Holy Terror Read Online Free PDF Page B

missing were too high, and Ray still had his automatic an inch away from Salvatore’s ear. Apart from that, Conor would never be able to reach the .22 in the drawer beneath the TV monitor screens before Gabriel cut him to bits with his Uzi. Six hundred rounds a minute.
    The door opened and Darrell came bustling in, looking annoyed.
    â€˜What the hell’s going on here, Conor? Where’s Mrs Hammerlich?’
    Gabriel stood up and lifted his Uzi so that Darrell could see it clearly. ‘Mrs Hammerlich couldn’t make it so we came in her place. My friend and me would like to take a look inside your strongroom, if you don’t mind. Just to make sure that Mrs Hammerlich’s property is locked up good and tight, where no unscrupulous thieves can get at it.’
    â€˜Conor, what’s going on here?’ said Darrell, in disbelief. ‘Is this a
robbery
?’
    Conor nodded. ‘I’m sorry, Darrell. I guess it has all the makings.’
    â€˜Well, what – well, what—’
    â€˜I can’t do anything,’ said Conor. ‘Neither can you. We’ll just have to co-operate, that’s all.’
    â€˜But what – the strongroom! The stuff we’ve got in there! Uncle Newt’s going to—! Bearer bonds! Uncut diamonds!’
    â€˜Darrell… one human life is worth any amount of bearer bonds or uncut diamonds. And why don’t you give these guys a shopping list, while you’re at it?’
    â€˜But for Christ’s sake, Conor, what’s it going to do to the business? Who’s going to leave any of their property here if we allow these, these, these—’
    â€˜Don’t say it,’ said the Angel Gabriel. ‘You might annoy me and I might have to blow your head off, too. Now move that oversized butt and let’s have that strongroom opened up.’
    â€˜Conor?’ Darrell appealed. But Conor grimly shook his head. It took perfect timing to deal with a hostage situation, and this wasn’t the time. He turned to the Angel Gabriel and said, ‘I have to get the strongroom keys out of the wall-safe.’
    â€˜Go ahead. But let me see where your hands are; and take it real, real easy.’
    The Angel Gabriel backed away from Conor’s desk. He crossed the office and without hesitation he took down the Norman Rockwell print and propped it against the wall. Conor approached the safe and punched out his four-digit number immediately but Darrell stayed where he was, his arms folded, his lower lip sticking out, looking belligerent.
    â€˜Come on, lardass,’ said the Angel Gabriel. ‘You only have sixty seconds and then the safe locks itself for good.’
    â€˜And then what will you do? Kill me?’
    â€˜You’ve got it in one. Now come over here and finish up the goddamn code.’
    Darrell stayed defiant. But Conor said, ‘Darrell … believe me, I have experience of situations like this. If we don’t open this safe, they’re going to shoot us.’
    â€˜That’s right, Darrell,’ the Angel Gabriel added. He pulled back the Uzi’s cocking-handle and pointed the muzzle directly at Darrell’s face. ‘Just think about it. That stuff in the strongroom, it’s only stuff, and it’s not
even your
stuff. Do you really want to
die
for it?’
    Darrell looked at Conor, and Conor gave him an encouraging nod. With only nine seconds to spare he stepped up to the safe and punched out the remaining numbers. Then he stepped back again and said, ‘Uncle Newt’s going to have me gelded for this. I mean
gelded
.’
    Conor opened the safe. He took one key and passed the other to Darrell. He didn’t say anythingbut he gave Darrell a long, serious look which warned him not to treat these men lightly. He didn’t think they were sudden, psychopathic killers; but you never knew what could happen under extreme tension.
    â€˜Come on, move,’ the Angel Gabriel