Page 70 of Duke
“Ja.” There was a pause. “But I have a line on the interior of the house, so I can see the doorway whereFrauKennedy is hiding. I can protect her from here.”
I raised my hands over my head, the carbine in one hand. “Take care of her, buddy.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Go with ‘em.”
“They will kill you.”
“Maybe, maybe not.” I watched them approach with my heart in my throat. “I got away once, so I’m gambling I can again.”
“Duke?” Temple’s voice in my earpiece. “What’s going on?”
“Hit a snag, sweetheart,” I said.
“What’s happening?” She was shrill, panicked.
“Stay where you are.” They were ten feet away at that point, and closing in fast, rifles trained on me, fingers ready to pull the triggers, ready to drop me if needed—they wanted me alive, but would settle for me dead if necessary, clearly. “Anselm will take care of you. Don’t worry, baby. I’ll be fine.”
“Duke? No! No—don’t…don’t let them take you!”
“No choice, honey. Only way to keep breathing at this point. I’ll get away, okay? I promise. Just stay where you are. Swear to me.”
“I swear. But—”
“No buts. Stay put. Wait for Anselm.” I switched off the radio, ripped off the headset and throat mic off, and then tossed the radio aside.
The ten operatives were in front of me, then. A rifle butt smashed into my gut, knocking the air out of me, and another cracked against my skull, dropping me to the ground, agony firing through me, my breath gone, head pounding, stars flashing behind my eyes. I could have fought, but I didn’t. Maybe if they took me, they’d leave Temple.
It was a gamble, but I really didn’t have a choice. Surrender, and live to fight another day. It galled me, though.
I felt the coldOof a rifle barrel against my temple. “You’re a hard man to bring down, Duke Silver,” said a rasping, guttural voice.
“You have no idea,” I growled.
He laughed. “Get him up.”
I was hauled to my feet and stripped of weapons and body armor, a gun to my head the whole time.
The man who’d spoken, the one with the gun to my head, was the ugliest motherfucker I’d ever seen. He was short, squat, and powerfully built, with a jaw so square he looked like a cartoon character. His face was acne-pocked and ribboned with a knife scar from beneath his left eye across his mouth, with deep-set, beady brown eyes and a huge nose. He’d removed his helmet, revealing lank black hair and oversized Dumbo ears.
Ugly stared up at me, standing a good foot shorter than me. “I’m Rayburn, Cain’s second in command.”
“And I’m Duke Silver, the man who’s going to kill every last one of you motherfuckers.” I jutted my chin at him. “You first, you ugly fucking piece of shit troll.”
He just laughed again, that hoarse, raspy voice of his like sandpaper over stone. “Big words, my friend. Big words.” He stepped close to me, his expression dead, cold, hard. “Big, but empty. Like you.”
He swung his rifle at me so hard and fast I had no chance of ducking, dodging, or blocking. Not that it would have done any good, but still, my pride’s on the line, so I have to point out that I couldn’t have dodged even I’d wanted to. The butt smashed against my kidney, causing such fierce sudden pain that I dropped to my hands and knees, dry heaving from the agony of it. Rayburn kicked me, his foot slamming into my gut, tossing me onto my back. I tried to curl in, instincts forcing me to try and protect my core, but before I could, he lashed out with the rifle again, bashing the butt against my left forearm. I heard thecrackfirst, then felt the fiery razors of excruciating pain searing through me, centered on my broken forearm.
“You suck,” I growled. “But I’m still gonna kill you.”
“You’re even dumber than you look,” Rayburn said. “Cain wants you alive, so if I were you I’d shut your damn mouth. Because trust me, I’d be happier to leave you dead.”
He crouched, drawing a knife from a sheath on his armored vest. Rayburn reached up, snagged the sloppy ponytail I’d made of my hair in my rush to get dressed, and sliced it off, then showed me the stump of my hair.
I laughed in his face. “Ooooh, scary. You cut off my hair. Whatever will I do?” I was still having trouble breathing past the pain from my broken forearm; I could see white points of bone stabbing through the skin, so I knew it wasn’t a minor break, but I had to keep playing tough. Well, I wasn’t playing, Iamtough, but you know what I mean.
“Why taunt me?” Rayburn asked.