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Chapter 122
WITHIN MINUTES, two blue-and-whites screeched to a stop outside. I directed the patrol officers upstairs to the grisly body of Joa
Chapter 123
I TOOK OFF IN THE RADIO CAR with the siren blaring all the way to the Presidio. It took me no more than seven minutes, with traffic wildly shifting out of my way, to speed down Lombard over to Richardson to the south tip of the Presidio. Up ahead, the golden rotunda of the Palace of Fine Arts loomed powerfully above a calm, gleaming pond. I saw Chris's blue Taurus pulled up diagonally across from the tip of the park and jackknifed the patrol car to a halt next to it. I didn't see a sign of any other cops. Why hadn't any backup arrived? What the hell was going on now? I clicked my gun off safety and made my way into the park underneath the giant rotunda. No way I was waiting. I was startled by people ru
Chapter 124
SHE LOOKED like a bizarre disfigurement of the beautiful woman she was. Her hair was matted and dyed gray and red. Her face still carried the marks of her disguise, a man's sideburns and flecks of a red beard. She was holding a gun tightly, pointing it directly at him. "I have a present for you, Nick." "A present?" Jenks said in desperation. "What the hell are you talking about?" "That's why we're here. I want to renew our vows." Chessy took a small pouch out of her jacket and tossed it at his feet. "Go ahead. Open it." Nicholas Jenks knelt stiffly and picked up the pouch. He opened it, the contents spilling into his palm. His eyes bulged in horror. The six missing rings. "Chessy, Christ," he said. "You're out of your mind. What do you want me to do with these?" He held out a ring. "These will put you in the gas chamber." "No, Nick," Chessy said, shaking her head. "I want you to swallow them. Get rid of the evidence for me." Jenks's face twitched in apprehension. "You want me to what?" "Swallow them. Each one is someone you've destroyed. Someone whose beauty you've killed. They were i