brought the heat-sensing scope down and listened to the footsteps tapping overhead. The Beast grumbled, uncertain, as if it had been robbed of its quarry. The taste of blood was in the air, but none had been spilled yet. "Something's wrong."
"Relax, Max. They're walking right into the killing box."
"Anything on the river?"
After a pause, Lee answered, "Are you kidding? What do you think this is, a James Bond flick? You expecting fucking hovercrafts or something?"
"Nothing in the air?"
"Outside of La Guardia takeoffs and landings, no. Would you—"
Max picked up the Uzi and carefully hung the ammo bag over his shoulder. "Lee?"
"Those assholes coming down the middle, I don't know—"
"What's happening with Mani?" Max knew Mani was probing the men approaching her, provoking them with her sexuality while searching for the way into their minds.
"She's cool, just looking the guys over like she wants to give them all a blow job. But Max, check out these locals. I mean, there's a couple of them that's dressed like cops down there, and a Con Ed repairman with a goofy hard hat still on, and a few street kids, and some geeks in suits, Max, I mean, Long Island commuter types. And women. One of them's pregnant. What the fuck is that?"
The Beast was cold in Max's belly, cautious in his head.
His heart raced, not with fear but with excitement. Twice in one night, he was being threatened with the unknown. The challenge was invigorating.
Lee spoke up. "This one guy, I swear, looks like our missing runner."
"I thought you said you found his eyes and heart in his car."
"Yeah, well, it's hard to see with the light at his back, but it doesn't look like he has eyes. None of these guys coming down the middle of the street do, as far as I can tell. And I'm thinking that blotch is the hole somebody dug in his chest to get his heart out."
"You didn't take anything to wire yourself up for the fight, did you, Lee?"
"South America was a long time ago, Max, and I ain't a kid anymore. I'm telling you this shit is crazy."
"Now who's having a psychotic moment," Max grumbled.
"Pop up for a peek. They're past your position."
Max pushed the manhole up with his shoulder until he could see a sliver of the street. He took in the men creeping along the side walls, and the backs of the group heading down the street directly at Mani. The flankers maintained their spacing and were focused on the car and building windows. Two men from each file aimed their weapons at higher ground, but the others' guns also pointing high betrayed their outdated training: They were not ready for street-level attack. The men avoided looking at Mani whenever her attention turned to them. The points were almost on the auto gun placements.
The group advancing along the middle ground was packed too tightly. Stumbling, staggering, bumping into one another as if drunk, distracted, or oblivious to each other's company, they bore down on Mani as one unit. Without weapons, they did not pose even an accidental threat. Max considered the possibility they had been drugged by Rithisak and were being used to draw fire.
Except the car's high beams illuminated the holes and slashes at the back of their clothes.
Blood tainted the air. The Beast rose to the memory of atrocities committed on the dead, hungered at the fresh possibilities.
A point flanker stared at the loading dock gun.
Mani whirled around, looked at the fire escape, and shouted, "I can't do anything with them." Fear cracked her voice, and Max caught a glimpse of how she must have looked after the beisac passed through her village.
Lee shot the flanker fumbling with his weapon to shoot out the auto gun's control mechanism. The flanking files froze. A voice shouted in Khmer from the car. Lee shot the other point man as, following Mani's gaze, he pointed at the fire escape. Rithisak's men fired at the roofline and fire escape, sending down a spray of brick fragments and cement dust and drainpipe fragments. Lee cursed in
"Relax, Max. They're walking right into the killing box."
"Anything on the river?"
After a pause, Lee answered, "Are you kidding? What do you think this is, a James Bond flick? You expecting fucking hovercrafts or something?"
"Nothing in the air?"
"Outside of La Guardia takeoffs and landings, no. Would you—"
Max picked up the Uzi and carefully hung the ammo bag over his shoulder. "Lee?"
"Those assholes coming down the middle, I don't know—"
"What's happening with Mani?" Max knew Mani was probing the men approaching her, provoking them with her sexuality while searching for the way into their minds.
"She's cool, just looking the guys over like she wants to give them all a blow job. But Max, check out these locals. I mean, there's a couple of them that's dressed like cops down there, and a Con Ed repairman with a goofy hard hat still on, and a few street kids, and some geeks in suits, Max, I mean, Long Island commuter types. And women. One of them's pregnant. What the fuck is that?"
The Beast was cold in Max's belly, cautious in his head.
His heart raced, not with fear but with excitement. Twice in one night, he was being threatened with the unknown. The challenge was invigorating.
Lee spoke up. "This one guy, I swear, looks like our missing runner."
"I thought you said you found his eyes and heart in his car."
"Yeah, well, it's hard to see with the light at his back, but it doesn't look like he has eyes. None of these guys coming down the middle of the street do, as far as I can tell. And I'm thinking that blotch is the hole somebody dug in his chest to get his heart out."
"You didn't take anything to wire yourself up for the fight, did you, Lee?"
"South America was a long time ago, Max, and I ain't a kid anymore. I'm telling you this shit is crazy."
"Now who's having a psychotic moment," Max grumbled.
"Pop up for a peek. They're past your position."
Max pushed the manhole up with his shoulder until he could see a sliver of the street. He took in the men creeping along the side walls, and the backs of the group heading down the street directly at Mani. The flankers maintained their spacing and were focused on the car and building windows. Two men from each file aimed their weapons at higher ground, but the others' guns also pointing high betrayed their outdated training: They were not ready for street-level attack. The men avoided looking at Mani whenever her attention turned to them. The points were almost on the auto gun placements.
The group advancing along the middle ground was packed too tightly. Stumbling, staggering, bumping into one another as if drunk, distracted, or oblivious to each other's company, they bore down on Mani as one unit. Without weapons, they did not pose even an accidental threat. Max considered the possibility they had been drugged by Rithisak and were being used to draw fire.
Except the car's high beams illuminated the holes and slashes at the back of their clothes.
Blood tainted the air. The Beast rose to the memory of atrocities committed on the dead, hungered at the fresh possibilities.
A point flanker stared at the loading dock gun.
Mani whirled around, looked at the fire escape, and shouted, "I can't do anything with them." Fear cracked her voice, and Max caught a glimpse of how she must have looked after the beisac passed through her village.
Lee shot the flanker fumbling with his weapon to shoot out the auto gun's control mechanism. The flanking files froze. A voice shouted in Khmer from the car. Lee shot the other point man as, following Mani's gaze, he pointed at the fire escape. Rithisak's men fired at the roofline and fire escape, sending down a spray of brick fragments and cement dust and drainpipe fragments. Lee cursed in
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