The Darkness - Jason Pinter [130]
museum for the first time.
A new reporter. I smiled. The day Wallace had shown
me the ropes didn't feel that long ago.
Wallace was not introducing the new guy to anyone.
That would come later.
Then Wallace took a detour and stopped by my desk.
The new guy's cheeks were red, embarrassed, and he had
trouble making eye contact.
"Henry," Wallace said. "This is Nicholas Barr. He's
fresh out of J-school."
"Nice to meet you, Nicholas," I said, offering my hand.
"Yeah, nice to meet me, too. You. I mean meet you.
Me, nice to meet you."
"Easy there, Nicholas," I said.
"You can call me Nick," he said, his voice shaking. "Or
Nicholas. Nicky. Whatever you want."
"Nick it is."
"That's cool," he stammered. "I mean, okay."
"We'll catch up later, Parker," Wallace said, and I felt
the veteran editor's hand on my shoulder. Wallace would
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miss Jack as much as I would. It'd be good to tell stories
of the old man. "Maybe you'll show this new kid the
ropes sometime."
"You got it."
And then, when Wallace and Nick Barr had left my
desk, I heard the young reporter whisper enthusiastically
to Wallace, "Dude, that was Henry Parker."
"He's a great reporter," Wallace said. "And actually, I
think the two of you will get along quite well."
"Unreal," Barr said. "This whole place. Unreal."
I smiled, thinking about several years ago, my first day
at the Gazette, when I swiped Jack O'Donnell's coat with
my hand just to see if it was real. I remembered the pride
and disbelief in knowing I'd be working just mere feet
from a living legend.
Unreal. It had all seemed unreal.
Then I looked at Nick Barr, standing where I'd been
just a few short years ago, and knew that Jack might be
living on through me.
* * * * *
Author's Note
This book is a work of fiction, but many of the events discussed, specifically in regard to the growth of the drug trade
in the United States in the 1980s and the CIA's involvement
in the distribution of crack to fund Contra groups, are based
in fact. Gary Webb's series of "Dark Alliance" articles in the
San Jose Mercury News contributed mightily to the development of this book. As is often the case, the truth surrounding Webb's reporting and his alleged suicide is far
stranger (and more terrifying) than fiction.
The full text of Webb's reporting is online, and can
be read at:
www.narconews.com/darkalliance/drugs/index.htm
The murder of Robert Paz was an actual international
incident, and one that was instrumental in sparking the
U.S. invasion of Panama and the eventual capture of
Manuel Noriega. The manner of Paz's death described in
this book is accurate, as was his alleged membership in
the "Hard Chargers," a U.S.-backed insurgency brigade
whose purpose was to incite conflict with the Panama
Defense Forces in the hopes of inciting retaliation that
would positively impact public opinion about the conflict.
While the actual event in which Ramos and Malloy
were ambushed during their time as members of the
Special Forces in Panama is fiction, it was inspired by the
facts surrounding the murder of Robert Paz.
For further reading on these topics, I recommend the
following books:
DARKALLIANCE by Gary Webb (Seven Stories Press)
KILL THE MESSENGER by Nick Schou (Nation
Books)
LEGACY OF ASHES by Tim Weiner (Anchor Books)
CRACK IN AMERICA: edited by Craig Reinarman
and Harry G. Levine (University of California Press)
COCAINE by Dominic Streatfeild (Picador)
THE COMMANDERS by Bob Woodward (Simon
and Schuster)
Acknowledgments
As always, my sincerest thanks to Dianne Moggy,
Margaret O'Neill-Marbury, Donna Hayes, Michelle
Renaud, Heather Foy, Don Lucey, Adam Wilson, Christine Lowman, Craig Swinwood, Catherine Burke,
Belinda Mountain and the whole worldwide MIRA team.
My editor, Linda McFall, has seen both Henry and
myself through thick and thin, and her quick pen and
spot-on instincts make his stories that much richer.
Joe Veltre is a first-class agent and a great friend.
Here's to another book together.
The crime-writing