The Midnight Men and Other Stories Read Online Free PDF Page A

with those other two is your business now. It’s nothing to do with me.”
    Nathan shook his head. He felt the power in their relationship beginning to swing slowly back to him now. “You’re not getting a penny of my money until I’m satisfied, Kane. I’d let you go now if you hadn’t lied to me earlier about the meat being poisoned.”
    Kane threw his arms in the air. “It wasn’t a lie, it was just . . . withholding information. And for good reason.”
    “That’s as may be, young man, but the fact remains that each time I use this merchandise of yours, I risk my life. So, I want you to remain here until I have completed what I want to do. Until then, you get nothing.”
    Kane looked at him through narrowed eyes.
    Feeling the old confidence flooding through him, Nathan turned away from Kane and began to pour another drink. When he heard the young man slide back onto the parquet he felt a shiver run up his insides, the curious thrill he always felt whenever he succeeded in controlling another.
    He turned and faced the living room. “You’ll be pleased to know that I only intend to use one more piece tonight, Kane. And now is as good a time as any.”
    “I thought you ‘ad someone specific in mind,” Kane said.
    Nathan smiled. “Yes. Someone I would dearly like to see . . . out of my way.”
    Kane scratched his head. “You know, if it’s someone big, I mean someone in your sphere of work, it’s really not wise to have me here as a witness.”
    “A witness?” Nathan repeated in a jocular tone. “My dear boy, who would believe someone like you?”
    Kane glared at him.
    “And I’ve already told you,” Nathan went on, “I want someone here in case it goes wrong.”
    “Can’t you wait until your wife gets home?”
    “No!” The word came out too fast, too angry. He took a deep breath. “I love my wife, Kane, and I would not subject her to such foul things. She’s an innocent. The only good thing in my life, and I want to keep it that way.”
    Kane looked at his watch then. “Well, you better get on with it, Mr P, ‘cause it’s nine-thirty. Didn’t you say she’d be back by ten?”
    Nathan bristled at the boy’s words. You better get on with it . It was a long time since any young upstart had spoken to him like that. But he put aside his pride for the moment. He was as eager to get on with it as Kane.
    He looked down at the two lumps of flesh. The piece on the right was slightly smaller than the one on the left. Although his mind suggested choosing the smaller piece for the sake of expedience, another voice pointed him towards the larger of the two. For the size—the importance—of the murder he was about to commit, it would need the biggest piece available.
    He picked it up, studied it. Although he knew it was poisoned, and that there was a slight risk to his own life, he felt no fear. Seeing it work so comprehensively had removed his doubts. And, he noticed, his gorge did not rise this time. It was actually getting easier.
    He raised the lump of gristly flesh to Kane and smiled.
    “Down the hatch,” he said, and dropped it into his open mouth. This time, being more relaxed, he tasted the flesh on his tongue, and the bitterness of it made him balk. He filled his mouth with the brandy, fixed his eyes on Kane and began to chew.
    As he sat there, staring at the young man’s gaunt features, a malicious thought entered his head. Such a simple idea. The third piece. He had no use for it. There was no one else in the world--apart from the name he was about to call out--who he wanted removed from this earth. Except, maybe the young man sitting in front of him.
    Yes, that would be very neat, indeed.
    With an inward chuckle of triumph, he swallowed the second piece.
    “Francis Gallagher,” he said.
    Nathan washed away the bitter aftertaste with another mouthful of Cognac. Any ill effects he was going to feel seemed to have passed, and he actually felt somehow rejuvenated, really alive.
    Kane looked