Page 38 of Taste of Blood

Before he can protest, I jam the needle into his neck and push the plunger. Nighty night, asshole. His head slumps over, silencing his protests. I step back to admire my work. Yep, out cold.

“Is he…dead?” Jerry asks.

I shrug. “Hard to say. I might’ve gotten the dosage wrong. Look on the bright side. At least he won’t starve to death.”

Jerry struggles against his bindings. “You son of a bitch.”

I walk over to him. “Now, where were we? Oh yeah, you were telling me about the kids at the restaurant.”

“I’m not telling you nothing.”

“Suit yourself. I got another needle in my pocket…unless you’d rather die of starvation. Doesn’t matter either way to me.”

I don’t have another syringe, but he doesn’t need to know that. I figured I’d need to silence one to get the other one to talk. When he doesn’t say anything, I turn and head back toward the door.

“All righty then, guess I’ll see you tomorrow. He should probably start stinking by then.”

“No, wait.”

“Yes?”

“Will you let me go if I tell you?”

One thing you can always count on with these guys; self-preservation. “Tell me about your boss and I’ll put in a good word with mine. That’s the best I can do.”

He seems to think about it for a minute, then finally nods. “You can’t get to him, you know? He’s too powerful.”

Is he trying to convince me or himself? “Just tell me the name and I’ll let my boss handle it.”

He hesitates for several minutes. I don’t push, letting him come to it on his own. Finally he sighs and says something under his breath.

“Sorry, didn’t catch that,” I reply.

“Python,” he says, louder this time. “He’s known as the Python.”

“Sounds ominous,” I say, swallowing a laugh. Seriously? “Do you know his real name?”

“No. That’s the only name we have.”

“And how many of you are there?”

“You said you just needed his name.”

“My boss will want more…unless you like it here.”

“Fine.” He stalls, pouting.

“Well?”

“I’m thinking, okay?”

“Well, think faster. Time’s a wasting.”

“Maybe twenty, twenty-five. We’re not all there at the same time.”

“And you say he’s recruiting these kids he snatches from the restaurants?”

“Sometimes. Sometimes he just lets us feed on them until…”