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my left caught my eye as double doors at the front of the building slid open. A nurse walked toward us pushing a wheelchair in front of her. Its occupant was a young girl wearing jeans and a tee shirt, her hands folded in her lap as she slumped a bit to the side. As she got closer, I thought she might have been pretty once. Beautiful even. She still was in a way, but her head lolled to the side and her mouth hung open. Her vacant eyes tore at me a little. Her blonde hair, once lush maybe, hung in limp strands around her face.
    “Come on,” Stan said. “There’s one last thing you need to know. I want you to meet someone.”
    I cocked my head to the side and slowly rose.
    “Good morning, Chief!” The nurse practically sang it as she got closer. The girl in the chair struggled to lift her head. Her thin arms curled up, and crooked beneath her chin. She tried to smile, but the left side of her face hung slack. She made a joyful sound. A squeal. But she couldn’t form words.
    The nurse gave me an odd smile, then pulled her sweater tighter around her shoulders. “I’ll give you guys some time. Be back in ten.”
    “Thanks, Laura,” Stan said. He grabbed the handles of the wheelchair and brought the girl to our table.
    “Rachel, this is my friend, Jase.”
    Rachel struggled to focus. I leaned forward and closed a hand around hers. I couldn’t shake it, her rigid muscles held her arm pinned against her chest. So I leaned down and kissed the top of her hand. Rachel laughed, then her head lolled to the side as she tried to focus on Stan.
    “Glad to meet you, Rachel,” I said.
    “She was a swimmer,” Stan said. “She held the state record for the 100 fly. Headed for the Olympic trials, my girl.”
    My heart froze. My guts churned as bile rose in my throat. Slowly, I sank back onto one of the benches. Stan gently combed Rachel’s hair with his fingers and caressed her cheek.
    “Your daughter?” I said past a dry throat.
    Stan’s eyes glistened as he nodded. “Baby of the family. She had a full ride to U of M. Can you believe that? That’s the last trip we took together before this happened. Checked out the campus. Looked at her dorm. She went to a party after Nationals. She had a boyfriend who, let’s just say, didn’t have her best interests at heart. She made a bad fucking decision, Jase. And we were the lucky ones. Her boyfriend? The one that shot her up? He’s dead. OD’d that same night. Hotshot. That fucking shit. By all accounts it was the first time either of them tried it. The kids she was with got scared and ran. The doctors think if they’d called 911 maybe they could have gotten to her in time. She stopped breathing, see. Lack of oxygen to her brain. She’s still in there though. At least, sometimes. I don’t think she remembers anything about the way things were … you know … before. But she knows who she is. She knows who I am. And that’s all that really matters.”
    My heart broke into a million pieces, then remade itself in steel. She was in there, Rachel. You could see glimpses of her. And I knew that’s what had to tear Stan Lewandowski apart the most.
    He looked up at me as tears rolled down his cheeks. He said his next words through gritted teeth. “They let that bastard go. We had him. Iron fucking clad. The feds swore it up and down. I swear to God, Jase. If it’s the last thing I do on this earth, help me bring Cyrus Marsh down. Help me stop him from hurting kids like Rachel. Can I count on you?”
    I swallowed hard and held out my hand. Stan clenched his jaw as he took it.
    “Yeah, Stan. You can count on me. Let’s take that mother fucker out.”

Chapter Four
    D evin
    “You want some help with that, boss?”
    Kinney stuck his head through the slats in the railing while I heaved the CO2 canister over toward the basement wall.
    “Now you ask me. Where the hell were you ten minutes ago?”
    Kinney gave me that dazzling smile and shot me a wink. Yeah. It didn’t work on