BooksBarbecue
Back Balance of Power
Chapters (53)
  1. BALANCE OF POWER
  2. Acknowledgments
  3. About The Creators
  4. ONE
  5. TWO
  6. THREE
  7. FOUR
  8. FIVE
  9. SIX
  10. SEVEN
  11. EIGHT
  12. NINE
  13. TEN
  14. ELEVEN
  15. TWELVE
  16. THIRTEEN
  17. FOURTEEN
  18. FIFTEEN
  19. SIXTEEN
  20. SEVENTEEN
  21. EIGHTEEN
  22. NINETEEN
  23. TWENTY
  24. TWENTY-ONE
  25. TWENTY-TWO
  26. TWENTY-THREE
  27. TWENTY-FOUR
  28. TWENTY-FIVE
  29. TWENTY-SIX
  30. TWENTY-SEVEN
  31. TWENTY-EIGHT
  32. TWENTY-NINE
  33. THIRTY
  34. THIRTY-ONE
  35. THIRTY-TWO
  36. THIRTY-THREE
  37. THIRTY-FOUR
  38. THIRTY-FIVE
  39. THIRTY-SIX
  40. THIRTY-SEVEN
  41. THIRTY-EIGHT
  42. THIRTY-NINE
  43. FORTY
  44. FORTY-ONE
  45. FORTY-TWO
  46. FORTY-THREE
  47. FORTY-FOUR
  48. FORTY-FIVE
  49. FORTY-SIX
  50. FORTY-SEVEN
  51. FORTY-EIGHT
  52. FORTY-NINE
  53. FIFTY

This time he wasn't moved. The sock was pushed harder into his mouth and held there. One of the crowbars was raised over Adolfo's right shoulder and was swung down hard. The bone broke audibly under the blow. He cried into the sock. The crowbar was raised again and struck lower, between the shoulder and elbow. Another bone broke. He cried again. Each blow brought a burst of agony and a yelp and then numbness.

Each scream was a rent in his will. The pain was just pain but every scream was a surrender. And as he surrendered those pieces of his fighting spirit, he had less to draw on.

"When you talk, the beating will stop," the voice said.

Someone started working on his left side and he jumped and howled with each strike. He felt the wall of resistance crumble faster now. And then something surprising happened. He didn't feel like himself anymore. His body was broken; that wasn't him. His will was shattered; that wasn't him. He was someone else. And that someone else wanted to talk.

He said something into the sock. The face came down and the beating stopped. The sock was removed.

"Am… Am…"

"What?" said the dark face.

"Ama… dori."

"Amadori?" the face repeated.

"Am… a… do… ri." Each syllable rode out on a breath. Adolfo couldn't help himself. He just wanted the pain to stop."Gen… er… al."

"General Amadori," the face said. "That's who you work with?"

Adolfo nodded.

"Is there anyone else?"

Adolfo shook his head once. He shut his eyes.

"Do you believe him?" someone asked.

"Look at him," someone replied. "He hasn't got the wits left to lie."

Adolfo felt himself being released. It felt good just to lie there on his back. He opened his eyes and stared up at the dark figures gathered around him.

"What do we do with him?" one man asked.

"He killed Seńor Ramirez," said another. "He dies. Slowly."

That was the final word on the matter-not by concensus but because the man swung his crowbar down on Adolfo's throat. The fisherman's head jerked up and then fell back as his larynx shattered; his dead arms didn't move. Then he lay there tasting blood and wheezing. He was able to draw just enough breath to remain conscious but not enough to satisfy his lungs.