Devil's Run
Page 39
I hit the floor on my back. The controller fell off the bed, bouncing off my shin. Ms. Ricasso was still half on top of me, clawing for my throat, but something was holding her back. Her necklace had snagged on the bed as we fell.
I grabbed a fistful of her hair and jerked her towards me, pulling myself off the floor. She stopped trying to unhook the necklace and put her hands around my throat. She grinned triumphantly.
I stabbed my foot at the controller, pinning it against the bed leg. The TV came on, blaring loudly. Oh, for Christ’s sake! I moved my foot and pushed again. The mattress began to rise.
“Time to die,” I said, looking her right in the eye. “Tick, tock.”
Her smile disappeared, replaced by confusion, and then fright as the great crushing pendant of the necklace pressed deep into the center of her throat. She released me and began yanking at the chain, but it was too strong. She had made sure of that. None of her victims could break it, including her.
She clawed at my face, trying to reach my eyes. I turned my head to the side, keeping a firm grip on her hair, pulling her down against the pendant. Her gouging fingers grew weaker. After a moment, they dropped away.
I turned back and watched clinically as her face turned deep purple. The eyes bulged, and the blood vessels in them began to burst. I thought about Raviv, dying naked and helpless on that massage table. Boyd’s innocent secretary, who was merely in the way. Jeffrey Boyd himself, paying for his many sins on a cold concrete floor. Who knew how many others she had killed? Raviv was right; there were dragons in this world. And even if the dragon slayers were not themselves perfect, the world still needed them.
The swollen tongue lolled out of her mouth and she stopped moving. I let go of her hair and she hung there, her bloodshot, sightless eyes staring into mine.
I lifted my foot off the switch just as the lights came on. It was Roma’s young fed from the Texas diner. He just stopped and stared.
“You owe me, Sonny,” I said. “I just saved your career. Now call Roma and tell him the bitch is dead.”
*****
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Frank Hughes is a New York native. He attended Fordham University in the Bronx and served in the United States Navy. He has traveled extensively in North America, Europe, and the Far East. Along the way he found time to become a five time undefeated champion on the American quiz show Jeopardy! with Alex Trebek.
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