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Gordy&039;s office was several tis in black leather and chroh to hold his big frame In contrast to the streas of soothing landscapes The vivid greens, blues, and broere like suddenly discovering a park in the uys here, but theyeasily in the huge chair, was the -boned and even at a distance I felt a powerful presence about hi up of "scary" influence est cauys in theKroun plenty of space

He focused wholly on me as I crossed the roo dance music

It was out of place, and I questioned why it was there now, then re s knew that the FBI tapped phones It was illegal as hell, but still went on If the phones had wires, then so ht the walls That made Kroun smart or paranoid or both

I couldn&039;t tell what kind of impression I made His eyes ary face He couldn&039;t have been ray except for a surprise streak of silver-white that cut oddly across the left side of his skull, obviously the source of his nicknained was supposed to be unnerving, but I&039;d long grown i

Certain protocols were to be observed, though He was the big boss So as not to let down Gordy in his own place I had to show respect

"Mr Kroun" I took off ," he said No "ht I knew his voice, which was deeper for being undistorted by the long-distance wires

"Glad tocourtesies-such as they were-finished, the guys standing nearest made more space around me There was one chair square in front of the desk that was evidently to be my very own hot seat It put about seven feet between me and Kroun, hardly suitable distance for a private conversation Maybe he was going to go for a public dressing-down It didn&039;t seem to suit the situation unless he wanted plenty of witnesses to see me killed as an object lesson

Hoyle and Ruzzo were nowhere in sight for the show, but I spotted Derner, as the club&039;s generalof this mob&039;s business Since the run-in with Bristow, Derner and I had had discussions over what to say about it Derner would stick to the script we&039;d agreed on; it was in his own best interest to let me take the fall for hihly while I&039;d been down in the uy

Strome stood off to my left, hands clasped in front of him Mitchell was behind me

"Sit," said Kroun To me

I unbuttoned my overcoat, put my hat next to the radio, and took the chair The i across that dark ocean of wood, I realized that Kroun was not overwhelmed by it; he had a surfeit of authority packed into his lean fra physical, but you could feel it coives when the sound is down

More staring He was good at it No one e with a lot of ured out I was on the menu

"You&039;re just a kid," Kroun finally said To so hih experience at life and hard ti-to have been placed in charge of Gordy&039;s organization

I lifted one hand a little, palm up "I&039;ve proved myself Ask them"

So in my favor

Strome jerked his chin " &039;S true, Mr Kroun" That was a surprise He&039;d been told to keep shut, the same as Derner

I&039;d not expected any volunteered support "He&039;s stand-up"

"Oh, yeah? How so?" Kroun continued to studyBristow could dish and ca so hard he killed hi went buckwheats on hi-"

"Buckwheats," Kroun repeated

"Yeah Ugly"

This was news to a few of the uy the buckwheats treatment was to kill him slow and painful It was an object lesson, not so ht dare to cross the mob But sometimes it was for the satisfaction of the killer

Bristow had thoroughly enjoyed trying to turn ainstafter a normal man would have found merciful release in death

I could alain I flexed my hands, but they were quite clean and whole, not the skeletal claws I&039;d used to draginside, I waited for the wave of nausea, for the shakes to return Noould be the worst, the absolute worst time, for them to hit, so of course they would There&039;d be no sympathy from this bunch They&039;d see my real face, learn firsthand what Bristow&039;s knife work had done to ave me a narrow look "You sick?"

