Lion & Lamb, page 24
Chapter 127
WHERE WAS the very last place Veena had ever thought she’d find herself?
There was no clear number one, but pretty high up on the list would be Walking with Cooper Lamb and a police escort behind the scenes at the Super Bowl at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, California.
Yet here she was, and despite her natural aversion to team sports in general (and football in particular), Veena found herself in a good mood, caught up in the spirit of the game. The halftime show had just ended, and Veena had listened to a scorching, for-the-ages performance by Francine Pearl Hughes. If she had been carrying demons for the past few years, she’d exorcised quite a few of them on the stage tonight. Forget Janet Jackson flashing the crowd; forget the dancing sharks. People would be talking about this halftime show forever.
Archie Jr. and Maddie watched from the sidelines, proud of their mom and, for the first time in a long while, excited for the future. They were going on tour with their mother, and the family had no plans to return to Philadelphia anytime soon.
As far as the public knew, rogue homicide cop Mickey Bernstein had been responsible for the murder of Archie Hughes. The reason? For now, the story went that the GOAT owed way too much money to the Mob, and Mickey was the Mob’s combined hatchet man / fixer. Who better to investigate a murder than the person who’d committed it?
The Quiet One was not mentioned in any media report under that name or any other. But an FBI source quietly confirmed to Cooper and Veena that, yeah, Vanessa’s/Maya’s prints had been matched to a series of unsolved killings and were discovered on the security cameras near Eakins Oval too. Cooper almost pressed for more information, then thought better of it. Perhaps some truths weren’t worth knowing.
“Admit it—you’re having a good time,” he said now as they rode the elevator up to the luxury boxes.
“Maybe,” Veena said. “But I’m about to have an even better time.”
They were joined by a small battalion of law enforcement officers from an array of departments: FBI, Treasury, LAPD. Also squeezed into the elevator were Ariel and Cooper Jr. There was no way their father would go to the Super Bowl in LA and not bring them along.
Ariel had warned her dad: “If you don’t take us, I won’t speak to you for the rest of your life. And when we’re reincarnated, I won’t speak to you in that life either.” The point was taken.
But the kids were about to see an even more impressive show than the one they’d just seen.
Harold and Glenn Sable were completely outraged to learn that their beloved player had been murdered by the “crooked tools of organized crime.” They promptly stopped talking to the press when it was revealed that one of those “crooked tools,” Mickey Bernstein, was on their payroll too. But silence wasn’t going to protect them, because the law was here to arrest the Sable men on gambling and fraud charges.
Thousands of people were here to see the Eagles try to climb their way back from an eleven-point deficit.
Veena and Cooper were here to watch the Harold and Glenn Halftime Show.
The kids were here to enjoy Glenn Sable’s dessert table.
Chapter 128
THE GENERATIONAL differences were obvious. Longtime businessman Harold Sable surrendered himself without a fight, knowing that he’d taken a shot and lost. C’est la vie.
Glenn, however, still believed in fairy-tale comebacks. He inched away from the officers of the law before breaking into a full run, hoping, presumably, to make it to the hallway and from there to a non-extradition country. But the fat man got about three feet before he was tackled to the carpet, which put an end to his NFL career.
Sports fans would be talking about the notorious Sables for decades to come. Their story would be held up as a cautionary tale for the ages.
Not that the Eagles players on the field knew about any of this. And if they had, they wouldn’t have cared. They were here, at the Super Bowl, with the eyes of the planet on them, and even if the world around them started burning down, they would not be distracted. Also: the Birds were now behind by fourteen points.
“There’s no way the Eagles can win,” Veena said, elbowing Cooper in the ribs.
“Maybe not, but I feel like I’ve already won.”
“How much money will I end up losing to Red?”
“But won’t it be worth it, V.?”
“Not really.”
“Come on, you’ll be dining out on this story for years.”
However, Lion and Lamb had spoken too soon, because in the fourth quarter, Terry Mortelite led a furious drive that stunned everyone and sent the game into overtime.
After the Birds won the toss (another piece of luck), Mortelite and McCoy pulled off five straight passes that led to Jimmy Tua scoring a two-yard touchdown, an epic upset that electrified Philadelphia and applied a bit of salve to the city’s many wounds.
But that was the crazy-beautiful thing about this town. It was a place where anything could happen and often did.
Totally random things—like Veena Lion and Cooper Lamb leaving SoFi Stadium arm in arm after the game with a giggling Ariel and Cooper Jr. by their sides.
How crazy and beautiful is that?
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank Matt DeLucia, Peter Katz, Robert Kulb, Shannon Morris-King, and Joseph Murray for their generous research assistance. And none of this would have been possible without the love and support of Meredith, Parker, and Evie.
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About the Authors
JAMES PATTERSON is the world’s bestselling author. Among his creations are Alex Cross, the Women’s Murder Club, Michael Bennett, and Maximum Ride. His #1 bestselling nonfiction includes Walk in My Combat Boots, Filthy Rich, and his autobiography, James Patterson by James Patterson. He has collaborated on novels with Bill Clinton and Dolly Parton and has won an Edgar Award, nine Emmy Awards, and the National Humanities Medal.
DUANE SWIERCZYNSKI is the two-time Edgar-nominated author of ten novels—including Revolver and Canary as well as the graphic novel Breakneck—many of which are in development for film or TV. Most recently, Duane co-scripted James Patterson’s The Guilty, an Audible Original starring John Lithgow and Bryce Dallas Howard. He lives in Southern California with his family.
For a preview of upcoming books and information about the author, visit JamesPatterson.com or find him on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.
James Patterson, Lion & Lamb
