Blind God's Bluff A Billy Fox Novel - By Richard Lee Byers Page 0,50

thrown him off, since I hadn’t been wearing it back at the hotel.

Whatever. I pulled the Smith and Wesson out of the back of my jeans, tiptoed over to the guy, and said, “Don’t move.”

His head snapped around. Then he screamed. The sound was loud and shrill enough to make me flinch, and had a warbling beat to it, like a siren. He tried to jump up and reach into his pocket.

This made two times in a row that my gun hadn’t gotten any respect at all. Maybe the sopranos just never backed down for anything. Or maybe they were under a spell that made them love their boss more than their own lives. Which was another reason to think their boss was Leticia.

I stepped in and whipped the Model 439 across the screamer’s face, then banged him over the head with it. He fell back into the folding chair, which overturned underneath him. I watched him for another second, and he didn’t move.

But if his buddies had heard him howl—and there wasn’t much doubt about that—they were probably coming, and I wanted to be gone before they showed up. I hurried back out into the hallway.

When I turned the next corner, it was just in time to see Raul and Pablo Martinez dragging Vic through the door to the service stairs. Her face was bruised, with a black eye, and full of fear.

I yelled,” Stop!” and aimed the pistol. As usual, nobody cared. Pablo raised a new damn tire iron and charged me. It blocked my shot at his brother, who dragged Vic out of sight.

So I shot Pablo instead.

I didn’t like doing it. I came back from Afghanistan knowing I didn’t want to shoot people anymore, not even ones as mean and stupid as him. And I was pretty sure he was only rushing the gun because Leticia had turned him into one of her love monkeys. But I didn’t feel like giving him the chance to rearrange my head, either.

The bullet hit him in the belly like I wanted. He pitched forward. The tire iron tumbled from his hand and clanked on the floor. He tried to lift himself up, but couldn’t do it. Then the rage and determination drained out of his face, and pain and fear rushed in.

“It wasn’t a kill shot,” I said. “Keep pressure on it, and you’ll be all right till somebody comes to help you.” I wasn’t sure if that was true, but I hoped so.

I edged around him, headed on toward the stairs, and wondered if somebody was waiting to shoot at me from below. Then the phone in my pocket rang. I pulled it out and flipped it open.

“You’re still with us,” Leticia said. She sounded happy about it, and even now, that sexy purr made me catch my breath.

“So far,” I said.

“You can have your friend back,” Leticia said. “This doesn’t have to be unpleasant.”

“That’s interesting. Because it kind of looks like you set up the whole thing specifically to kill me.”

“That was Gimble’s contribution.”

“And he’s not here now?”

“No. Poor thing. He’s so big and conspicuous that it’s a lot of trouble for him to go among the humans.”

“So what’s your offer?” I glanced around to make sure nobody was sneaking up behind me.

“Surrender, and no one else gets hurt. My people will simply hold you and Victoria until midnight, then set you free.”

“Sounds familiar,” I said.

“What?”

“It sounds like bullshit, too.”

“I’ve got nothing against you, Billy. I just want to win. But I want it badly enough to hurt Victoria to get it. Should I hold the phone where you can hear her scream?”

“Should I come in shooting with all my magic cranked up to eleven?”

“I don’t think that would work out well for you.”

“You didn’t think I’d come out of the flashbacks with my mind in one piece, either. You didn’t think I could get inside this building without you knowing it. You don’t know what I can do.”

“That doesn’t mean I’m afraid of you.”

“Look at it this way. There are normal people here. Some of them must have heard your sentry scream. Some of them probably heard me fire a shot, too. Somebody probably called 911. If not, I can make sure somebody does.”

“I’ve had a lot of practice sweet talking the police.”

“I’ll bet. But do you want to try handling them and a standoff with me at the same time?” I glanced over my shoulder again. The hall behind me was still clear. Pablo had