Parker 05 - The Darkness Read Online Free PDF

convention, and nobody's
    The Darkness
    33
    heard from you. Just, you know, want to see how you're
    holding up."
    "Just fine," Jack said with a wry smile. "If I start to
    slag, be sure to tell me."
    I just nodded, then saw Curt Sheffield walking toward
    us. There was a strange look on his face, his lip turned
    upward as if processing information. He came over to
    where we were standing and said, "Guy was inside a bag
    that was tied to a buoy."
    "A buoy?" Jack said, eyebrows raised.
    "Yeah, the body was in a big burlap sack, but get this.
    Whoever dropped it into the drink attached it to a freaking
    buoy. Not only that, but they tied a freaking balloon to
    the buoy so it could be spotted. A garbage scow noticed
    the balloon and rope this morning and called it in."
    "They're sending a message," Jack said. "Using us as
    the messenger."
    "Us?" I said.
    "This will make the first ten pages in every newspaper. The message isn't for cops. It's for other dealers.
    They read about what's happening to their friends, they
    keep their noses clean. So to speak."
    "You could be right," Curt said.
    Jack tapped the pen against his lip. "You said the bag
    was found by a garbage scow a few blocks from the
    Ninety-first Street transfer station. Do you know if that
    was where the body was dumped from?"
    "That isn't public knowledge yet, and I think I'll get a
    reprimand if I tell you guys anything else. Listen, I gotta
    run, but we'll release more info as it comes. Meantime,
    you two are smart enough to put two and two together."
    "Actually, I'm waiting for Jack to teach me that."
    "Yeah, take it easy, Henry. Mr. O'Donnell."
    34
    Jason Pinter
    "Officer," Jack said. When Curt was out of earshot, Jack
    said to me, "Hundred bucks says the body was dumped
    from the transfer station."
    "Why?"
    "This whole thing...the body pulverized, the bag
    attached to a buoy, I mean, who does that? Once this
    story breaks, every lowlife in the city will know that Ken
    Tsang was mutilated in an ungodly way."
    "Not to mention the garbage connotation. That he's
    nothing but filth."
    "That, too."
    "But if this message is going to dealers, who's sending it?"
    "The same people who killed Hector Guardado. And
    most likely your brother, too," Jack said. "My guess is
    Hector might have some more info for us."
    "Hey, Jack, you might have missed the memo, but
    Guardado's dead. Kind of hard for him to be a source
    of new info."
    "The man's got friends. Colleagues. Let's wait until
    the news breaks, and then tomorrow morning we see
    which of Hector's old friends are scared enough to talk."
    4
    They could hear whispering from behind the door before
    they'd even knocked. The three of them walked down the
    hallway, the floor covered in cigarette butts and crack vials.
    The two men walked in front, the woman trailing them
    behind. She wore a jacket over a tank top, her arms loose
    by her side. The man on the left was blond, trim, and
    grinned like he'd been looking forward to this. The other
    wore a long coat and a scowl, and was in no mood to smile.
    The men behind the door had been waiting for their
    arrival. The whispering was excited, impatient. So when
    the two lead men finally did knock on the door, it opened
    barely a moment later.
    The bodyguard who opened it was massive. Six foot
    six at least, and well over three hundred pounds. There
    was perhaps muscle under the flab, but he was no doubt
    employed as much for his ability to absorb bullets as for
    his ability to fight. The man looked like he could stop a
    tank shell in that gut.
    "You Mr. Malloy?" the behemoth asked. The woman
    looked at the younger of her two accomplices, the blond
    man in his early forties. The blond man nodded.
    "At your service."
    36
    Jason Pinter
    The bodyguard stared at his sunglasses. Or more
    specifically, what held them up. "Man, what happened
    to your ear?"
    The blond man ignored the question. "We're here to
    see Mr. Culvert."
    The bodyguard looked at the woman standing behind
    Malloy. She had