Free The Portal ~ Large Print by Christopher Allan Poe Page A

up in a dumpster, it’s on you.”
    As she got out of the car, drizzled wind pushed against her. In the distance, a squeaking windmill formed an eerie rhythm with a piece of flapping metal.
    She walked over to the sedan and knocked the designated three times on the window. A forty-something man opened the door and stood. Stubble formed a crown on his bald head.
    “Let’s make this quick,” she said.
    “In this line of business, you should take a moment to get to know your associates.” His voice was calm, but that wasn’t what disturbed her the most. A gun-toting militia nut would’ve made sense to her, but he was everything she didn’t expect. Dressed in a navy suit with handkerchief, he looked like a stockbroker. What else hadn’t she planned for?
    “I’m not a cop,” she said. “If that’s what you mean.”
    He looked over her shoulder. “You were supposed to come alone.”
    “She’s here for my safety.” The rain picked up slightly, dotting his glasses, but he didn’t take his eyes from her. Erika’s dumpster comment began to freak her out. “Are we going to do this or not?”
    “I take it you brought cash?” He opened a black umbrella.
    If she answered truthfully, would he rob them? It wasn’t as though they could go to the police. “I want to see the guns first.”
    “I see.” He paused. “Well, we’re not going to get anywhere unless somebody leaps.” He walked back and opened the trunk. She couldn’t shake her sinking feeling as she stared at the dozen handguns, neatly harnessed on gray felt.
    She pulled out the money. “My friend snapped your license plate on the way in here. If anything happens to me—”
    “Right, fine,” he said. “Now what can I get you? Something for your purse?”
    “If I have to shoot someone, I don’t want them getting back up.”
    “Okay.” He looked as though her answer surprised him. “Any of these will pack a punch. For your body size, you’ll probably want a nine millimeter with Cop Killer or hollow point ammunition for maximum yield.”
    She’d emptied an entire clip into Jarod’s head, and he’d still stolen her son. “Which ones do the most damage?”
    “That depends.” He opened a box and showed her bullets packed in foam. “Armor-piercing brass core can punch through metal. Small clean holes.” That didn’t sound like anything Jarod couldn’t heal from. He held up a new box. “But Black Rhinos shatter into tiny razors on impact. They carry punch and even cut through Kevlar.”
    He handed her his umbrella. In two deft moves, he loaded the gun. It was over. He was going to shoot her right there. She almost ran, but at the last second, he turned and fired at an aluminum keg next to a cold campfire. The bullet ripped a massive hole and spun the keg. For seconds after, the hills rumbled.
    “As you can see, not only does it deliver, but the sound wave can scare off potential attackers as well.”
    She took a second to quiet her beating heart, and then handed him back the umbrella. She’d seen enough. “How much for all the Rhino bullets you have and four handguns?”
    “We need to talk,” Erika said from behind. Damn. The gunfire must have scared her, but how had she walked up so quietly?
    “Excuse us,” Vivian said to him calmly, but inside she was panicking. They walked back to the Prius.
    “I think he’s okay,” Vivian said. “But I need you to stay with the car.”
    “Just what do you think you’re doing?”
    “I’m getting my son back.”
    “Right.” Erika crossed her arms. “With armor-piercing bullets.”
    “Please just trust me.” She checked to make sure the man hadn’t moved. For the time being, he seemed content to wait. “I know what I’m doing.”
    “You said those exact words when you dropped out of college to marry that jerk. And I told myself that it wasn’t my place to push, but I won’t sit back this time.”
    “You don’t understand.”
    “Oh, I get it just fine,” Erika said. “You’re