Book excerpt: Murder has always been easy for the Butcher's Boy - it's what he was raised to do. But when he kills the senior senator from Colorado and arrives in Las Vegas to pick up his fee, he learns that he has become a liability to his shadowy employers. His actions attract the attention of police specialists who watch the world of organized crime, but though everyone knows that something big is going on, only Elizabeth Waring, a bright young analyst in the Justice Department, can work her way closer to the truth, and to the frightening man behind it. Includes a new Introduction by bestselling author Michael Connelly.