[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

He let out a scream of torment, banged his fist
against the wheel again. The tears dried on his face
as he did a three-sixty in the parking lot and roared
back out into the streets.
* * * *
Angelo tried to move his stiff limbs in the back of
the trunk, but couldn t. His wrists and ankles were
tied and he was bent double, his knees touching his
chest. It was suffocatingly hot in there, and he felt
like he wanted to throw up, his head a fog of pain.
He kept losing consciousness, fighting it as much
as he could, then blackness, until again there were
sounds of voices and traffic around him.
The car had stopped moving. In fact, there was
no noise until he thought it sounded like someone
was snoring.
They had shoved something into his mouth and
he couldn t call out. He tried to raise his body up
some to hit the roof of the trunk, but there wasn t
enough space to make much of an impact. He had
the sinking feeling that they locked him in the trunk
of his own car.
He could have kicked himself for playing right
into Hal s hands, but he wasn t expecting Hal to act
so soon, and he had no idea what his accomplice
looked like. Marshall would be frantic, he knew. He
wished he could tell him not to worry, but he couldn t.
He saw Marshall s face. His mind drifted again and
then he was out.
* * * *
Duncan held his breath as he attempted to lift
the body out of the truck. Hal had exchanged this
ratty old Ford for this guy s Mustang Giugiaro. He
didn t see why they couldn t have just switched the
license plate or something. Now, they had this old
heap of junk, and Hal even wanted him to go and
dump this one.
 Will you fucking help me? Hal barked at him.
 What are you just standing there for?
Duncan grabbed the man s feet.
 Put him down his feet down, stupid, on the
ground. Now untie his ankles. I ll get his wrists.
 Why we untying him?
 Because, doorknob, we need to get him to the
condo. If someone sees us, we ll say he s drunk,
okay? It would look a bit suspicious with him being
tied up, don t you think?
 What if he comes to?
 He s too groggy to do anything, but if you keep
standing there, asking stupid fucking questions, he
might. Hurry up! Now place his arm around your
shoulder like you re helping him.
 He s dead weight.
 Drag him then. Shit.
They moved forward.  Is that it? Duncan looked
up. He d dreamed of living in a place like this,
overlooking the water.
 The one on top.
 Are the people on vacation? Duncan asked
between grunts, as they got to the door. Hal used
the key the man had given him.
Hal struggled with the key and then flung the
door open.  Come on, we ll take the stairs, less
likely to encounter anyone. As soon as we secure
him, you go down and get rid of that car.
 How many flights are there? Duncan heaved.
 Four. Suck it up, you wimpy assed slut. Hurry
up.
Duncan strained to get the man to the first
landing. He wasn t even sure why they had this guy
or what Hal planned to do with him. All he knew was
that the guy was handsome, really good looking,
and tall, and he d had a sexy voice. He only saw
men like that in the movies.  What are you planning
on doing with him? Duncan asked as they got to
the second landing and took a break for a second,
both breathing hard.
The man made some incoherent sounds.
 None of your business! You just do what I say.
And I got a job for you. You start tonight. My contact
put in a good word. You can get rid of the car on the
way.
 Oh, Hal, not tonight, he whined.
Hal glared at him.  You want me to toss you out
the fucking window, you no good whore? You ll
wiggle your ass and do as you re told, and get it
plugged by horny perverts. You re going to pull your
weight around here, make some money. Now hurry
up and let s get him to the top. Use some muscle,
you fuck. Come on!
* * * *
Marshall paced the floor, his head racing. He
was thinking back to all the things he and Hal did in
this city, all the places they went, the unsavoury
characters Hal used to associate with. He couldn t
sit here and do nothing. He grabbed his keys and
headed back out the door.
In the car, he took the pistol out of his pocket and
made sure it was loaded. He d bought this gun on
the black market right after he got out of prison. He
had never felt safe, even with Hal in the joint. Now he
had a reason to use it. It didn t matter what
happened to him, the first thing he planned on doing
upon meeting Hal, was putting a bullet right through
his head and then, if Angelo& no, he couldn t think of
that, but he knew if the worse happened, there d be
one bullet left in that gun for himself. I won t live
without you, honey, not now that I know what we can
have. I couldn t bare it.
He drove without seeing. He drove with only the
thought of murder in his mind. His stomach ached
and his mind swam. Rio. He saw Rio, the warm
sands, and his baby s face. That calmed him, but
the fear was too much, the emotions too high. He
drove to a part of Montreal he hadn t visited in
years, a place where young men sold their souls
and gave their bodies to dirty old men and prayed
that drugs would alleviate their pain.
* * * *
Natalie sat in the downtown police station. Jason
was beside her, the baby sleeping in his arms.
Jean-Guy Desjardin had been on the phone for the
last few minutes with the police in Vermont. When
he hung up, he said,  They ll go by his house,
Natalie, see if he s there.
Jean-Guy had been the detective on the case
when the police arrested Marshall and Hal in
Columbia. He was well familiar with the profile, but
right now, he was trying her patience.  I told you,
Jean-Guy, Angelo Farelli didn t go home. He
wouldn t have gone without Marshall.
 So now all is forgiven. Christ, Marshall did try to
poison the guy. What s wrong with his head?
 They love each other, Natalie said stiffly.
 Haven t you even heard of forgiveness?
Jean-Guy sighed.  Yeah, well&  he rolled that
around in this mouth.  We can t do anything right
now anyway. Farelli hasn t been missing twenty-four
hours and 
 Come on, she leaned forward,  Makin is on the
loose. This is not a normal situation.
 I can t do anything until tomorrow.
 Any progress on finding Makin?
 Not so far.
 He s still in the city and none of us are safe until
he s found. Marshall is a sitting duck. And Angelo,
poor Angelo, he could be&  she paused,
swallowing.  He could be dead already.
 I ll put the word out to look for Marshall if you
think he might be a danger to himself. We ll put him
under police protection.
Natalie stood up.  No, don t do that. I ll try and
find Marshall myself first.
 I m sorry, Natalie, he said.  We re doing all we
can. The minute we have him, I ll call you. In the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]