Ericson's jaw tensed, little motions at the corners of her face.
Then she said, "Greg and Helen Beckitt. Three years ago, their daughter, Amanda, was killed in a cross fire. Walter Payton's thugs were shooting it out with some of the Jamaican gang that was trying to muscle in on the territory back then. One of them shot the little girl. She lived for three weeks in intensive care and died when they took her off life support."
I didn't say anything. But I thought of Mrs. Beckitt's numb face and dead eyes.
"The Beckitts attempted to lodge a wrongful death suit against Walter Payton, but Payton's lawyers were too good. They got it thrown out before it even went to court. And they never found the man who shot the little girl. Word has it that Payton offered to pay them blood money. Make reparation. But they turned him down."
