Shadow Prey

know until they got inside how bad it was.”
    “But she’ll be okay?”
    “That’s what they say. I’ve got a car . . . .”
    Rothenburg was two inches taller than Lucas but slender as a rope. He looked strong, like an ironman runner, long muscles without bulk. They walked stride for stride across the terminal and out to the parking ramp to the Porsche.
    “You’re the guy she bailed out of trouble. The hostage, when she shot that man,” Rothenburg said.
    “Yeah. We did some work together.”
    “Where were you tonight?” There was an edge to the question, and Lucas glanced at him.
    “We split up. She went back to her hotel to read some stuff while I was out working my regular informant net. This guy we’re looking for, Shadow Love, tracked her there.”
    “You know who did it?”
    “Yes, we think so.”
    “Jesus Christ, in New York the guy’d be in jail.”
    Lucas looked directly across at Rothenburg and held the stare for a moment, then grunted, “Bullshit.”
    “What?” Rothenburg’s anger was beginning to show.
    “I said ‘bullshit.’ He fired one shot and got lost. He’s got a safe house somewhere and he knows what he’s doing. TheNew York cops wouldn’t do any better than we’re doing. Wouldn’t do as good. We’re better than they are.”
    “I don’t see how you can say that, people are being shot down here.”
    “We have about one killing a week in Minneapolis and we catch all the killers. You have between five and eleven a night in New York and your cops hardly catch any of them. So don’t give me any shit about New York. I’m too tired and too pissed to listen to it.”
    “It’s my wife who’s shot . . .” Rothenburg barked.
    “And she was working with me and I liked her a lot, and I feel guilty about it, so stay off my fuckin’ back,” Lucas snarled.
    There was a moment of silence; then Rothenburg sighed and settled further into his seat. “Sorry,” he said after a moment. “I’m scared.”
    “No sweat,” said Lucas. “I’ll tell you something, if it makes you feel better. As of tonight, Shadow Love is a dead motherfucker.”
     
    Lucas left Rothenburg at the hospital and went back on the street. There were few places open; he found a bar in a yuppie shopping center, drank a scotch, then another, and left. The night was cold and he wondered where Shadow Love was. He had no way to find out, not without a break.

CHAPTER
26
    Leo came in at three in the morning. “No sign of Clay, but his man’s at home.”
    “Drake? You saw him?”
    “Yeah. And he’s got a girl with him.”
    “Blonde?” asked Sam.
    “Yeah. Real small.”
    “Far out . . . real young?”
    “Probably eight or ten years old. Took Drake’s hand when they walked up to the door.”
    “Clay’ll be coming,” Aaron said with certainty. “When you got his kind of twist, you don’t get away from it.” When he said ‘twist,’ he made a twisting motion with his fist.
    Sam nodded. “Another night,” he said. “Tomorrow night.”
    “Did you hear about the cop?” asked Aaron.
    Leo took off his jacket and tossed it at the couch. “The woman? Yeah. It’s Shadow.”
    “God damn, the fool will ruin us,” Aaron said bitterly.
    “One more night,” said Leo. “One or two.”
    “Killing cops is bad medicine,” Aaron said. He looked at his cousin. “If it’s gonna happen with Clay, it’s gotta be soon. We might start thinking about taking him at the hotel or on the street.”
    Sam shook his head. “The plan is right. Don’t fuck with the plan. Clay’s got a platoon of bodyguards with machine guns. They’d flat kill us on the street and Clay’d be a hero. If we can get him at Drake’s, he’ll be alone. And he won’t be no hero.”
    “Tomorrow night,” said Leo. “I’d bet on it.”
     
    Shadow Love hid in a condemned building six blocks out from the Loop. The building, once a small hotel, became a flophouse and finally was condemned for its lack of maintenance and the size of its rats. Norway rats: the fuckin’ Scandinavians ran everything in the state, Shadow Love thought.
    There were a few other men living in the building, but Shadow Love never really saw them. Just shambling figures darting between rooms, or moving furtively up and down the stairs. When you took a room, you closed the door and blocked it with a four-by-four from a pile of lumber on the first floor. You braced one end of the timber against the door, one end against the opposite wall. It