The Living End (Daniel Faust #3)(39)

“Daniel Faust. And if you don’t know my name, there’s one hell of a hole in your intel.”

“Oh, yes,” Angus said. “Your name came up in the briefing. Ms. Carmichael didn’t think you’d be a problem, though. Not this degree of problem.”

“She has a habit of downplaying trouble. I don’t suppose she told you about Tony Vance or Sheldon Kaufman? They were a couple of sorcerers in her last crew.”

Angus shook his head. “Not a word. What happened to ’em?”

“I did. Now, in this room I’m counting six guns, plus the sidearm on your hip, and your two lab-rat magicians. Tell me something, Major. Do I look worried?”

I hoped to hell I didn’t, because if any single one of them decided to test me, I was as good as dead. When you’re all out of options, sometimes you can get through trouble with nothing but raw confidence.

Sometimes.

“No,” Angus said, “you don’t. So how do you see this playing out, son?”

“Simple. You take your troops and pull out. Once you’re gone, I lead everyone else out of here and drop your boy off, safe and sound, on a street corner about a mile away.”

“You think we’re going to let those people go?” Nedry said. “After what they’ve seen?”

“Yeah,” I said. “I do. I’m pretty sure every computer in this building’s been scrubbed with a magnet and there isn’t a damn thing that can connect you or Xerxes to the property. You made a smart play with your choice of victims, too. Nobody listens to the homeless anyway, and once they start telling the cops they saw monsters here? Nobody’s going to listen. The only thing that’ll get you in trouble is if you’re caught here, red-handed. Which is about to happen.”

“How do you figure that?” Angus said.

“The FBI knows all about the little drugged goodies Clark’s been handing out on the street, and they’re about to swoop in and raid this place. I asked for a grace window so I could poke around first, but my time’s almost up. If you don’t want to walk out of here in cuffs, it’s time to pull up stakes and go. New Life is finished.”

“It’s not our only clinic,” Nedry scoffed.

Clark reached over, all smiles, and patted Nedry’s back. The other man stiffened as Clark’s hand slid higher, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Hey, buddy,” Clark said softly, “you’re all tense and angry, and I think it’d be a really good idea if you didn’t talk right now, okay? Maybe just not say another word.”

Nedry nodded his head, suddenly mute. His eyes glazed over.

“Thank you,” Angus said to Clark. He turned back toward me and gave me a hard look. He gestured for his men to hang back as he crossed the lobby floor, standing so close I could count the bristles on his chin. He smelled like Old Spice and gunpowder.

“You killed three of my lads,” he said. Crow’s-feet bristled at the corners of his squinting eyes.

“Four,” I said. “You forgot the one outside Nedry’s lab.”

“Right. Understand something, Daniel Faust. I’ll do you for that. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but I’ll do you for that. I’m going to cut your heart straight out of your bloody chest, and I’m going to eat it with a dollop of steak sauce. You wanted me to know your name? Well, now I know it. And I never forget.”





Nineteen



Looking into the steel flints of Angus Caine’s eyes felt like staring down the business end of a double-barreled shotgun.

“Guess I’ll see you on the battlefield then, Major,” I said. “But if you want a piece of advice? Get out of town. Lauren Carmichael likes surrounding herself with cannon fodder. She also likes feeding her friends into the meat grinder while she skips away free. Whatever she told you, whatever she promised you, that’s all you are to her.”

“We aren’t her friends,” Angus growled. “We’re private contractors, the best of the best, and the only thing she’s promised us is cold hard cash. There’s no sentiment here, boy. Don’t think you can play me against her. Long as her checks keep clearing, we’re not going anywhere.”

I tilted my head, leaning in just a little. Showing him I wasn’t intimidated, no matter how hard my heart was pounding.

“Well then. You’d better get moving, unless you want to spend those nice fat checks on cigarettes in the prison commissary.”

He backed away slowly, keeping me fixed in his sight as he waved his men out of the building. He was the last to leave, and he didn’t turn his back on me until he was five steps out the door.

I let out the breath I’d been holding.

Another gun barrel jabbed me in the cheek as I returned to the cell, but it was only Eric. He had the Xerxes goon kneeling on the floor with his elbows up and fingers woven behind his neck. Leroy didn’t look so good. He was still sitting where I’d left him, head lolled back and eyes heavy-lidded. There was a lot more of him on the floor now, pooling out in a sticky red puddle.

“It’s cool,” I said, and Eric lowered his rifle. “They’re gone. We need to roll. Leroy? Talk to me, buddy. Can you walk?”

“Do what I gotta do,” he mumbled. He tried to stand up, and I gave him my arm.