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That pale-haired fucker was back, Van Dean thought as he glanced through thick chicken-wire fencing

Third week in a row the guy&039;d co crowd around the fight cage he stood out like a neon sign, although Van wasn&039;t clear exactly why

As a kneeDrawing back his bare fist, he snapped his arm out and connected with his opponent&039;s face Blood exploded frouy&039;s nose, a starburst of red that landed on the ht before the man&039;s body did

Van planted his feet and stared down at his opponent, drops of his sweat landing on the guy&039;s abs There was no referee to stop Van frothis side of beef in the kidneys until the bastard needed dialysis for the rest of his life And if there was even one twitch fro to let loose

Bringing death with his bare hands hat the special part of him wanted to do, what the special part of him craved to do Van had always been different, not just from his opponents but from everyone else he&039;d ever hter but a warrior of the Roman kind He wished he lived back in the times when you eviscerated your opponent when he fell before you¡­ then you found his hohtered his children And after you looted his shit, you burned whatever was left down to the ground

But he lived in the here and now And there was another co in this special part was starting to age on hih he e

Extending his arm to the side, he heard a pop and hid a wince Meanwhile, the crowd of fifty roared and rattled the ten-foot-high chain-link fence God, the fans loved him Called him by his naely irrelevant to his special part, though

In the allery, he met the stare of the pale-haired low of life in the either

Whatever

Van nudged his opponent with his bare foot The guy groaned but didn&039;t open his eyes Gae went apeshit with approval

Van sprang up to the lip of the fence and swung his two-hundred-pound body over the top As he landed, the crowd roared louder but backed out of his path When one of theotten in his way last week, flyboy had ended up spitting out a tooth

The fighting "arena," such as it as in an abandoned underground parking garage, and the owner of the concrete wasteland brokered thewas shady by def, with Van and his opponents nothingcocks The pay was good, however, and so far there hadn&039;t been any busts¡ªalthough that was always an issue Between the blood and the betting, the CPD badges wouldn&039;t have been into the scene at all, so it was a private-ot tossed Literally The owner had a six-pack of thugs who kept shit in line

Van went over to the ot his five hundred bucks and his jacket, then headed for his truck His Hanes undershirt was bloodstained, but he didn&039;t care What he orried about was his aching joints And that left shoulder

Fuck Every week it see more and uys on the ground Then again, he was getting up there Thirty-nine was denture tiht world

"Why did you stop?"

As he came up to his truck, Van looked into his driver&039;s side windshield He was not surprised that the pale-haired man had come after him "I don&039;t answer to fans, buddy"

"I&039;ether on the flat surface of the glass "Then why you been cohts so much?"

"Because I have a proposition for you"

"I don&039;t want a er"

"I&039;m not one of those either"

Van looked over his shoulder The guy was big and carried hihter, all jacked shoulders and loose arms Iron-pan hands on this one, the kind that could crank into a fist as big as a bowling ball

So that was the deal, huh "You want to get into the ring with e it over there" He pointed to the money man

"Not after that either"

Van turned around, thinking the twenty-questions thing was for shit "So what do you want?"

"First I have to knohy you stopped"

"He was down"

Annoyance flashed over the guy&039;s face "So"

"You knohat? You&039;re beginning to pissfor a man who fits your description"

Oh, that narrowed the field Busted nose in a regular joe face with a military haircut Snooze "Lotta ht hand

"Tell uy asked, "did you have your appendix removed?"

Van narrowed his eyes and put his truck&039;s keys back in his pocket "One of two things are about to happen and you get to pick You walk away and I get into oes down Your choice"

The pale ot in close Jesus, he smelled funny Like¡­ baby powder?

"Don&039;t threaten me, boy" The voice was low and the body that backed up the words was coiled for action

Well, well, well¡­ what do you know A real contender

Van pushed his face even closer "Then get to your fucking point"

"Appendix?"

"Not anymore"

The man smiled Eased back "Hoould you like a job?"

"I have one And this"

"Construction Knocking strangers around for cash"

"Honest work, both of the around uy stuck out his hand "Joseph Xavier"

Van let that pal you, Joe"

"That&039;s Mr Xavier to you, son And surely you wouldn&039;tto a proposition"

Van cocked his head to the side "You know soet paid by jerkoffs So how about you palm me a benji, Joe, then we&039;ll see about your proposition"

As the man just stared, Van felt an unexpected shot of fear Man, soht

The bastard&039;s voice was even lower as he spoke "Say my name properly first, son"

Whatever For a hundred bucks, he&039;d flap his gums even for a freak like this "Xavier"

"That&039;s Mr Xavier" The guy smiled like a predator, all teeth, no jolly "Say it, son"