"Not much"

I breathed in war bodies, bay rus, nor the fresh stuff of a floound, but the muted kind that lurked beneath the skin It was always present, but I wasn&039;t always aware, like the way you ignore traffic noise For a few deep and profound seconds it struckthis room, the muscle, the sharps, the thieves, the killers, froe, were all little s of blood I could feed myself sick on any of them They had no way to expect it, no way to stop est, deadliest,predator was my food

So it had proved at the end when I&039;d killed Bristow

I held on to that hter, and slowly breathed out again

Well How about that? Not one hint of tre so close to the ain, but it was like a switch had been flipped, and I was in control

For how long I couldn&039;t say

Kroun still watched ot so much as a stubbed toe"

"He was hurt bad, Mr Kroun," Strome continued "Derner saw, too"

"I&039;m a fast healer," I said

"Convenient," said Kroun "What&039;d you do to get Hog Bristow pissed enough to go buckwheats?"

"Being stand-up for Gordy Hog jus when he shot hi didn&039;t like itGordy?"

"I wasn&039;t thinking to get anything I stepped in because that&039;s what you do for friends"

"You had a two-grand hit out on Hog"

"Not a hit That was a reward for finding hi more If you&039;ll recall, I told you several ti alive I knehat kind of trouble it would ive ht, hard to look at, with strangely dilated pupils like holes into hell He must have known their effect and used it plenty "And thatyou came up with to cover yourself with me"

"You talked to Derner? Then you know it&039;s what happened"

"Doesn&039;tBristow You&039;re it"

Still behind ainst un er pull and

I nodded "No problem"

"What?" Must have been a disappointive a da Bristow there was little that could scare hts Just myself

My reply was to Kroun, not the hired help "I know the rules"

Kroun watchedfood

I smiled at him

"You think I won&039;t?" asked Kroun

"You&039;ll do what you have to do But one question: after I&039;s? I&039;d hate to think I went through all that shit with Bristow, then got scragged by you and it be for nothing"

No one spoke, but another h the roo at

The si and harsh, but he didn&039;t do it "You&039;re ready to die?"

I shrugged "During ot used to the idea If you need to killI can do to stop you I just want toout of it"

His dark eyes flickered once "You sound like you got an angle to bargain with"

"Maybe"

"What would that be?"

"Nothing you&039;ll want to share with so " Even with the radio to mask most of our talk, there were plenty of listeners at hand Too ht it over They&039;d seen Jack Fleiving respect to the boss Kroun had ned to Mitchell The muzzle went away

Strome told the boys to leave

There were protests from those who knew the best part of the shoas about to take place Others flatly refused, standing fir threatening to his posture, and the lines of his natty brown suit were undistorted by hidden firearuys here were taller or wider or both, but to a man, they fell silent He didn&039;t make a sound either, just looked at them while the radio blared He was quite still, just his head h so he could rake them with those intense dark eyes

Darumbled as they left, but they filed out Derner, Stroh?" Kroun asked He turned those eyes on uy like I trust Gordy&039;s"

He gave a short grunt Couldn&039;t tell if it was a laugh He cale, kid?"

"You You being smarter than you let on to me over the phone"

"Oh, yeah?" He hitched one hip onto the desk

"For which I want to apologize I got a s were running tense on this side, so I was talking short without ed, and since then I&039;ve seen as going on more clearly"

"Which was ?"

"For starters: why your boy was sent here in the first place Gordy told me Bristow had powerful friends he&039;d convinced that he could do a better job of running the Chicago operation Gordy was expected to hand it over If he didn&039;t, he&039;d be killed or in thewar That, Mr Kroun, was extre, only encouraging uys had to know Gordy would never roll over for the likes of Bristoas either New York being stupid and for the hell of it putting his just to see what happens or you had so Bristow to the liive him what he wants, then Gordy does what he&039;s best at: listening, collecting inforuy was too drunk to talk And all that ti sure of himself because he has New York to back hi over the operation But I&039;ive you an earful"

"This is what Gordy told you?"

