Chapter 2 Summary

Barry Muldanno, otherwise known as Barry the Blade or simply "The Blade," stops in front of pay phone in a restaurant in his flashy suit, gold jewelry and gelled back black hair. He dials his lawyer's office and asks where his lawyer was. He has been waiting for him for forty minutes. The secretary says that Mr. Clifford left the office at nine in the morning and hadn't been heard from since. Barry the Blade slams the phone and walks away. He just wants to talk to his lawyer about the mess he is in and does not understand why he cannot.

Barry's lawyer, Jerome Clifford, has been defending prominent New Orleans thugs for fifteen years, doing whatever necessary to win his cases including bribes, threats and all sorts of other corrupt business. Jerome is known to be loyal to the end. Jerome...