CHAPTER 16

Clay had the paint booth lined in plastic. Dunn lay on his metal table, still sedated. There were no monitors beeping. No IVs connected. No respiratory machines controlling Dunn’s breathing. His fingerprints had been removed. Anthony had said he’d be there at ten. Clay pulled the cap off the scalpel and pressed it to the flesh of Dunn’s chest. He sank the blade in, and blood rolled from the scalpel as it penetrated. Clay pulled the blade across Dunn’s chest, left to right, then across from the other side from right to left before pulling it straight down and creating his Y incision. He set his scalpel down, pinned the flesh back, and reached for the oscillating saw to cut through the breastbone to gain access to Dunn’s chest cavity. Clay wiped the sweat from his brow, dropped the shield that was resting on his forehead down over his face, and pressed the blade to bone.