Walker (In the Company of Snipers #21) - Irish Winters Page 0,147
overhead. The crowd looked up. Peckering’s toady stooped just long enough to sling her over his shoulder. She hung like a rag doll, her hands stretched limply over his butt.
Walker leveled his pistol at the Admiral. “Take one more step and I’ll end you.”
The light at the end of the alley beckoned, but Peckering had stopped just short of freedom. And now, he’d drawn on Walker.
Well, good. Walker had never let a challenge go unanswered before. Didn’t plan to now. With calm, deliberate steps forward, he made himself a target. Buying time for Izza. Buying hope for Persia.
“Put her down, Admiral Peckering,” he ordered loud enough for all to hear, his pistol warm and ready in his palm. His plan clear. One through Peckering’s head. One through the asshole at his side. Catch Persia before she fell. Backstop was clear, and that made this plan perfect. No collateral damage. By the end of the day, she’d be back in his bed where she belonged.
But someone had called the local police. Sirens sounded nearby. If they arrived before this showdown was over, it’d be Peckering’s word against Walker’s. A United States Naval officer’s lies against a convicted felon’s truths. Walker would be disarmed, back in cuffs, and on his knees. Or dead. And Persia would be just another face in another accordion-pleated file.
Not. Happening!
Walker charged. Peckering’s accomplice let Persia slide off his shoulder, his arm around her neck. Only then did Walker see the hypo he held to her throat.
“One more step, I kill her,” the bastard hissed.
Peckering put himself between Persia and Walker. “You don’t want Agent Coltrane to die, Lieutenant Judge,” he said, his voice as slick as any politician’s. “Put your gun down. Walk away.”
“Take me instead,” Walker said, his heart screaming like a Harley running full-out on warm blacktop. “I’m the one you’ve wanted all along. Look, I’ll go willingly.” He lowered his pistol, earnestly convinced he could persuade Peckering to let her go.
The sly monster’s upper lip curled. One shoulder lifted like he was annoyed that he had to deal with an idiot. “Where’s the fun in that? I can get good money for this whore. There’s no demand for men like you. No. What you’re going to do, LT, is put your pistol on the ground, kick it away, then back off. You’ll let me and Rodrigo leave. You’ll walk away, wave goodbye, act like you never saw us. You won’t look for this woman ever again.”
Like hell. Yet Walker set his weapon to the ground, but he didn’t kick it away, and he stayed crouched with one hand on the dirty cobblestone. “How’d a recognized Navy officer get mixed up with the sex-trade? It was Goff, wasn’t it? This was all his idea. Is he blackmailing you?”
The damnedest smile tweaked Peckering’s lips. “Yes, sure. Goff. It was all his idea. That’s right.”
The son of a bitch was flat out lying. But if Goff wasn’t behind this—?
“You know damned well outside work pays a helluva lot better than Uncle Sam,” Peckering continued. “You’ve been to Guatemala. You know what I’m talking about. Should’ve tried a little girl on for size when you had the chance. Then you’d know what it feels like to be a real man.”
“You knew Roland Montego,” Walker said, not asked, more and more disgusted with this cocky pervert. “You worked with him. Or did you work for him? Is that how this worked? You found the girls and he gave you a commission? Did you work with his sister, too? Or did he work for you?”
Peckering didn’t confirm or deny, but Walker saw a glint of anger flash in his eye. Might as well get everything out in the open. The local cops might still get him, but Walker would know the truth. “I can pay for her,” he wheedled. “Let her go, and you’ll never see me again.”
“You can’t pay enough, LT. Hell, you’re not even that anymore. You’re ruined. Broke. Back the fuck off. Don’t grovel. Weak men disgust me.”
Walker was plenty disgusted, too. “I know you targeted Captain Dooley’s three girls, Admiral Edgar Peckering,” he declared loudly even as sirens screamed closer. People needed to know who this vile man was and what he did to children. “You sold little girls to the highest bidders. You killed United States Navy Commander Wallace Goff, and I can prove it.”
“Can you now…?” The ghost of a smile shifted across the Admiral’s face. He hadn’t lowered his weapon an inch. Didn’t