Death Warmed Over - By Kevin J. Anderson Page 0,92
simply shot him in the back of the head, as he’d done to me, then coerced Robin in here?
Her hands were tied behind her back, and that got me angry. Brondon jabbed a gun directly in her face, forcing her to take another step along the catwalk. His broad grin was just like the one he had worn when flirting with the three zombie cougars. He was going to make her jump into the vat.
He brandished his gun, which looked like a .38, the type of weapon that had gunned me down in the street after Sheyenne and I left Grandma Wong’s shop. If that was the same gun, then this guy must really like to shoot me.
I drew my own revolver and lurched to the metal stairs before he could shove Robin over the edge. “I wouldn’t do that, Brondon!”
He swung his head around, startled, and looked down at me from atop the giant cauldron. “Dan Chambeaux!” He let out a mocking laugh to cover his surprise. “You really do keep rising from the grave.”
While he was momentarily distracted, Robin kicked him in the shin. It was the best she could do with her hands tied.
Brondon yelped, hopped on one foot, and swung the pistol back to her. “Stop that!” As fast as I could, I started running up the narrow steps along the side of the vat, although I knew I wouldn’t get there in time. Brondon didn’t know where to point the gun. He swung it back and forth. “I suggest you stop, Chambeaux! I’ve got plenty of bullets, and even if they don’t hurt you, imagine what they’ll do to your pretty little partner.”
I had made it halfway up the stairs, but I stopped, held up my handgun. “Don’t hurt her, Brondon.”
He rolled his eyes. “Of course I’m going to hurt her! Haven’t you been following the program? Toss your weapon across the floor.”
“Why in the world would I do that?” I decided to see how far I could push it. Moving slower now, I climbed two steps higher and kept my gaze fixed on his.
“Because I’ll shoot her right now if you don’t.” He pressed the barrel against her head, pushed hard, and Robin flinched back. “You’ve already seen what a bullet did to your skull. You choose—think fast! Three . . . two . . .”
“All right! Stop, I’ll do it.” I tossed my revolver over the metal stairs and onto the floor. It was the only advantage I’d had, but Brondon could easily kill Robin in an instant. Maybe if I could get him to soliloquize, as movie villains do, I could figure out something. I glared up at him. “I’ve unraveled your plot, Brondon. We know you sold your antique Smith and Wesson to Ivory after you killed me.” I pointed to the pistol in his hand, using that as an excuse to advance another step higher. “Did you use that .38 to shoot me down in the street a few nights ago?”
“It’s my new gun,” he said, admiring the weapon. “I wanted something lighter and more stylish.”
Robin’s dark eyes widened as she put the pieces together. She hadn’t known what Sheyenne and I learned from Ivory. “You’re the one who shot Dan?” She had real, heartwarming murder in her glare. “Why?”
I had been just about to ask the same question.
Brondon looked at Robin, annoyed, but she kept her back straight and refused to be pushed around. “He was closing in on me. I had to cover my tracks before he unraveled JLPN’s overall plan.”
Under other circumstances it might have been funny. “I never liked you, Brondon, but I was never after you—in fact, I had no idea you were involved in anything until tonight. Harvey Jekyll was the one in my sights. I followed him out to the dump with his hazardous chemicals, and we found the silver Straight Edge ring in his study. We know he’s the Grand Wizard.”
Brondon looked like a gorilla with indigestion. “I’m the Grand Wizard. I created Straight Edge. Harvey’s just a second banana, a wannabe with money.”
Now I was even more confused. “What are you talking about?”
Brondon wore a strange expression, then smiled. “Oh yes, I forgot—I never did get a chance to go over all the details before I shot you from behind. I decided it was better not to gloat, not to explain everything.”
“I wish you had. It would have made solving my murder a heck of a lot easier.”