Soht before he let the words fly, he had a vivid memory of when he&039;d been sixteen years old and had taken a dive into the Hudson River In oing to hit and knew there would be no change in course Sure enough, his head had made contact as if the collision had been preordained, as if there had been an invisible string around his neck and the rock had pulled hiht away Im, a sweet, satisfied calm, as if destiny had been fulfilled And he&039;d known instinctively that the sensation was a forerunner of death

Funny, he had that same spacy disorientation now And the same sense that this man with the paper-white skin was like death: inevitable and fated¡ªand co specifically for him

"Mr Xavier," Van whispered

When the hundred-dollar bill appeared in front of hiered hand and took it

But he kneould have listened without the cash

Hours later, Butch rolled over and the first thing he did was look for Marissa

He found her sitting in the corner of the rooes, though She was staring at the pale linoleu, perfect finger

She looked achingly sad and so beautiful that his eyes stung God, the idea he could infect her or endanger her in any way made him want to slit his own throat

"I wish you hadn&039;t coht about his choice of words "What I mean is¡ª"

"I knohat you ry?"

"Yeah" He struggled to push himself up "But I&039;d really like a shower"

She got to her feet, rising like ht as she walked to him Man, that pale blue dress was the exact color of her eyes

"Let me help you to the bath"

"No, I can do it"

She crossed her aret to the bathroom on your own, you will fall and you will hurt yourself"

"Call a nurse, then I don&039;t want you to touch me"

She stared at him for a moment Then blinked her eyes once Twice

"Will you excuse me for a moment?" she said in a level tone "I need to use the lavatory You can call the nurse by pushing that red button on the remote there"

She went into the bathroom and shut the door Water started to run

Butch reached for the little button pad, but stopped as the rush of the sink continued to bleed through the door The sound was uninterrupted, not as if solass

And it continued, on and on

With a grunt, he shuffled off the bed and stood up, hanging hi shook froht He put one foot in front of the other until he got to the bathrooainst the wood All he could hear ater

For soave it one h he would e the facilities¡ª

Marissa was on the toilet, as it turned out But the seat was down

And she eeping Shaking and weeping

"Oh¡­ Jesus, Marissa"

She let out a shriek, as if he were the last thing on the planet she wanted to see "Get out!"

He lurched in and sank to his knees in front of her "Marissa¡­"

Burying her face in her hands, she snapped, "I would like some privacy, if you don&039;t mind"

He reached over and shut the water off As the basin e took over where the sound of the faucet had left off

"It&039;s all right," he said "You&039;ll leave soon You&039;ll get out¡ª"

"Shut up!" She dropped her hands long enough to glare at hio back to bed and call the nurse if you haven&039;t already"

He sat back on his heels, woozy but deterot trapped with me"

"I bet you are"

He frowned "Marissa¡ª"

The sound of the air lock being broken cut him off

"Cop?" V&039;s voice was unear

"Hold up," Butch called out Marissa didn&039;t need more of an audience

"Where are you, cop? So?"

Butch rabbed onto the IV pole and pulled, his body gave out, just went right to rubber on hirasp, ending up sprawled on the bathroom tile, his cheek next to the seal around the toilet base Dient bursts Then V&039;s goatee caht

Butch looked at his rooot blurry, he was so happy to see the bastard Vishous&039;s face was just the saht where it should be, the tattoos on the te Familiar, so fae

Butch didn&039;t let any tears fall, though He was already hopelessly incapacitated next to a toilet, for chrissakes Sapping out would be the cap to this gown of sha fiercely, he said, "Where&039;s your fucking gear, man? You know, the yellow suit"

V smiled, his eyes a little shiny as if he too were choked up "Don&039;t worry, I&039;uess you&039;re back, true?"

"And ready to rock and roll"

"Really"

"For sure I&039; Wanted to see how this bathrooether Excellent tile work You should check it"

"How about I carry you back to bed?"

"I want to look at the sink pipes next"

Respect and affection clearly drove V&039;s cool smirk "At least let roan, Butch gave the vertical move a shot, but then eased back down onto the tile Turned out lifting his head was a little overwhelh¡ªa week, maybe ten days?

"Come on, cop Cry uncle here and let me help"

Butch was suddenly too tired to front As he went totally liht, race was that there wasn&039;t a cold breeze on his butt

Which suggested the hospital gown had stayed closed Thank you, God

V&039;s thick arms tunneled under him and then he was lifted easily As they went forward, he refused to let his head rest on his friend&039;s shoulder, even though it gave hiht When he was back on the bed, shivers racked his whole body and the roorabbed the male&039;s arm and whispered, "I need to talk to you Alone"