The Grave By the River - The Wheelman

HOLDEN RICHARDS FOUND THE PIPE, NO SWEAT. Mikal, the Russian’s kid, had told him about it. Over on the Camden side, not too far from the bridge. That narrowed it down. There wasn’t too much new construction over here near the bridge—with the aquarium, and the Tweeter Center, and the rest of the tourist crap—tourists in Camden, if you can believe it—hardly enough room for a cockroach with a hard-on to squeeze through.

But here they were, trying to fit another tourist attraction along the cramped waterfront. A children’s museum.

Boy, would the kids be surprised to discover what Uncle Holden was dumping down their drainage pipe.

First down, the Russian. Let him and his kid have a happy reunion together. The Russian’s head remained remarkably intact, despite the point-blank shot to his face. The bullet entered his forehead, then exploded on its way out of the skull. The back of his head was shit, but his sturdy good looks would be preserved for the ages. As he let go of the Russian’s ankles, Holden wondered if he and his boy would end up cheek to cheek in the pipe, and what future archeologists would make of that.

Next up: Wilcoxson. Bank robber extraordinaire. His face hadn’t fared as well. Holden had popped a cap straight on, and Wilcoxson’s face was pretty much ripped off, leaving a mess of pulp behind. He screamed for a while, his legs flailing around like he was riding an invisible bicycle. Thank God for the soundproofing, huh? Eventually, the fury died, and so did Wilcoxson.

At the time, Holden had been tempted to go back and pop a cap in the bitch, too, just to get it over with. Lennon would show up tomorrow with the $650,000 no matter what, and then Holden would kill him. Right now, she was stashed at Wilcoxson’s Ritten-house Square pad, with his cousin Derek keeping an eye on her. Wilcoxson had agreed to that plan, but he’d also seemed nervous about letting some other dude hang with her while she was handcuffed to a pole. Like he was her man, or something. Something hinky was up there.

Holden thought about it for a while, then realized there really was no good reason to keep her alive. He picked up his cell and dialed Derek.