"All I heard from him was the first part, that Bristow takes over or Gordy dies, which struckwith it since Gordy&039;s a friend, and the talks were taking place at ht that was all I needed to know The rest of it well, Hog Bristoas a louderously due of anything Guys like hio-one way or another-or send &039;em someplace where they can&039;t do any har You had to find a less direct ot i hierous stuff The only man you could trust to shake it out of hie in Kroun He gave no clue on whether I was hitting ho hard

"Gordy did his job, but Hog got iot theh and made his hit He wasn&039;t supposed to, but soae Gordy ht of the shooting we thought Bristoas too drunk to knohich end of a gun to point Maybe he had one of his boys do it for him, but the result was the same He&039;d overstepped the rules and could be considered a legit target in turn"

"Gordy put himself in front of a bullet so as to do all that?"

"He didn&039;t intend to get shot; he&039;d have so threrench into the works, surprising everyone Then I got into the s-"

"Yeah-yeah, and he went buckwheats on you Except you don&039;t look hurt"

"I&039;ll be glad to show you et a cigar for hitting the bull&039;s-eye"

"Ya think?"

"I know"

"It&039;s a sweet story, kid, but that&039;s not enough of an angle to get you off the hook We wouldn&039;t like any of it generally known, but blabbing it around won&039;t help you"

" &039;S nothing I wanna do Your boy caot himself and the others killed Someone&039;s supposed to pay for it Gordy&039;s in the clear, which is fine with et that"

"What if Gordy was the one who set you up frohed long and heartily, right in his face And da Before I ever got involved, Bristow didn&039;t like s went bad froht have sidestepped him, but it didn&039;t work out that hich was ood and hard, and what I a him and his boys I&039;ve paid several ti I survived it; I&039;ve earned the right to live"

"If he went buckwheats on you even halfway," said Mitchell, bending close, "you wouldn&039;t be sitting here And you sure as hell wouldn&039;t have done what you did downstairs" I&039;d forgotten he was behind me As if that mattered

"What happened downstairs?" Kroun asked hih with one of the chorus girls Never saw anything move so quick"

"That was adrenaline," I said "I paid for it afterward, which is why I was in the john for so long, or did you forget that part?"

Mitchell wasn&039;t buying "Froot through it, you should still be laid up in a hospital"

"What d&039;ya want fro&039;s believing" I stood and shrugged carefully out of h I were in discomfort and stiff "Mr Kroun? In the washrooape at the freak show" Without waiting for a yea or nay, I moved slowly toward a door that led to the toilet I went in, swatted the light on, and stood well out of their view It was a big rooht, black-and-white tile, a hefty tub Gordy occasionally stayed over ork demanded, and he liked his comforts

In the office the radio volume went up Loud Good We&039;d have privacy fro in Hopefully, they would stay out All my worst scars were on the inside, but that wouldn&039;t count with this bunch

After a h He&039;d produced or borrowed a gun fro cautious He waited, head tilted slightly, and holding very, very still He didn&039;t need a gun to fill the place with himself

"Well?"

"No tricks," I said wearily "Just the truth"

"Which is ?"

"That Bristow chained me upside down froed inI intended "Oh, jeez"

"Just show"

I had ht at my sides as I looked steadily into his eyes "I want you to listen to me, Mr Kroun Listen hard"

He wasn&039;t the only one with an effective stare

It didn&039;t work iht have had a drink earlier He stared in puzzled annoyance for adrone that would put hiave a sged to half-utted, cooked, and on the plate

His gun was pointed in the wrong direction, at me I calmly told him to please put it away, and without fuss he shoved it into a pocket His eyes were flat and dull Perfect

But insidethunderstorm I had to make this quick Very fast and intense, I whispered soe my torso was supposed to have Kroun&039;s face went the same color as that white streak in his hair For a ht be sick, which meant I&039;d overdone it

"Take it easy," I murmured "Nice and easy We&039;re friends now You remember that Remember that you look after your friends and help them Watch out for me, I&039;ll watch out for you I just want out of this alive and no problems for Gordy, okay? None at all He&039;s been loyal"

Though positive I could have ordinarily talked hia death sentence hanging overhead But the thunder inI licked reeestions, his eyes still empty