than ten or twelve. Disks were from someillegal pirating group in Malaysia. I found the name of the person who sat at that desk and matched it to the sleeping prisoners. The guy with the kiddie porn was a big slice of white bread with lots of tough-guy tattoos. I kicked him in the balls. Real damn hard.
Will I kick a man when he’s down?
Nah.
But I’ll kick a pedophile from any angle at any time.
I went back to my search without aflicker of guilt.
Interlude Three
The Imperial Condominiums
Unit 6A, Edgewater Drive
Corpus Christi, Texas
Four Years Ago
The car idled outside the Imperial Condominiums, engine quiet, driver silent. No radio, no conversation, even though there was a second man in the front passenger seat. They sat and waited.
They were slim men. Midtwenties. Average height. Average weight. Average inevery useful way. Forgettable.
The car was a medium blue Ford Focus.
The men were dressed like grad students. The driver wore a print dress shirt and moderately tasteful Dockers. The passenger wore a Texas A&M, Corpus Christi, basketball sweatshirt over pressed jeans and New Balance running shoes. They looked like what they wanted people to see. They did not look like who and what they were.
The man in the Dockers was currently using the name Jacob. It was listed as the most popular name for boys based on statistics from the Social Security Administration. The man in the jeans was using the second most popular name, Mason.
Before coming here they had been at a Starbucks on Ocean Drive. Jacob pretended to read the paper. Mason pretended to surf the net on his iPad. They sat near eachother, but not together. When they left, Jacob went out first, walked around the corner, and got into his car. He circled the block and picked up his companion one street away. The driver made sure he was not being followed.
They were both very careful men.
Then they drove over to Edgewater and parked outside the condos. Engine on, both of them waiting.
Jacob had a Ruger SR22 pistol snuggedinto an ankle holster. Mason had an identical gun in his zippered tablet case. They always carried the same make and model of handgun. It made it easier for sharing ammunition. These were efficient men.
However, both of these guns were their backup pieces. Neither of them preferred to kill with them.
They used something else for that.
The cell phone that rested on the dash vibrated.
The driverpicked it up, thumbed the green button, and said, “‘ Ā ll ō .”
He listened and then disconnected without a comment, switched the engine off, and got out of the car. The other man removed a small hemp-handled paper bag. The bag was from Starbucks. Two plump one-pound bags of Pike Place blend peeked out of the top.
Together, Jacob and Mason approached the building.
They pressed the call button forunit 6A. A moment later, it buzzed and the door lock clicked.
They entered and took the stairs. They did not go to unit 6A. Instead, the driver led his companion to unit 12B. It was at the end of a short hallway. The hall was completely empty and very quiet. They knocked on the door and waited until a woman answered it. She smiled expectantly at them. They were unobtrusive and well-groomed youngmen. Everyone in this building worked at the university. Nearly every tenant was a professor. It was not at all unusual for a couple of grad students to visit.
“Yes?” said the woman.
“Mrs. Harrison?” asked Jacob.
“Yes.”
“We work with your husband. Doc Harrison asked us to bring this over.”
He held up the Starbucks bag.
She was still smiling, but there was as much frown as smile on her mouth.“He’s in the shower, but I can—”
Mason punched her.
Once, very hard, in the throat. He used the folded secondary knuckles of his left hand. A leopard’s-paw punch.
The blow crushed her hyoid bone and larynx. It silenced her voice. She collapsed immediately, and he stepped forward to catch her. He smiled at her as she turned purple.
Will I kick a man when he’s down?
Nah.
But I’ll kick a pedophile from any angle at any time.
I went back to my search without aflicker of guilt.
Interlude Three
The Imperial Condominiums
Unit 6A, Edgewater Drive
Corpus Christi, Texas
Four Years Ago
The car idled outside the Imperial Condominiums, engine quiet, driver silent. No radio, no conversation, even though there was a second man in the front passenger seat. They sat and waited.
They were slim men. Midtwenties. Average height. Average weight. Average inevery useful way. Forgettable.
The car was a medium blue Ford Focus.
The men were dressed like grad students. The driver wore a print dress shirt and moderately tasteful Dockers. The passenger wore a Texas A&M, Corpus Christi, basketball sweatshirt over pressed jeans and New Balance running shoes. They looked like what they wanted people to see. They did not look like who and what they were.
The man in the Dockers was currently using the name Jacob. It was listed as the most popular name for boys based on statistics from the Social Security Administration. The man in the jeans was using the second most popular name, Mason.
Before coming here they had been at a Starbucks on Ocean Drive. Jacob pretended to read the paper. Mason pretended to surf the net on his iPad. They sat near eachother, but not together. When they left, Jacob went out first, walked around the corner, and got into his car. He circled the block and picked up his companion one street away. The driver made sure he was not being followed.
They were both very careful men.
Then they drove over to Edgewater and parked outside the condos. Engine on, both of them waiting.
Jacob had a Ruger SR22 pistol snuggedinto an ankle holster. Mason had an identical gun in his zippered tablet case. They always carried the same make and model of handgun. It made it easier for sharing ammunition. These were efficient men.
However, both of these guns were their backup pieces. Neither of them preferred to kill with them.
They used something else for that.
The cell phone that rested on the dash vibrated.
The driverpicked it up, thumbed the green button, and said, “‘ Ā ll ō .”
He listened and then disconnected without a comment, switched the engine off, and got out of the car. The other man removed a small hemp-handled paper bag. The bag was from Starbucks. Two plump one-pound bags of Pike Place blend peeked out of the top.
Together, Jacob and Mason approached the building.
They pressed the call button forunit 6A. A moment later, it buzzed and the door lock clicked.
They entered and took the stairs. They did not go to unit 6A. Instead, the driver led his companion to unit 12B. It was at the end of a short hallway. The hall was completely empty and very quiet. They knocked on the door and waited until a woman answered it. She smiled expectantly at them. They were unobtrusive and well-groomed youngmen. Everyone in this building worked at the university. Nearly every tenant was a professor. It was not at all unusual for a couple of grad students to visit.
“Yes?” said the woman.
“Mrs. Harrison?” asked Jacob.
“Yes.”
“We work with your husband. Doc Harrison asked us to bring this over.”
He held up the Starbucks bag.
She was still smiling, but there was as much frown as smile on her mouth.“He’s in the shower, but I can—”
Mason punched her.
Once, very hard, in the throat. He used the folded secondary knuckles of his left hand. A leopard’s-paw punch.
The blow crushed her hyoid bone and larynx. It silenced her voice. She collapsed immediately, and he stepped forward to catch her. He smiled at her as she turned purple.
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