An Ordinary Decent Criminal Read Online Free PDF Page B

he squeaked but I didn’t let go.
    “. . . ew . . .”
    The coal of the cigarette gave me something to aim for as his free hand groped towards my face. The nurse had left a thin cotton sheet over me and I kicked it loose and brought my shin up hard to mash the cigarette into his face. While I was doing that, I twisted his broken fingers and ground the torn-open nerves against each other. His hand closed on my face weakly and I brought my left leg past my right one and kicked his face again, this time connecting with my toes.
    My left big toe broke on his forehead so I kicked him twice more with my right foot and twisted his hand down until I felt his fingers break some more.
    “. . . ew . . .”
    He was leaning down towards me to get away from the kicks but moving really slowly. His breath was stale and full of cigarette smoke and sandwich meat. I locked my legs around his throat and chest and twisted his body down onto the bed.
    “. . . ew . . . ew . . . ew . . .”
    His left hand stopped grabbing my face and flopped over to the other side of me, where I grabbed it with my left, also handcuffed, hand. Merrily I started to break those fingers too.
    Stiles spasmed with the pain and tried to raise his head and I tightened my legs and turned out his lights. An LA cop could do it in twenty seconds with a billy club but it took me twice that long. Even after he stopped struggling, I held my legs in place around his neck, but I did relax them a little finally and waited.
    After a while he shuddered and took a deep breath and I could feel his muscles tense.
    “Ted. Listen to me. I can choke you out. I can break your neck. I can crush your fingers. Can you understand me?”
    It took a few moments.
    “. . . ew . . . I understand.”
    “Good. You packing?”
    “. . . a knife.”
    “Where is it?” He took another breath. “Right-hand front pocket.”
    “ ’Kay. I’m gonna tell you what happens next. In a bit the nurse will come in and I’ll turn you over to the cops. I won’t press charges but the cops will. Feeding a mickey to a cop is assault. You cool with that?”
    “Do I got a choice?”
    I took a deep breath. “Yeah. If you don’t wanna do the time, I can break your neck.”
    He thought about it before answering. “Cops.”
    “Now tell me about Robillard.”
    He thought about it. “Or?”
    “I break your fingers some more.”
    “Yeah, you would. Okay, Robillard runs ten or twenty guys. Grows and sells hydro-weed, fences some, smuggles crank from out west, guns from the south, heroin from the east. He’s connected to the Angels in Quebec, Christian Identity freaks in Idaho, some Native gangs.”
    “So he sent you to take me out.”
    It wasn’t a question.
    “Yeah.”
    “What did he pay?”
    “Nothing. A favour for a favour.”
    “Even though I’m probably going down on murder?”
    Stiles groaned. “You are? Shit, I didn’t know . . .”
    Amateur night. I thought about breaking his neck anyway but the urge passed.
    “So far, Ted, I’m regretting keeping you above the ground. Make yourself useful. Tell me more.”
    “I’m thinking, I’m thinking. He’s a big guy, like three hundred and fifty pounds and maybe five foot ten. Brown and gray hair worn long. His wife is smarter than him, she used to be a whore, a tough chick named Sandra. Had some of that when she was working and a sweet little snatch she’s got.”
    My toe was throbbing. I must have really broken it well and thoroughly. “Why’s he so pissed?”
    “Like I said; you killed his cousin. It’s some kind of personal insult . . .”
    His voice had been getting weaker and it finally trailed off and shock took him away. I lay in the dark with my legs wrapped around the idiot’s neck. Finally the nurse came in and the shit hit the fan.

6

    The nurse came in at a grotesquely early hour, saw the drugged cop (who had vomited into her lap during the night), the unconscious felon lying across the bed, and me. Then