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CHAPTER

1

It was supposed to be al outdoors on the brand-new Nesselrode Plaza A hard and bitter ith a cold edge to it blew across the wide-open space of the plaza Nobody was surprised This was Chicago, the Windy City It was tough to be shocked when it lived up to its name

But this as cold The plaza itself was only half a block froht froather strength as it blen froan

Most people would have put their heads down and hurried across the large open space to find soathered here in the arctic ether around the podium that stood in the center of the plaza, in the shadow of a huge statue It was brand-new, too, so neas still draped with a cover, pending the dra their feet and trying to hunch away from the wind, devoutly wished it would be unveiled quickly so they could go someplace warm

But of course, few of them were here by choice They were mostly reporters and civic leaders, here because they had to be The new Nesselrode Plaza was supposed to be i this area of the lakefront A US congresswoman was in attendance, a handsoray-haired African-American ainst the cold you could barely tell his species, let alone that he was a prodown his cheek, in the full dress uniform of a Coast Guard admiral

And of course Arthur Nesselrode himself was here, the billionaire who had donated the statue and given the plaza its name That ive a speech that fit the occasion, made Arthur Nesselrode feel truly i checks in the future—and thatspeech

Circling the peri croere a couple of aruards, hired because this was an expensive statue, made by a fa lord wanted the statue, rumors the mayor took seriously

The guards did not “Nobody’s gonna steal this fucker,” Denny Kirkaldi said to his partner, Bill Greer He pointed at the base of the statue “Lookit—twelve bolts, thick as h ten tons”

“Twelve and a half,” Greer said Kirkaldi looked at hied “It was in the paper”

“Well, so twelve and a half tons Tons, right? So who’s gonna steal so stupid!”