Blind God's Bluff A Billy Fox Novel - By Richard Lee Byers Page 0,77
From now on, there’ll be two of them torturing us in our sleep.”
“I can see how it looked that way,” I panted, “but you’ve got it wrong.”
“I’m not letting it get any worse,” Sylvester said. “Not when I can shoot and get rid of you and him both. Move away, A’marie. One day you’ll thank me.”
“You don’t want to do this,” said A’marie.
“I don’t want to, but I’m gonna.” Sylvester’s voice was a note or two higher. He was getting upset, which I was pretty sure made it unanimous. “And if you want to stand with an outsider, then you brought it on yourself. One.”
“All right!” A’marie scrambled away from me. “Do what you want to him! Just don’t hurt me!”
Her sudden one-eighty must have startled Sylvester as much as it did me. Because he didn’t shoot, not that instant. His head twisted back and forth, trying to keep track of both of us.
A’marie ripped open her shirt, popping off the little pearl buttons. She pulled out the pipes and raised them to her lips. Water dribbled out the ends as she started to blow.
I sensed right away that it wasn’t going to work, because the notes didn’t sound like before. They were shaky and thin. She didn’t have the wind she needed.
And sure enough, the magic didn’t grab hold of Sylvester. After another instant of confusion, his eyes locked on me.
I dropped, the Remington boomed, and the blast flew high over my head. Sylvester wasn’t much of a shot. Unfortunately, with everything else he had going for him, he might not have to be.
The 870 went shuck-shuck as Sylvester worked the pump. I wondered if I could make it back to the water with him blasting away at my back. I glanced back the way A’marie and I had come, then swore.
Because Sylvester had a partner blocking the way. For an instant, he was transparent and hard to make out, too. Then he snapped into focus, and I saw the big black snake from the dream parade, and the hole in the sand where he’d buried himself and waited for A’marie and me to pass on by. He had a headset and a white and gold scarf, too, but the really impressive accessory was the contraption strapped on lower down. It was made of jointed wood like a marionette, and it gave him a pair of artificial arms. Each three-fingered hand had a pistol in it.
By the time I looked back around, Sylvester was aiming at me again. I dropped the crap in my hands and scrambled in what I expected to be a futile try at dodging. Then A’marie threw her goggles and clipped Sylvester on the side of the head. It didn’t hurt him, but his hand jerked, and the next blast flew to my left.
He bared his teeth in a snarl and worked the pump. I thought the shuck-shuck noise sounded different, which didn’t stop me from scurrying as the Remington swung back down. But when Sylvester pulled the trigger, nothing happened. Something was wrong—my guess was, the spent shell hadn’t been ejected—and the gun was jammed.
I’d caught a break, and it would have been the perfect moment to rush Sylvester and lay him out cold with one awesome punch. But only if I’d been in range, he hadn’t outweighed me by at least three hundred pounds, and the snake hadn’t been coming on fast with his own guns. I straightened all the way up, rushed to A’marie, and we ran on together, parallel to the edge of the bay.
Sadly, that plan had its own problems, since each of us was barely able to breathe. We’d only gone a few yards when A’marie staggered to a stop and gasped, “Go. They don’t want me.”
“Hostage,” I said. I meant they’d make her one and use her against me. I just didn’t have enough breath left to get it all out. She scowled and jerked her head in a nod to show she understood.
Just then, the shotgun spun between us. I guessed Sylvester had gotten frustrated trying to unjam it—either he didn’t know how, or his Hickory Farms beef-stick fingers couldn’t manage it—and thrown it like a rock.
Maybe I could unjam it, and turn this mess into a whole different fight. I staggered after it, and A’marie followed.
Behind us, metal groaned and rattled. I glanced back just in time to see Sylvester heave the Miata over his head and toss it.