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Chapters (49)
  1. From Wikipedia
  2. Other Books by This Author
  3. Title Page
  4. Dedication
  5. Epigraph
  6. Contents
  7. Chapter One
  8. Chapter Two
  9. Chapter Three
  10. Chapter Four
  11. Chapter Five
  12. Chapter Six
  13. Chapter Seven
  14. Chapter Eight
  15. Chapter Nine
  16. Chapter Ten
  17. Chapter Eleven
  18. Chapter Twelve
  19. Chapter Thirteen
  20. Chapter Fourteen
  21. Chapter Fifteen
  22. Chapter Sixteen
  23. Chapter Seventeen
  24. Chapter Eighteen
  25. Chapter Nineteen
  26. Chapter Twenty
  27. Chapter Twenty-one
  28. Chapter Twenty-two
  29. Chapter Twenty-three
  30. Chapter Twenty-four
  31. Chapter Twenty-five
  32. Chapter Twenty-six
  33. Chapter Twenty-seven
  34. Chapter Twenty-eight
  35. Chapter Twenty-nine
  36. Chapter Thirty
  37. Chapter Thirty-one
  38. Chapter Thirty-two
  39. Chapter Thirty-three
  40. Chapter Thirty-four
  41. Chapter Thirty-five
  42. Chapter Thirty-six
  43. Chapter Thirty-seven
  44. Chapter Thirty-eight
  45. Chapter Thirty-nine
  46. Chapter Forty
  47. Chapter Forty-one
  48. About the Author
  49. Cover

Pike said, “Do you want to die?”

Chapter Seventeen

Seventeen

It happened quickly and without apparent effort, as if Pike had somehow assembled himself from the air and the trucks and the earth.

Tudi blinked and looked confused, response lagging behind event, and then his eyes bulged and he sucked in a single sharp breath. “Jesus Christ.” His right hand stayed up and out, as if he were still holding the gun.

I said, “You’re five minutes too soon. I was just about to let these guys have it.”

Pike’s mouth twitched. He never smiles, but sometimes he’ll give the twitch.

Pike is maybe six-one and lean, all taut cords and veins. He was in straight-legged blue jeans and Nike running shoes and an olive-green Marine Corps parka over a gray sweatshirt and G.I. pilot’s glasses so dark that they were without depth or dimension. He cocked his head to look at Ric. He had to look up.

Ric lifted his hands to the sides, letting Pike see that they were empty. He moved with great care, but he didn’t look scared. Outside in the light, his skin was so pale I wondered if he used makeup, his eyes black dots set far back in dark hollows, angry weasels staring out of ice caves.

Pike said, “Your call.”

Ric smiled. His teeth were small and yellow and angled backward like a snake’s. If he bit you, you’d have a helluva time getting away from him. He reached out and pushed Tudi’s gun hand down. “He’s got your gun, stupid. All you’re holding is air.”

Tudi looked at his hand, maybe wondering where his gun had gone. “The guy japped me.”

Pike stepped back and lowered the gun.

I gave Tudi the tsk-tsk. “First Joey the Potato, now you. Charlie’s gonna love it.”

Tudi’s face was red and angry. He looked at his empty hand again like maybe he had made a mistake the first time, like maybe if he looked again, it wouldn’t be empty and he could shoot Pike and me and he wouldn’t have to tell Charlie that he’d been japped by a guy who came out of nowhere. Only when he looked, the hand was still empty. He looked back at Pike, then grunted and charged, head down. Pike’s right knee snapped up hard, and Tudi popped over as if he’d been jerked backward by a leash. He hit the ground flat on his back with a loud slapping sound and that was the end of it.

“Dumb,” I said. “This man has the market cornered on dumb.”

Ric smiled some more. “He thinks he’s good. All these guys, they think they’re good.”

Pike was back to looking at Ric. “How about you?”