Part 37 (2/2)

Pascal drove erratically, hitting the gas and brake pedals with quick, jerky movements. The car rolled and lurched, intensifying my nausea. Unable to see out, I counted the stops and turns, trying to memorize the route.

When we stopped, Tank's boot withdrew, and doors opened and slammed. I heard voices, then the back door opened again. Pascal grabbed my arms and dragged me from the car.

As I struggled for balance my gaze fell on Tank, and a wave of terror traveled up my spine. He held the .38 aimed directly at my head. His eyes gleamed black in the pale pink of the streetlight, feral with antic.i.p.ation. I resisted the impulse to beg, knowing my pleas would only fuel his blood l.u.s.t.

Pascal shoved me up a short walk toward a building with a green roof and brick exterior wall. When he withdrew a key, unlocked the gate, and pushed me through, my painfully constructed calm crumbled.

Run! Don't go inside!

”No!”

”Move your a.s.s, b.i.t.c.h.”

”Please no!” My pulse beat at a ferocious pace.

I tried to plant my feet against the advance, but Pascal forced me across the courtyard toward the house. Tank followed closely. I could feel his gun on the back of my head, and knew escape was impossible.

”What do you want from me?” I was almost sobbing.

”All you got and then some, b.i.t.c.h,” Pascal snarled. ”s.h.i.+t you ain't even dreamed of.”

He spoke into an intercom. I heard a metallic voice followed by a click, then he shouldered open the steel-reinforced door and pushed me inside.

There are moments in life when it seems clear the wrap-up is at hand. Your heart pounds and your blood pressure rises, but you know the blood will soon be spilled, never to flow again. Your mind flip-flops between an urge to launch one last desperate effort and a sense of resignation, a desire to just give in.

I've had this feeling a time or two, but never as vividly as at that moment. As Pascal shoved me down the hall, I knew with certainty I would not leave that house alive. My brain opted for furious action.

I turned and drove my fist as hard as I could into Pascal's face. I felt something crunch, but swung back with my elbow and brought it up under his chin. Pascal's head flew back and I slipped below his arm and bolted through a doorway on my left.

I found myself in a game room similar to that at the Vipers' clubhouse in St-Basile-le-Grand. Same bar. Same neon art. Same video monitors. The only difference was that these were working, throwing a cool blue light over the bar and its occupants.

I ran to the far side of the pool table, grabbed a cue in one hand, and fumbled for the Mace with my other, my eyes searching for any door or window.

Two men sat at the bar, another stood behind it. All three had turned at the sound of Pascal's roar. They watched me tear across the room, then s.h.i.+fted their attention back to the door when Pascal burst through it.

”I'll kill that little bucket of s.h.i.+t! Where the f.u.c.k is she?”

Light from the neon sign angled obliquely across Pascal's face, deepening the furrows and casting shadows across his eyes and cheeks.

”Hold it right there.”

The voice was low and hard as quartz, and stopped Pascal dead. The sound of the outer door suggested Tank had opted out of further involvement. I stole a look at the man who had spoken.

He wore a double-breasted tan suit with a pale peach s.h.i.+rt and matching tie. His skin was tanning-booth bronze, and he probably paid his hairstylist eighty dollars per visit. Large rings adorned each of his hands.

It was the man beside him who caused my heart to stop.

Andrew Ryan wore black jeans, boots, and a gray sweats.h.i.+rt with the arms razored off. The muscles in his face looked hard and tense, and stubble roughened his cheeks and chin.

Ryan's eyes met mine and the flesh underneath tensed slightly, then he looked away.

I felt heat rise up my neck and spread across my cheeks. My legs trembled, and I leaned into the pool table to steady myself.

After several seconds Ryan swiveled on his bar stool and stretched his legs in my direction. A smirk spread across his face.

”Well, if it ain't s.h.i.+t for brains.”

”You know this f.u.c.kin' c.u.n.t?” Pascal's voice trembled with rage. Blood trickled from his nose, and he wiped it on his sleeve.

”It's Dr. Too G.o.ddam Many Degrees,” Ryan said, drawing a pack from his pocket and tapping out a Marlboro.

The others watched as Ryan placed the cigarette between his lips, drew a wooden match from under the cellophane, lit up, and exhaled.

So did I. Ryan's hands looked so familiar on the match and cigarette I felt tears behind my lids. My chest gave a small heave.

Why is he here?

Ryan took his cigarette between thumb and forefinger, upended the matchstick between his teeth, then arched and sent it winging across the room toward me. I watched the match drop onto green felt, and fury exploded inside me.

”You turncoat b.a.s.t.a.r.d! You contemptible son of a b.i.t.c.h! Read my lips, Ryan. Drop dead!”

”See what I mean.” Pascal wiped his nose again. ”We're gonna teach this c.u.n.t some manners.”

”Bad idea,” said Ryan, taking a long drag.

The man in the gabardine suit stared at the side of Ryan's face. Several long seconds pa.s.sed. The tension in the room was enough to launch arrows. Then, ”Why do you say that?” he asked quietly.

”She's a cop.” Another drag. ”And the cops already have a two-by-four up Pascal's a.s.s for exactly this kind of s.h.i.+t.”

”So? You got no b.a.l.l.s?” Pascal challenged.

Ryan blew smoke out both nostrils.

”Here's the news flash, a.s.shole. You've already screwed up big time messing up one of your tramps, and now you drag a cop in here. You mess up a cop, particularly a dame, and the whole force comes screaming up your b.u.t.t. Now, you may not mind taking the bounce for Goldilocks here, but the rest of us sure as h.e.l.l will. All the s.h.i.+t we have in the works goes into the deep freeze while the cops dissect us top to bottom.”

Pascal looked at Ryan, his eyes blazing with fury and speed.

”The f.u.c.king b.i.t.c.h hit me! I'm gonna tear her a new a.s.shole.” The muscles in his face jumped and his eye and mouth twitched.

The man in the suit continued to study Ryan, his face devoid of expression. Then he turned to Pascal.

”No,” he said calmly. ”You are not.”

Pascal started to bl.u.s.ter, but Ryan held up a hand.

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