Page 19 of Lion & Lamb

“I’ll swear it to the ennnnnnd,”Cooper crooned,“cross my broken heaaaaaaarrt!”

“So glad Lupe isn’t here to see this,” Veena said.

“Can I, uh, get you anything else?” the server asked.

“Only my dignity,” Cooper said, his cheeks slightly red. “As well as another round.”

“Not for me,” Veena said. She downed the second half of her martini.

“Come on, one more,” Cooper pleaded. “Cross my broken heart?”

“Nope.” Veena left cash, including an incredibly generous tip for the server. “By the way,” Veena told her, “don’t go home with him. He’s a gifted orator and can probably talk you into it, but do yourself a favor and pass.”

“I’m mortally wounded,” Cooper said, clutching his chest.

“What business is it of yours?” the server asked. “Are you his ex or something?”

“Maybe someday,” Veena said.

Tuesday, January 25

Chapter15

6:45 a.m.

THE WINTERgust skimming across the surface of the icy Delaware River was cold enough to cut through cloth, skin, and bone. Cooper Lamb and Lupe were standing at Penn’s Landing looking across the river toward Camden, New Jersey.

They’d been partners for almost a year now. Lupe—Cooper Jr. called him “Loopy”—had entered Cooper’s life just one week after his wife had left it. Friends joked that poor Lupe would soon grow tired of Cooper’s bullshit and file for emancipation. Cooper didn’t doubt it. Sooner or later, everyone had enough of him.

Cooper didn’t have to turn around to know that Victor Suarez was approaching. He could hear Lupe’s happy little yelps. The dog adored Victor.

“Damn, it’s cold—who decided to meet out here?” Cooper demanded, shivering.

“That would be you, boss. To make it easy for you to head down I-95 straight to the Linc, remember?”

“Poor Lupe here peed icicles a few minutes ago.”

“So here’s what I’ve got. This won’t be announced officially for another hour, but the Eagles-Giants game has been rescheduled for this Sunday.”

“They’re not going to try to push back the Super Bowl?”

“Turns out, you can’t move a thing like the Super Bowl.”

“Only a week between games. That’s rough.”

“Just keep it in mind as you talk to everybody this morning. The tensions are running a little high at the Linc, from what I hear.”

“What else you been hearing?”

“I picked up some interesting details from the players’ chatter on their various private social media accounts.”

“Private accounts?”

“Separate from their public accounts, which are run by their management teams. This is what they use to hit on women and generally act stupid. Anyway, if the chatter is to be believed, you’re going to have a long suspect list. Not many people on the team—or on the staff, for that matter—liked Archie Hughes very much.”

“Reallllly.”

“Quite a few players seriouslyhatedthe guy, as a matter of fact.”

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