He could excuse carelessness that had caused his Guatemalan snatch. But freezing up here was inexcusable. A spasm of fear over his near death twitched through his legs. He rested for several moments, breathing deeply to relax.
“Four shots to the chest, guys,” Nick said. "Pete, anything?” He glanced ahead to the agent, who poked around bushes with his flashlight. “We don’t find it, we’ll be in deep.”
As Pablo pushed himself to his feet, he noticed he still gripped tensely the .357. He tried holstering it, but his hand shook. He missed the case, the Magnum clattered to the street.
Nick glanced at him. Pablo caught the compressed lips, the unforgiving stare, the contempt. He looked away, ashamed he hadn’t fired, and felt he needed to get away to collect himself. He holstered the gun and oc
