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.In the sudden silence, the usualnighttime buzz of cicadas and the croaking of bullfrogs was conspicuously absent.Gradually, the men started to murmur among themselves.One man broke away from the crowd and approached their guard, gesturingtoward them.The guard threw his empty beer bottle to the ground and fished asmall flashlight out of his pocket.He waved the light at them and then toward thecrowd. He want you.Come. The other man shifted impatiently. You hurry. Whenthey didn t respond quickly enough, the guard came closer and aimed his gun atNoah s head. Okay, okay.We re coming. Scott pressed his back against the tree andstruggled to a standing position.Embarrassed at his awkwardness, he didn t look atthem.Then he cursed himself.What did he care what these idiots thought of him?Fighting scum like them had given him the injury in the first place.The burst ofanger sustained him long enough to get to his feet without assistance.The guard marched them toward the fire.When they halted in front of thetable, the big man standing over Krause turned to face them.Tattooed patterns offeathers and snakes covered his bald head and looped around his neck.A coiledserpent tattoo wound down one arm.La Serpiente grinned at them.The large knifein his hand glinted in the firelight.A moan from the table caught Scott s attention.He tore his eyes away fromthat broad, glimmering knife to look down at Krause.Bruises and cuts marred thehandsome face. 142 Bren ChristopherKrause groaned again, and his eyelids fluttered open.He cursed through aswollen lip and glared at the bald man. What the hell? He sounded more angrythan fearful, as if not realizing the extent of his danger.A man used to talking orbuying his way out of any situation. Listen, this is a misunderstanding.I canmake it right. La Serpiente pressed the point of his knife against Krause s throat, drawingblood. I think not.I think you cut us out of many good deals.Now I cut you out. He snorted in laughter at his own joke, his men following suit.Then he turnedtoward Scott, flipping the knife quickly to hold the edge against the detective sthroat.Scott jerked back.The guard grabbed him while others seized Noah as hesurged forward with a startled cry.Breathing hard and trying not to move his throat against the knife, Scottstared the bald man in the eyes. What do you want with us? Cops. The man almost spat the word. You were in the nightclub.You talkedto this filth.What did he tell you? Noah. The moan came from Krause. What are you doing here? Why did youbring a cop to my club? Cállate, maricón. One of men held a gun to Krause s head. Shut your mouth,you faggot, or I will shut it for you. Krause fell silent but glared at Noah withnarrowed eyes.La Serpiente pressed the knife harder against Scott s throat.He felt a fainttickling sensation as a dribble of blood ran down his neck, and tried to jerk his headback. Stop it, Noah burst out. What do you want? Just tell us what you want. I want to know when the shipment is coming.Did this filthy dog tell you?Where is the boat landing? The bald man s voice rose. Tell me. Noah said, He didn t tell us.I& I made a date with him.I was going to try andfind out.But you grabbed us before I had time. Scott could see how they felt about Big Cypress Crossroads 143gays, and he guessed Noah could too.Maybe Noah thought that telling at least mostof the truth might help convince the babalowa that they didn t have his answers. A date. The bald man snorted in contempt.But he didn t press the knife anyharder into Scott s flesh. Noah. At Krause s shocked whisper, Noah looked at him. Why would you dothat? If it hadn t been for you, we would never have Shut up. Noah s voice turned harsh as the full force of the hatred and rage hefelt for Krause showed on his face. You don t have any right to say anything to me,you damn murderer.Not after what you did to Kyle. What I did? I gave him what he wanted.He begged me for the drugs. Liar! Did he ask you to use him up and throw him away? Krause said viciously, He loved acting in my films.He loved every minute ofit the dancing, the sex, the drugs. You drugged him up until he died.You Krause s voice rose in fury. Traidor, this is your doing.You Enough. La Serpiente stopped them. He did not tell you.But he will tellme. The bald man withdrew the knife from Scott s neck and turned it on Krause.He drew it down the blond man s chest in one long, deep cut.The man s screamechoed through the night.Scott winced at the sound.He looked away and was glad to see Noah do thesame.At least the young man didn t carry so much hate that he actually enjoyedwatching Krause suffer.The scream roused Rafael.Much as he despised both of them for dealing outmisery on a daily basis, Scott still felt a wrench of sympathy as he watched Rafaelcry out in grief and rage.Rafael lunged forward to help his lover, only to be wrestledto the ground and knocked out once again.Scott tried to intervene. The police will be looking for us.Leave now, whileyou can.Leave these two to me.I ll make sure they suffer. 144 Bren ChristopherOf course the men only laughed at him.But he had to try.As he racked hisbrain for something else to say, another scream split the air as La Serpiente slicedoff a piece of Krause s ear.It was too much. Jesus Christ, Scott shouted. You can t He paid for his outburst as the butt of a gun came down on his already achinghead.He stumbled to his knees as Noah cried out, struggling against the manholding him.From the ground, Scott shook his head and looked blearily at Noah,scared of what they might do to him if he kept fighting. Be still, Noah.I m all right.Just be still. The babalawo laughed. You should listen to your boyfriend. He raised thenow dripping knife to Krause s other ear.At Krause s moan of protest, he paused. Tell me.You will die very slowly if you do not tell me. They could barely make out what he said as he gasped for breath, struggling toget the words out past the pain. The Marisol, Krause groaned. Tomorrow night.Up the canal and into the swamp [ Pobierz caÅ‚ość w formacie PDF ]
