Four Summoners Tales Part 77

"Oh G.o.d! That's her!" he cried.

"That's who?" asked Bunny.

Finn made a grab for my holstered pistol, and he was so d.a.m.n fast that he had it in his hand before I could stop him. Made a dive for it, but Finn clubbed me in the face with his free hand.

Bang!

Bunny shoved the kid behind a rock and dove for cover in the opposite direction. The bullet whanged off the rock, missing the boy by an inch. Even in his panic, Finn was a h.e.l.l of a shot.

Finn managed two more shots before Top kicked the gun out of his hand. Finn was still yelling and he dove for the weapon. I shook off the punch to the head and tackled him. We rolled over in the sand, him bellowing about some woman while trying every dirty trick he ever learned to shake me off. He headb.u.t.ted me, drove his elbow into my ribs, hoof-kicked me in the nuts, and was about to bang my head against a rock when Top stepped in front of him, grabbed a fistful of Finn's hair, and hit him with three short punches that were so fast the impact sounded like one.

Finn dropped flat on his face and I rolled off, coughing, wheezing, and feeling like s.h.i.+t. Top caught me under the arm and hauled me up, but I could only manage a hunchbacked bend. My b.a.l.l.s felt like they'd been mashed flat and then set on fire. Finn was one of the toughest guys I'd ever known and I did not appreciate the reminder.

"Get that f.u.c.king kid over here!" I snarled. "I want some f.u.c.king answers right f.u.c.king now!"

Bunny stood by the rock and he had a look of total perplexity on his face.

"What?" I demanded.

I already knew.

The kid was gone.

He couldn't have been.

But he was. f.u.c.k.

11.

rAttlesnAke teAm

Two days ago . . . Finn O'Leary entered the tiny cafe and sat down across a table from a wizened little man with a smile like a bamboo viper and eyes the color of cow s.h.i.+t. He was the kind of man you'd distrust on first meeting and probably never feel the need to alter your opinion. The kind of man who knew that this was how people perceived him, and instead of trying to ameliorate that gut reaction, he cultivated certain qualities within him to more strongly engender those feelings. It worked very well for him.

"Sergeant O'Leary."

"You're Aziz?"

The reptilian smile widened a fraction.

"People in town . . . they said that I should come talk to you," said Finn. "Why?"

"They said you were pretty well connected, that you had resources. And

contacts."

"So does the Red Cross," said Aziz."What of it?"

A greasy waiter came and Finn ordered coffee, wis.h.i.+ng he could get something stronger. But booze was hard to come by in Muslim towns. Even in s.h.i.+tholes like this where probably n.o.body within a day's ride had been to a mosque in years. Guys like Aziz, who was probably Muslim for convenience's sake and no other reason.

When the coffee came, Finn sniffed it, winced, drank some, and nearly spat it against the wall. But he forced it down.

"Let's cut the tap dance," Finn said."I'm not in the mood for three hours of cryptic bulls.h.i.+t and I don't banter. I was told to see you. If that's the case, then someone told you I was coming here to find you. So, can we get right down to it?"

Aziz's smile flickered and dimmed by half."You take the fun out of things," he said, then waved that away."Sure. Let us talk plainly."

"Good. Do you know why I'm here?"

After a long pause, Aziz said,"Yes. Do you?"

"No."

Aziz folded his hands and waited.

"Why I'm here doesn't make sense," Finn said."But I'm here anyway."

"Yes."