Page 105 of Fifty-Fifty

Kate thought for a moment, said, ‘You don’t think this case has anything to do with what happened to Eddie Flynn’s investigator?’

‘I can’t say for sure, but I wouldn’t be surprised.’

The conversation trailed off as Bloch ate her hoagie, and Kate picked at the fries. They finished and together made their way back to Center Street. It was dark now, with no wind, but the temperature was already below freezing and falling fast. Bloch had parked in Leonard Street, and it was time to head back to Kate’s apartment together and do some serious preparation for tomorrow.

As they passed Hogan Place, Kate saw Dreyer standing outside with his assistants. They were huddled into their overcoats, their breath misting in the cold, drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes. Their conversation petered out as they saw Kate and Bloch approach. Kate didn’t acknowledge Dreyer – she kept

her head down and moved past them. No sooner had they moved out of earshot,

Kate heard Dreyer mumble something and it was greeted with a chorus of derisory laughter. She didn’t doubt the laughter was aimed at them.

It didn’t seem to bother Bloch at all.

They stopped at the cross walk for Leonard Street, and Bloch hit the button.

This part of Center Street was one-way – all the traffic coming from their left. A truck blew by, and then some cars. On the other side of the crosswalk Kate saw a woman, heavily pregnant, with a big red coat bulging over her stomach. The woman laid a hand on her stomach, protectively, in the manner some pregnant women find comforting. The gesture made Kate smile. That kid was already loved and it wasn’t even born yet. A man with gray hair and a cashmere coat came and stood beside the pregnant woman. The man hit the crossing button again, angrily, as if the traffic light system would only work for him.

A car stopped in front of Kate, at the stop line. Beyond the car, a bus came to a stop. The light changed. Kate and Bloch began to cross the street.

So did the pregnant woman, and the gray-haired man.

Kate and Bloch passed the car. Before they reached the bus, a sound began to roar off the buildings, vibrate through the blacktop before finally landing in Kate’s chest. The noise increased – the volume rocketing – and suddenly Kate knew what it was.

It was a high, mechanical whine accompanied by a base roar of throttle.

A strong arm thrust out in front of Kate, across her chest, holding her back.

Bloch had stopped dead, just before the front of the bus. Kate looked to Bloch, then she heard the explosion of sound from a blast right in front of her.

Something dark shot past the bus, the pregnant woman screamed and fell back onto her behind, clutching her stomach, her legs splayed out. The gray-haired man fell forward, first onto his knees, then flat on his face. He didn’t put his arms out to arrest his fall, and there was a wet crunch when his nose hit the blacktop. Kate’s mouth opened but no sound came out. She could still hear that

roar and looking to her right, she saw a motorcycle, with a rider all in black, mount the sidewalk and drive straight into Collect Pond Park.

The arm that restrained her disappeared as Bloch ran after the motorcycle.

Kate looked back at the scene in front of her. The doors of the bus opened and

the driver got out. He went straight toward the pregnant woman who was still screaming. Kate moved forward toward the man lying face down.

‘Oh my God, are you alright? What happened?’ she said, kneeling, her hands shaking, her heart pumping. She touched the man’s shoulders, and then recoiled

as a pool of dark blood spread from beneath him.

Footsteps behind her, coming up fast. Suddenly Kate was surrounded. She fell onto her side, pushed out the way by a man in a suit. She looked up, saw it was Dreyer and his assistants. One of them turned the gray-haired man over, and that’s when they began to shout in panic.

The hilt of a knife jutted from his throat. His eyes were open and lifeless, his face a bloody mess. His nose sat at an odd angle, flattened to the right against his cheek by the fall. Kate’s stomach heaved, and she covered her mouth and got up.

Bloch came charging back and knelt down beside Kate.

‘The rider got away,’ said Bloch.

One of the assistant DAs got up to help the pregnant woman, trying to calm her, for the baby’s sake at least. Someone, Kate couldn’t tell who, was on the phone to a paramedic.

Dreyer turned toward Kate and said, ‘This was my witness. We were waiting for him to come in and be deposed.’

‘Who is he?’ asked Kate.

‘His name was Hal Cohen.’