Kill Me If You Can Read Online Free PDF Page B

supposed to mean?” Chukov said.
    “It means look to your left.”
    Chukov turned his head. There was a red dot on the wall. It moved up to the ceiling, made a few S turns, danced back to the wall, and then landed on his chest.
    He had to clench his sphincter for fear of shitting right there.
    “You’re here?” Chukov said. “How did you find me here? How did you get in?”
    “It’s what I get paid to do, remember? So pay me.”
    “Be reasonable,” Chukov said. “Give me time to recover the missing diamonds.”
    “Not…my…problem,” the Ghost said.
    The red dot moved slowly down Chukov’s body to the roll of a lifetime of overindulgence around his belly and finally came to rest on the inhaler that sat on his lap.
    Chukov was sweating profusely, not all of it from the steam. “Please,” he said.
    “Lift up your skirt,” the Ghost said.
    “What?”
    “The towel. Lift it up.”
    Chukov had faced death before. He beat it every time, but not by cringing in fear.
    He ripped the towel off and stood up. Naked. Proud. Defiant.
    “Fuck you,” he bellowed. “Vadim Chukov bows to no man.”
    The words echoed off the tile walls.

Chapter 13
    “Where’d you do the seven?” the Ghost said.
    “What?”
    “I’m not interested in looking at your dick. I can read the tats. According to that star on your knee, you did seven years in prison. I asked you where.”
    “Butyrka.” Chukov spat out the word. “Hellhole. I’d rather have gone to Siberia.”
    “Put the towel back on and sit your fat ass down.”
    Chukov wrapped the towel around his waist and sat. “If you can read tattoos, you know that the seven-pointed star on my knee means more than prison time.”
    “I know. You’re a made man in the Russian Mafia.”
    “I bow to no man.”
    “I heard you the first time,” the Ghost said. “Were you a pakhan in the old country?”
    Chukov inhaled deeply and filled his lungs with hot steam. “Nathaniel Prince was a pakhan . I’m a humble brigadier.”
    “Brigadier, maybe,” the Ghost said. “But not so humble. Not if you choose to violate the Vorovskoy Zakon. ”
    Chukov exploded. “Bullshit. I have never violated the Thieves’ Code. I’ve been bound by it my entire life. Even in prison.”
    “And I say you’ve desecrated rule number eighteen: Make good on promises given to other thieves. ”
    “That means nothing if you steal from me,” Chukov said.
    “I killed a man for you, but I didn’t steal,” the Ghost said.
    “How do I know you’re not lying?”
    “You have two choices, Brigadier Chukov,” the Ghost said. “You either take my word for it and live by the code, or you don’t believe me and die in five seconds.”
    The red dot made little circles on Chukov’s chest.
    “Pyat,” the Ghost said, counting backward in Russian, “chetirye … tri … dva … odeen.”
    “I’ll pay, I’ll pay,” Chukov said.
    “Kogda?”
    “You speak Russian?” Chukov said.
    “Just the basic stuff you need in my line of work,” the Ghost said. “Like please, thank you, and when can I expect my money? ”
    “I’ll transfer it immediately.”
    The red dot disappeared from Chukov’s chest.
    “Spasibo,” the Ghost said. “It’s been a pleasure doing business with you.”
    “We’re not done,” Chukov said. “I have another job for you.”
    “I’m listening.”
    “I accept that you didn’t take the diamonds,” Chukov said. “I want you to find out who did.”
    “Then kill the mudak and return the diamonds to you,” the Ghost said. “Da?”
    “Da,” Chukov said, followed by a wet, croupy laugh.
    “I want double what you paid me for Zelvas.”
    Chukov choked on his own laugh. “Double? Are you crazy?”
    “It costs more when I have to figure out who the target is,” the Ghost said. “Plus, I figure getting back all those diamonds ought to be worth something to you.”
    “Maybe ten percent more,” Chukov said.
    “Double,” the Ghost said. “Take it or…”
    The red dot