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.In the sudden silence, the usualnighttime buzz of cicadas and the croaking of bullfrogs was conspicuously absent.Gradually, the men started to murmur among themselves.One man broke away from the crowd and approached their guard, gesturingtoward them.The guard threw his empty beer bottle to the ground and fished asmall flashlight out of his pocket.He waved the light at them and then toward thecrowd. He want you.Come. The other man shifted impatiently. You hurry. Whenthey didn t respond quickly enough, the guard came closer and aimed his gun atNoah s head. Okay, okay.We re coming. Scott pressed his back against the tree andstruggled to a standing position.Embarrassed at his awkwardness, he didn t look atthem.Then he cursed himself.What did he care what these idiots thought of him?Fighting scum like them had given him the injury in the first place.The burst ofanger sustained him long enough to get to his feet without assistance.The guard marched them toward the fire.When they halted in front of thetable, the big man standing over Krause turned to face them.Tattooed patterns offeathers and snakes covered his bald head and looped around his neck.A coiledserpent tattoo wound down one arm.La Serpiente grinned at them.The large knifein his hand glinted in the firelight.A moan from the table caught Scott s attention.He tore his eyes away fromthat broad, glimmering knife to look down at Krause.Bruises and cuts marred thehandsome face. 142 Bren ChristopherKrause groaned again, and his eyelids fluttered open.He cursed through aswollen lip and glared at the bald man. What the hell? He sounded more angrythan fearful, as if not realizing the extent of his danger.A man used to talking orbuying his way out of any situation. Listen, this is a misunderstanding.I canmake it right. La Serpiente pressed the point of his knife against Krause s throat, drawingblood. I think not.I think you cut us out of many good deals.Now I cut you out. He snorted in laughter at his own joke, his men following suit.Then he turnedtoward Scott, flipping the knife quickly to hold the edge against the detective sthroat.Scott jerked back.The guard grabbed him while others seized Noah as hesurged forward with a startled cry.Breathing hard and trying not to move his throat against the knife, Scottstared the bald man in the eyes. What do you want with us? Cops. The man almost spat the word. You were in the nightclub.You talkedto this filth.What did he tell you? Noah. The moan came from Krause. What are you doing here? Why did youbring a cop to my club? Cállate, maricón. One of men held a gun to Krause s head. Shut your mouth,you faggot, or I will shut it for you. Krause fell silent but glared at Noah withnarrowed eyes.La Serpiente pressed the knife harder against Scott s throat.He felt a fainttickling sensation as a dribble of blood ran down his neck, and tried to jerk his headback. Stop it, Noah burst out. What do you want? Just tell us what you want. I want to know when the shipment is coming.Did this filthy dog tell you?Where is the boat landing? The bald man s voice rose. Tell me. Noah said, He didn t tell us.I& I made a date with him.I was going to try andfind out.But you grabbed us before I had time. Scott could see how they felt about Big Cypress Crossroads 143gays, and he guessed Noah could too.Maybe Noah thought that telling at least mostof the truth might help convince the babalowa that they didn t have his answers. A date. The bald man snorted in contempt.But he didn t press the knife anyharder into Scott s flesh. Noah. At Krause s shocked whisper, Noah looked at him. Why would you dothat? If it hadn t been for you, we would never have Shut up. Noah s voice turned harsh as the full force of the hatred and rage hefelt for Krause showed on his face. You don t have any right to say anything to me,you damn murderer.Not after what you did to Kyle. What I did? I gave him what he wanted.He begged me for the drugs. Liar! Did he ask you to use him up and throw him away? Krause said viciously, He loved acting in my films.He loved every minute ofit the dancing, the sex, the drugs. You drugged him up until he died.You Krause s voice rose in fury. Traidor, this is your doing.You Enough. La Serpiente stopped them. He did not tell you.But he will tellme. The bald man withdrew the knife from Scott s neck and turned it on Krause.He drew it down the blond man s chest in one long, deep cut.The man s screamechoed through the night.Scott winced at the sound.He looked away and was glad to see Noah do thesame.At least the young man didn t carry so much hate that he actually enjoyedwatching Krause suffer.The scream roused Rafael.Much as he despised both of them for dealing outmisery on a daily basis, Scott still felt a wrench of sympathy as he watched Rafaelcry out in grief and rage.Rafael lunged forward to help his lover, only to be wrestledto the ground and knocked out once again.Scott tried to intervene. The police will be looking for us.Leave now, whileyou can.Leave these two to me.I ll make sure they suffer. 144 Bren ChristopherOf course the men only laughed at him.But he had to try.As he racked hisbrain for something else to say, another scream split the air as La Serpiente slicedoff a piece of Krause s ear.It was too much. Jesus Christ, Scott shouted. You can t He paid for his outburst as the butt of a gun came down on his already achinghead.He stumbled to his knees as Noah cried out, struggling against the manholding him.From the ground, Scott shook his head and looked blearily at Noah,scared of what they might do to him if he kept fighting. Be still, Noah.I m all right.Just be still. The babalawo laughed. You should listen to your boyfriend. He raised thenow dripping knife to Krause s other ear.At Krause s moan of protest, he paused. Tell me.You will die very slowly if you do not tell me. They could barely make out what he said as he gasped for breath, struggling toget the words out past the pain. The Marisol, Krause groaned. Tomorrow night.Up the canal and into the swamp [ Pobierz caÅ‚ość w formacie PDF ]