitches, grabs the doorframe with his left hand, raising his right to aim... Me too! But then, the bastard — my round jams. I drop, two shots tear past my ear and blow out the window... Glass rains down on me, I grab the bag to cover my face. What happened after that, honestly, I don't remember.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWtf1kXJVKd
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I came to with Eric shaking me like Winnie‑the‑Pooh shaking a honey jar. I'm on the porch, my shirt soaked in blood...
"You're one hell of a cowboy, asshole!" Eric yells — or does he? My head's ringing. "They barely stopped you!" 78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ86SYwlTPc
"?"78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV2hICDajO3
"You were dropping them everywhere. Inside, outside, the yard... Like you'd gone off the chain. A bloodbath — about eight guys."78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcAcjCktC9N
"Eight?!" — I'm in shock.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZb6NJqqRzl
"Yeah."78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe8gEUP3PKX
What stuck in my memory was Matt Foster — McCain's deputy — standing there, white as a sheet, smoking. Hand shaking.
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"There was a reason for that," Loir said, staring at the ceiling. " He had less than five hours to live..."
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"Where is it, you piece of shit?" — he grabbed me by the hair.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡquiYwdNuXu
Matt knew how to hit. First my nose broke against his knee. Then a shot to the solar plexus... I hit the floor. He'd already closed the blinds. Just in case. What case? It was already night — the precinct was empty. I came to on the same floor.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnsHQ2QYxMg
Eric was waiting outside. With a clean handkerchief. Lucky — my blood was already just running off it, not soaking in.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvbalPzRbcc
"If you make it till morning, I lose twenty bucks."78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2jAwqwpoQT
"To who?" — I mumbled.78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4goHdQHXEz
"My wife. She knows about our little games. Put her money on you for some reason."
He always jokes like that. A bastard — the one who gave me a lift from hell.I told him what happened in Matt's office. Eric asked for a couple of days and told me to lie low. I promised — but lied. Next morning, I slipped back inside the perimeter. Searched for a couple of hours — nothing. What'd Matt break my ribs for?..
The far end of the tape had sagged and caught on the picket fence of the neighboring lot. I went over to fix it... A kitten popped out of the bushes, stared at me in fright, and then, tail up, bolted toward the neighbor's house. I glanced at the windows — no movement. Grunting and farting like a dinosaur after a hunt, I climbed over the fence — and my hand found that same bag in the bushes. The one I'd used to cover my face from the glass. How the hell did it get here?! When I unzipped it, I stopped caring about the mystery — hundreds of Benjamin Franklins were staring back at me. Matt had beaten me for this bag! All I had to do now was wait for what Eric would bring — and count how many presidents I was holding.
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"Eric called you two days later. Punctual, isn't he?"78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ72AVeXlalJ
"Yeah. But before that — a guy from the department called. Said they'd found Matt hanging at home..."
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Eric was punctual indeed. Two days later, we were in a basement looking at a nigger tied to a chair. He was pissing his pants, squealing, begging for mercy — in exchange for a story. A banal one — that godforsaken ranch we'd raided had been ordered by Matt's rivals. And the sellout sent our guys in. The second target, of course, was the bag. The shit on Matt was heavy enough to pin him to the chair... Never give in to blackmail! That's what I thought looking at Matt on the rope.
The plans for the bag were blowing my mind. Half went to Eric — the other half painted a rosy picture of life with Madlen. She had no idea — I wasn't in a rush to share the news until I'd come up with a surprise. A couple of days later, when I was already opening my mouth to change our lives, she told me through tears that William — the little boy who lived below us — needed a bone marrow transplant.
In the morning, I went to see him. We chatted this and that — he held out a spoonful of oatmeal from his bowl to me. Rain was pouring outside. The place was tiny — a small hallway ending in the kids' room. The boy was already dozing off when I handed the bag to his mother...78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ43BGvXuq1b
At that moment, the sun broke through the clouds, and a bright ray traced a perfect oval across the sleeping child...
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and then Add to home screen.