Longarm and the Bloody Relic by Tabor Evans

Author:Tabor Evans
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2011-03-24T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

From where he lay on the floor against the wall, Longarm listened to the men climb out of the hold and pull the ladder up after them. He wasn’t unconscious at all, although his jaw ached like a son of a bitch where Andre had walloped him.

He had been moving his head away slightly when the punch hit him, so it hadn’t landed with quite as much force as the big sailor had thought it did. The impact was still powerful enough to make Longarm see shooting stars for a second, but he hadn’t blacked out. It had looked like it, though, from the way he made all his muscles go limp and collapsed.

That was exactly what he wanted his three captors to think.

He slitted his eyes just enough to see darkness close in again as the hatch cover was lowered. He listened intently but didn’t hear anybody dog it into place. Why would they bother? As far as they knew, he was out cold and didn’t have any way to reach the hatch anyway with the ladder gone.

While Andre was beating him and Rostand was questioning him, Longarm had been looking around. He had spotted one of the supply crates that looked like it had been opened for some reason, then had the lid hammered back down on it but not as carefully as before. He had marked the location in his mind as best he could. Now it was a matter of seeing if he could find it in the dark.

He didn’t have any time to waste. They probably wouldn’t leave him alone down here for more than an hour, if that long, before they came back to see if he had regained consciousness. He gave them a minute or so to get away from the immediate vicinity of the hatch, then struggled up onto his feet.

Carefully, trying to make as little noise as possible, he shuffled across the hold in what he hoped was the right direction. He ignored the pain that wracked him. If he didn’t find the crate he wanted on the first try, he didn’t know if he would ever be able to find it. The thick darkness was utterly disorienting.

His left leg bumped against something. He stopped, moved that leg back and forth as he tried to trace the dimensions of the object. It was a crate, he decided. Now he had to find out if it was the right one.

He turned and lowered himself, reaching out blindly with his hands. His fingertips brushed rough wood. He leaned back and explored the top of the crate. Was there a gap anywhere along the lid?

Yes! Longarm’s breath hissed between his teeth. The opening was a tiny one, not even big enough for him to get his fingers completely in it, but he was able to get a grip on the lid and lift up on it.

The side of the crate he had hold of came up off the floor. This wasn’t going to work, he thought bitterly.

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