Impervious by Laurie Buchanan

Author:Laurie Buchanan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: SparkPress

Mick squats on the deck of the airboat in front of Smith. “I want answers. And I want them now. Why did you hold a shotgun on us?”

“I wouldn’t have done it myself,” he snarls, “but I’m under orders.”

“Whose orders?”

“One of Gambino’s lieutenants. I don’t know her name.”

“Her? A woman?”

“Yes. I was supposed to take you deep into the bayou and force you to jump into the water. You’d have been the first ones I’d ever fed to the gators alive. They usually bring me dead bodies.”

Repulsed, Mick asks, “When was the last time you fed someone to the alligators?”

“I have no idea, you son of a bitch. It’s not like I keep details in a planner.”

Mick points to the alligators. “We didn’t save your sorry ass just to hit a brick wall.”

Mick grabs the back of the man’s shirt with one hand and his belt with the other and begins to stand. “I’m not at all above tossing you back in.”

“Wait a minute. Wait a minute!” Smith shouts. “It was about a month ago.” He pauses. “Yeah, on June first. I remember the day ’cause I got a DUI that night. I was drinking to forget. I’ve had to get a ride to work ever since.”

“What was different about that day? What did you need to forget?”

“It was the first time that Shelly ever brought me a woman’s body to dump.”

“Who’s Shelly?”

“Shelly Baker. She works for Gambino.”

“Is she the lieutenant you mentioned a minute ago?”

“No, she’s an underling to that lieutenant. The interesting thing about Shelly is that she looks exactly like the woman she had me dump. I mean identical.”

“Who was the woman you dumped?” Mick asks.

“I don’t know. Some bigwig attorney.”

“Does the name Pam Williams mean anything to you?”

Smith’s eyebrows lift in surprise. “Yeah. Now that you say it. That was her name. Gambino had us torch her office a few months before Shelly killed her, but it seems she didn’t get the message. Shelly said she waited for the woman on the floor in the back seat of her car in the garage. Williams was going to the airport to fly to some writing thing. Shelly used a garrote. She always says, ‘No muss, no fuss.’ Because they were identical, she took her place. I guess Gambino has a long-term job for her on the West Coast because I haven’t seen Shelly since.”

Wailing sirens split the air. In moments, two white squad cars with blue detailing, including a star—its five points supporting an elongated half-moon arched over it—screech to a halt. Four car doors fly open, and four officers step out, guns drawn.

“Set your weapon on the pier, ma’am, and step away,” one of them says.

Emma looks at Mick, who nods.

“Now you two,” the lead officer says, “get out of the boat and don’t make any fast moves.”

“I can’t move fast,” Smith complains. “I’ve been shot twice and mauled by an alligator.”

“Then stay put.”

He nods at two of the officers. “Go guard that guy, will ya? And you two,” he says, pointing his gun at Mick and Emma, “step this way.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.