Faces [antikvár]

PrologueDecember 2006Mary Cadogan was lying on her bed. She was frightened, but then she was always frightened. Frightened her husband would get nicked, and even more frightened that he wouldn't.She didn't want to advertise the fact that she was lying here, fully dressed, on a freezing December night, waiting for the man who was more than capable of ending her life, physically as well as emotionally. Mary's breath was heavy in the room; it had the rancid smell of the habitual drinker, it was sour, it was disgusting, but no one ever mentioned that. Her drinking, like everything else about her life, was not something to be talked about openly. But everyone in her orbit was aware that no amount of breath mints or chewing gum would ever really mask it. Mary's life made them all feel inadequate, especially Mary herself.Danny Boy Cadogan could make the most hardened criminal nervous and paranoid, especially if Danny decided he wanted to talk to them about something. Danny could make the most innocent of statements sound like a declaration of war, and the most innocuous of comments into a terrifying and threatening reality.Mary Cadogan felt the usual tightening in her chest that always accompanied the mentioning of her husband's name. The fact that he had the same effect on everyone did little to calm her nerves. She had seen him in action, close up and personal, for years, and1