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.We need to talk.”“Miles?” There was a pause.“I expected you to be dead by now.”“That makes two of us.Some assholes decided they couldn’t let me die in peace.I’ve got something you want.”There was an intake of breath, and I could hear the smile in her voice.“You have the crystals?”I rattled the jar next to the phone.“Pretty little things.You wanna see them?”“I would love to, Miles.But I’m a little busy right now.”“More evil schemes?”“Sadly, no.A gentleman has a gun to my head.”I barked a laugh I didn’t feel.“Oh, that’s excellent.The Collective nabbed you in the attack on the building, huh?”“No, we fought them back.I sent a team to pursue them as they fled.We assumed they’d captured you, and I wanted you back.”“My knight in shining armor,” I said.“I underestimated their control over Limbus creatures.Incredible work.Bohr always was talented at that sort of thing.”“It’s neat stuff, isn’t it? Is Bohr there? I want to talk to him.”“He’s here.I’ll put him on.”“Thanks.And Doc?”“Yes?”“You better have a good reason for wanting these crystals.Or I’ll burn you alive.”“See you soon, Miles.”There were a few seconds of muffled whispers and crackling.Then I heard someone breathing into the phone.“Bohr?” I asked.“Yes.Quite the escape artist, aren’t you? How’d you kill my men?”“I didn’t.I had help.”“Hmm, help.Very well.How are you alive?”“I had help there too,” I said.“Do you have the cops?”“Hmm? Oh, yes.They’re here somewhere.”“And McCaffrey’s people?”“Some.Not enough.Many struggled.Kowalski is here, though.”“Are you going to kill them?” I asked.“Soon.When I’ve hurt them.I can never hurt them as much as they hurt me.But I can try.You should never have got involved, Miles Franco.”“Never had a choice,” I said.“Don’t kill them yet.”“Why?”“I have something you want.The crystals.”A full thirty seconds passed.I tapped the floor with my heel while I listened to him breathing.The phone grew sweaty in my palm.Then he spoke again.“You want to meet,” he said.“I do.”“What do you want in exchange for the crystals?”“Your hostages.All of them.”“Hmm,” he said.“McCaffrey and Kowalski?”“All of them.”Another long pause.My stomach growled to fill the silence.“One-hundred-twenty-one Twelfth Avenue,” he finally said.“Two hours.”“I’ll be there,” I said.“One thing.If you hurt them, or touch me, or try to get the crystals by force, I’ll destroy them.”“Yes, yes.Come alone, or they all die.”“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”I hung up and slipped the phone back into my pocket, then wiped the sweat from my forehead with the back of my sleeve.Nearly done.You hear that Claudia? I’m nearly done.I turned around to face Stretch.His face was already going purple where I’d hit him.“I’m going out for a bit,” I said.“Make yourself at home.The cops will be here shortly to entertain you.Come on, Toto.”The spider-dog hooted and followed me as I walked past the cuffed enforcer.I felt like tiny gnomes were giving every inch of me a tiny beating, but with every step I got stronger, and the pain got less.“Remember what I said,” Stretch said as I reached the door.“I’ll come for you.”“And you remember what I said.Keep the chair leg as a souvenir.”It was a beautiful day outside.I shielded my eyes, climbed the stairs back to the alley, and pulled my phone out again.“Yeah?” came the reply on the other end of the phone.“How’s the head, Des?”“Stings like a son of a bitch.”“I need some help.You up for more fun?”“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”TWENTY-NINEBy the time I found the twenty in my jacket pocket, my stomach was starting to eat itself.I’d spent the last hour and a half making preparations, and the effort had sapped whatever energy I had left.Leaning against a lamp post outside a construction site, I tried to puzzle out where the cash had come from.Then I remembered Tania kneeling in front of me before she left, giving me a kiss on the cheek.The little brat must’ve slipped it into my pocket.I tried to be mad at her, but my stomach wasn’t playing ball.It would be ungrateful not to use it, really.I started off with a Big Mac combo and a couple of cheeseburgers from the McDonalds on the corner a few blocks away.After polishing off the large Coke and tossing the paper bag into a dumpster, I stopped at a street vendor selling fruit, picked out the three apples that didn’t look rotten, and started devouring them.I even had enough change for the subway fare to the Avenues.The other passengers moved away from me when I sat down on the train.Even the homeless guy didn’t stick around to ask me for change.I knew I smelled, and I guess my bruises and blood-stained clothing weren’t helping.At least I didn’t have Toto with me.I didn’t want to see what a stampede of screaming passengers in a subway train looked like.The spider-dog had taking a liking to Vivian’s apartment, so he’d seemed happy when I left him there.I finished off the last apple—core and all—and returned my hand to my pocket.The vibrations of the train were helping to work the aches out of my body.I closed my eyes and pictured Claudia when I first heard her sing.I pictured her working that job in the clothing store, trying to scrape enough money together to get herself a visa to Heaven.And I pictured McCaffrey reeling Claudia in with promises or threats or empty words, reeling her in and putting her back on the hook as bait for me.It’d worked.I’d got hooked myself.But I could be a mean fish.I opened my eyes as the subway train squealed into the station at First Avenue.Claudia was dead, and she wasn’t coming back.I had to finish this, one way or another.Not just for her.For me.I got off the train and went to break some teeth.The Avenues had never recovered from the Chroma Wars, and they hadn’t exactly been high class digs in the first place.Stunted trees lined the streets, and behind them the crumbling buildings sat packed together.A bag lady shuffled past with her shopping cart, watching me out of the corner of her eye [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]