"It's for you," she mouthed. "You're next."
Miles shook his head, then blew her a kiss.
It was the last time he saw her alive.
The bridegroom's car, festooned with tin cans and tissue-paper flowers, pulled out slowly from the lot in front of the Inn on the Park. Because it was considered bad luck to watch the newlyweds drive away, no one had escorted them from the restaurant building.
John and Susi Belmont were holding hands and laughing as their auto moved slowly down the driveway. The spring day had ended and the mercury vapor lamps were easing on to mark the evening.
Up ahead, they saw a blue car parked between trees alongside the driveway, its nose pointing out to the road. Suddenly they saw a man jump from behind the blue car into the driveway. He raised an automatic with two hands and fired. A bullet struck John Belmont in the eye before he could even slam on his brakes. The car careened off the roadway, jumped a small curb, and hit a tree with a crash that shattered its front windshield.
Susi, covered with her husband's blood, screamed once before the second bullet whizzed through the open window on the driver's side and pierced her brain. She fell forward across her husband's dead body. The impact jammed his foot down onto the gas pedal and the car's motor began to race wildly, its rear wheels biting deeply into the freshly planted damp spring sod.
"Jesus Christ, Nicky!" Joey DeSanto croaked hoarsely behind the wheel of the blue Corvette.
For a wild moment Nick spun on his brother, aiming the .38 double-handed at him through the windshield of the blue Corvette.
"Nicky—Nicky, no," Joey whimpered, slowly raising his arms in the air. "I'm your brother, Nicky."
With a slump of his body, Nick broke his trancelike concentration.
A few shouts came now from the entryway to the Inn on the Park. Nicky DeSanto ran off the roadway, slid into the Corvette beside Joey, and tossed the gun out the window.
"Hurry up," he growled. "Get out of here."
The Corvette squealed backward in a cloud, then maneuvered behind some bushes. It had disappeared the way it had come before the first frantic wedding guests arrived at the scene.
Joey gripped the steering wheel with two white-knuckled hands. "What's going to happen now, Nicky?" he asked. He sounded even younger than he was.
His big brother laughed. "Grow up, Joey. Nothing's going to happen. There ain't nobody in this town big enough to touch us."
When their bodies were found, John and Susi Belmont's hands were still entwined.
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About the Authors
Warren Murphy is the author of the long-running satirical action/adventure series, The Destroyer, on which the movie Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins was based; the Trace series of detective novels which spawned the television series Murphy’s Law; and a number of other books, stories, and screenplays. His film credits include The Eiger Sanction and Lethal Weapon II. His work has won a dozen national awards, including two Edgars and two Shamuses.
Learn more about Warren on www.WarrenMurphy.com or www.DestroyerBooks.com
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Molly Cochran has written and ghostwritten 25 novels and nonfiction books, including the Edgar-winning bestseller Grandmaster and The Forever King, recipient of the New York Public Library award for Books of the Teen Age, both co-written with Warren Murphy, and the nonfiction bestseller Dressing Thin. Her most recent novels are Legacy and Poison, published by Simon & Schuster.
Learn more about Molly on www.MollyCochran.com
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Also by Molly Cochran and Warren Murphy
High Priest
The Broken Sword
World Without End
Writing as Dev Stryker:
Deathright (Cochran)
Endgame (Murphy)
A Wilderness of Mirrors (Cochran)
By Molly Cochran:
The Third Magic
By Warren Murphy:
The Red Moon
The Ceiling of Hell
The Trace series
The Digger series
The Razoni and Jackson series
Scorpion's Dance
Jericho Day
Mis Bidwell's Spirit
Leonardo's Law
Destiny's Carnival
Copyright Information
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author‘s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Copyright © 1984 by Molly Cochran and Warren Murphy
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
eISBN: 978-1-937776-57-2
Grandmaster (A Suspense and Espionage Thriller) Page 46