Levon's Trade (Levon Cade Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

spend his force against except empty air Johnny stumbled. A hand crushed the wrist at his back. His hand never reached the gun. He swung his free hand around to strike but his fist swept through nothing. An arm snaked around his neck with a rustle of cloth and drew tight.
    That’s the last thing he could remember.

 
    Gunny Leffertz said:
    “They tell you everyone has a breaking point. Bullshit. There are some men who will die before they break. Those men have something inside. Call it Jesus, bullheaded or what have you. But most men have nothing to cling to. You show that man the empty place in his soul and you’ve broken him. Fill that empty space with
your
will and you own him.”

10
----
    He could hear surf close by. It was cold but he was out of the wind. The floor was steady. He wasn’t on a boat.
    And, oh yeah, he was buck naked.
    Johnny’s eyes were covered and he was restrained in a sitting position by what felt like tape. He was seated low on something smooth and cold. His legs were numb. It hurt to flex them. He scraped his toes on the floor, sand on tile. He pressed his foot to the floor and pushed. His seat rocked slightly. He felt ice cold water touch his balls.
    The son of a bitch had him taped down on a toilet.
    “Anyone hear me?” he called out. His voice echoed back to him from a large empty space. It wasn’t a bathroom in a home. It was bigger. A public restroom.
    “Hey! Anyone hear me? Is anyone there? I need help!” he called louder.
    “I’m the only one here.”
    The guy. The guy from Skip’s. Work boots.
    The voice startled Johnny. The bowl under him rocked sending a splash of chilled water up over his scrotum. The asshole had been there the whole time watching Johnny sitting stripped naked on the crapper.
    “What the fuck, man?” Johnny barked.
    “Like I said. I have questions.”
    “I told you I talked to the cops. I signed a statement. The county sent sheriffs and I talked to them. They sent staties and I talked to them.”
    “You lied to them, John.”
    “You know my name. Big fucking deal.”
    “You lied to them, John.”
    “What do you want from me? I’m just a working guy making an honest living.”
    “You’re not honest.”
    The fuck?
    “You steal from the owners of that bar.”
    Johnny said nothing. Was this what it was all about? About his skimming?
    “You take home a hundred a night out of the till. Maybe more.”
    “How do you know, asshole? You see me take from the till? You know you didn’t.”
    “No. You’re smarter than that. You keep a new matchbook handy but you don’t smoke. You tear out a match for every five bucks you don’t enter on the register. End of the night you have your own count. That goes into your pocket. You went through a whole book tonight.”
    Johnny broke a sweat. His face was slick with it. It chilled his scalp as the cold air touched it.
    “I don’t care about that, John. I’m here and you’re here about the girl.”
    “I can tell you what I told the cops,” Johnny said after clearing his throat. He fought back the shivers that wracked him.
    “You told them lies. I want the truth. You can tell me the truth.”
    “Fuck you.”
    “You can tell me the truth, John. You want to tell me the truth.”
    “Why do I want to do that, asshole?”
    “Because whoever told you what lies to tell isn’t here. I’m here. You deal with me now. I’m the guy who owns your future.”
    “You gonna kill me? Is that your big plan, chief?” Johnny tried to gin up some defiance. He was a tough guy. Everybody knew he was a tough guy. Because of that rep nobody fucked with him. This guy was fucking with him. This guy was all about fucking with people. Johnny’s rep was built on the minor league ice. This guy was a major league goon.
    “You know why you’re strapped to a toilet, John?”
    Johnny held his breath.
    “Because I don’t like cleaning up after.”
    Johnny’s vision swam even though he was blinded by the tape over his eyes. A