Night Moves (Doc Ford) - By RandyWayne White Page 0,83
Deanster. Force an alpha lion into a corner, man, how goddamn dumb you got to be not to know what’ll happen?”
Eyes straight ahead again, the man’s jaw muscles flexed. “They’re lucky he didn’t have a weapon, you know,” he confided. “We don’t need firearms. We do it the real way.”
A threat. But I let it go, asking, “What’s your name? Mine’s Ford.”
Finally, a reaction. “I know who you are. We saw you almost every day in Boca Grande during tarpon season—the guy who was going to ruin it for everybody. We had a cable deal all lined up until word got out.”
I said, “Word got out about what? Deano’s brain injury?”
Bambi’s brown liquid eyes flared. “No, you prick! That the state might shut it down once your study comes out. Sponsors are going to take a risk like that? Jesus Christ, and we had everything all set to go, then you come along. Must make you feel real important, huh? Fucking up other people’s lives? I was surprised when Deano gave you another chance.”
Another chance at what? “He might still be willing to work something out,” Bambi said, “if you’ve actually found something. Just one hit on cable, just one goddamn break, that’s all we need. We can’t pay the ten thousand—never could. But if you had just given us a chance, none of this bullshit would have happened.”
What the hell did that mean?
Bambi looked at his watch, his mind working on something, then explained in a tone so suddenly optimistic I felt a chill, “Dean’s really good, you know. So am I—not that the networks give a shit about talent. The project we’re working on now, though, just wait until those hacks see it. Millions we’re going to make . . . because it’s timeless!”
I was thinking, Big ego, built-in excuses, and baited him, saying, “Then you’re better off. We found something—but a few pieces of airplane wouldn’t make much of a show. Cressa didn’t give you the latest update?”
The man who’d killed a pig with a spear smiled, letting me know he was too savvy to fall for it. But then revealed more than I’d hoped. “Don’t ever trust that bitch. She even came on to me one night, and Deano hates her. If his old man ever stops thinking with his cock, she’ll be out the—” Bambi caught himself, stopping midsentence, then switched off the ignition for some reason. Or was he baiting me . . . ?
Apparently not, because he popped the trunk and got out, explaining, “I’m going to check on Deano. But I’m taking a camera—cops act almost human with a camera around.”
Sirens—a chainsaw warble that found its way inside the Jeep. More than one squad car, sounded like, coming fast from the direction of the Rum Bar on Rabbit Road. I got out and spoke to him across the roof. “I’ll be right behind you.”
The Bambi-eyed glare again from the back of the Jeep. “I don’t give a damn what you do. Unless you want to make a film with a couple of first-rate shooters, stay away from both of us.” Then leaning into the vehicle, he appeared to fumble something, and I heard, “Shit . . . right in the water,” before he disappeared from view.
A setup of some type, my guess. Rather than wait, I hurried to the back of the Jeep in two fast strides, hoping to catch him unprepared. Bambi had thought it through, though, and was ready. As I came around the rear fender, he stood and swung a bamboo staff that whistled with velocity, but I got a shoulder up in time or it might have killed me. He lunged and swung again. I tried to step inside the staff’s power radius, crouching as I threw out my left hand and tracked its path. The bullwhip smack of bamboo on skin wasn’t as piercing as the pain, but I caught the tip of the staff and managed to hang on when he tried to pull it free.
“I think you’re both insane!” I heard myself shout. The pain was numbing, but I wasn’t in shock—I was mad. What I wanted to do was bust the bamboo over my knee, then use it to spank the bastard. Which is why I yanked too hard and why I went backpedaling into the bushes when Bambi suddenly let go and sprinted to the driver’s-side door. It was still open—just as he’d planned, I had no doubt.