Page 14 of Heart of Stone
“Uh, except for that blood river pouring from your arm,” Slade said. “Looks like you need some stitches to match the ones on the back of your head.”
I looked at him. “And how do I explain it to the doctor?”
“Super glue.” Ace walked over and looked through the hole on my shirt. “Yep, a little super glue will patch that gash right up.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard of that too,” Colt said.
“Great. As long as I get to take some good long whiffs of the stuff to give me a buzz and forget that glue is holding together my flesh, I’m all for it.” I looked at Ace. “What the hell happened? Never would have expected you to end up in front of some two-bit pirate’s gun.”
“Let my guard down. Brick, the old guy with the squid tattoo, was working against me. Who knew he had those kind of balls?”
“Don’t know if I’d call it balls or fucking stupidity,” Isaid.
“They’re clinging to the last bit of canvas,” Colt called from the stern. “Their partner has already bailed. He’s coming around on their speed boat to pick them up. Should I put some holes in the hull?”
I glanced around once with my binoculars. Aside from the clowns clinging to the deflated raft and their partner in his zippy little boat, we were still very much alone out on the water. “Go ahead.”
“Wait.” Ace walked over to Colt. “Allow me.” He took hold of Colt’s gun and fired several rounds. The guy ducked down as bullets pinged off the fiberglass hull. Ace fired straight at the outboard motor and it sputtered, smoked and died. He handed the gun back to Colt. “There, now I feel better too. Let’s move this rust bucket closer to my boat so we can get on with our business.”
“Hold on,” I said. “First, since I’m going to be the one that has to deal with Rincon, why don’t you tell me where the hell this all fell apart, eh?”
Ace looked pissed. “You accusing me of something, Stone?”
“Yeah, I guess I am. But I’m not accusing you of a double-cross. I’m accusing you of being fucking careless.” I waved toward the small motorboat that was slowly taking on water even as its two frantic passengers were tossing the water out. “I mean, what the fuck? I’d heard you were moving on soon. Maybe you’ve already checked out of this job. If that’s the case, then let someone who gives a fuck take your place. I don’t want to run into this again.”
Ace’s face reddened as he walked closer to me, but he wisely kept himself out of range of my fist. Colt and Slademoved in on him, but I shot them a subtle shake of my head. I wasn’t planning on this escalating. My arm was already numb from the bullet slicing me, and I didn’t need anything else to add to the irritation. I just wanted some details to take back to Rincon.
“Stone, you know I like you, but don’t push because I can push back hard.”
“I just need to know what to tell Rincon when he asks.” I relaxed my stance some, and it seemed to make him do the same.
“You want to know the truth,” he said, “I think someone’s playing dirty on his side. I always send him those coordinates at the last possible minute, and I’m the one that comes up with them. No one else on my side knows where the drop will be.”
Yells from out on the water let us know that the small boat was slowly sinking. I looked over at Colt. “Get out the life vests.”
Ace’s brow creased. “What the hell? Are you going to save their sorry asses?”
“No need for them to drown. Just like us, they’re trying to make a fast buck. I’m not letting them onboard though, and I’m using the vests as a lure.”
Colt came back out with three life jackets. He and Slade had already figured out my plan. The three of us always thought the same when it came to shit like this. Slade grabbed a vest and held it out over the railing like bait for a hungry shark. “Here you go,” he teased.
I looked down on the three fools who were now clinging to the side of their boat. The other side was completelysubmerged.
The one whose bullet had grazed my arm swam closer to theDurango. With a major dose of suspicion in his expression, he reached up to catch the vest. Slade let it dangle overhead.
Ace and I walked to the railing.
I looked down at the guy in the water. “Tell us who the turncoat is on Rincon’s side, and we’ll drop three vests down. You’ll have a better chance of staying alive. Otherwise, the storm that’s rolling in is going to take all of you out to sea and you’ll be swimming in Davy Jones’s locker in no time.”
The guy stared up at me. “Fuck that. I can’t tell you. It’ll be the end of all of us.”
Slade laughed. “I guess you pick your poison then. Either you become fish food or target practice for the guy you’re protecting. Personally, I’d take my chances with the target practice. You’re at least three miles from shore and swimming in this rough water will make it feel like ten. That is— if you even head off in the right direction.”
Colt held out another vest. “Well, you going to talk?”
The guy was already getting tired just treading water for a few minutes. He had no chance without the vest. He looked back at his partners. They were in full panic mode as the last side of the boat started slipping below the surface.
“How do I know you’re really going to drop those vests?” the guy asked.
