Dex turned, the lights of the eaves hitting him full in the face, his pale bald head seeming to glow. He stared directly at the balcony, at Evan. For a chilling moment, they locked eyes through the quickening rain.

Dex lifted his left hand and slapped the bloody scowl across his face. The tattoo colors were sharp in the glare, glossy red dripping from pointy incisors.

Evan backed into the room.

“What is it?” Despi asked.

The door flew open. Manny charged in, shotgun raised, firing a beanbag round that hit Evan’s center mass. It knocked him into the wall. He slid down lurchingly to sit on the floor.

Nando grabbed Despi’s bare shoulder and flung her behind him. She banged into the desk before falling to the floorboards at René’s feet.

With a polished loafer, René shooed her toward the door. She staggered a bit, pulling herself upright in time to collide with Dex’s chest, now filling the doorway. His rain-wet shirt clung to him, every muscle pronounced. He grabbed her by the wrist, wrenching her arm, and tugged her out of view. A moment later a door opened and slammed up the hall and Dex returned, pocketing a key.

Evan’s lungs were locked up. He couldn’t breathe.

With the toe of his boot, Manny tipped him over, cuffed his hands, hoisted him onto the bed. Evan leaned forward, his mouth wavering, air still out of reach.

At last his muscles relaxed, and he drew in a screeching breath and then another.

René walked over and leaned casually against the desk, examining his fingernails. “Let’s have a talk,” he said.

26. Man or Nature

26

Man or Nature

Evan sat on the bed, his wrists cuffed painfully behind him. The flexible baton round had left a red mark the size of a fist in the middle of his chest. He was still having trouble finding oxygen.

And yet René wanted to talk. “My guards seem to have been stricken with an illness. Vomiting, diarrhea, crippling abdominal pain. I don’t suppose you know anything about that.”

“I don’t.”

René nodded as if Evan had confessed. “Your skills are fascinating,” he said. “I want to know more about you.”

Evan managed to get out a few words. “… not … that interesting.”

“You are to me.” René removed a kerchief, wiped his brow. His face was flushed from all the excitement. “What are you?”

“A drug kingpin. An arms dealer.”

“No. You’re more lethal than that. Something doesn’t add up about you. I’ve been thinking about your hobby, killing Contrell. Who does something like that? Who kills a human trafficker for fun?”

Evan did not respond.

“I’d imagine the same kind of person who would poison my guards,” René said. “Dr. Franklin is seeing to the men now.”