The Styx by Jonathon King

Author:Jonathon King [King, Jonathon]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction, Thrillers, ebook
ISBN: 9781453299746
Publisher: Open Road Media
Published: 2009-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 13

HE did not want to move from his bed the next morning, but the pounding on the door demanded it. Faustus had refused to elaborate on his comment that he might know where Danny was and would only say that he would make his inquiries and update him when he could. But Faustus was not the kind of man who came bashing at your door.

Byrne rolled to one shoulder, first feeling the sting of crisp skin on his neck fairly scrapping across the pillowcase and second the ache of muscle in his back. He made it up onto one haunch, his ass the only place he didn’t feel pain.

The fist on the door continued.

“Rise and shine, lad. I know yer in there,” Harris’s voice boomed from the hallway. “Shake the hangover out of yer head, you’ve work to do.”

Byrne got to his feet. The heat in the room went straight to his face. He ran his tongue over his lips and discovered the cracked layer of blister that had formed there.

“Coming,” he said with a rasp, and even the inside of his throat felt sunburned. He crossed the room with his cotton boxers on and opened the door. Harris was at first taken aback at the sight and then let an infrequent smile show up on his big pie-shaped face.

“Well, well, Michael. It wasn’t the devil of drink at all that struck you, lad. ’Twas your introduction to the great Florida sun, eh?”

“I went fishing,” Byrne said, moving back to let Harris enter.

“Indeed you did, lad. And caught more than you bargained for, eh?”

Byrne thought of the tarpon in flight, the twisting, beautiful look of the thing.

“Yes,” he said. “Much more.”

“Well, you’re not the first nor the last white-skinned New Yorker turned crispy red and you won’t be the last. But that won’t excuse you from your duties.

“Here’s another dole of spending money.” Harris peeled off bills from a wad that had materialized in his big fist. “You’ll have to go over to Buholtz’s on Banyan and buy yourself a proper suit. We’ve been asked to be present at Mrs. Flagler’s society ball this evening and we’ll both have to be in costume, like nobody’s going to recognize a couple of Irish mugs like us bumpin’ round in a mix of them.

“Still, we’ll make an attempt to watch over the old man. Be at the grand ball room at six. I’ll be honest with you, it’s a first for me. We’ve never gone off and away from the train before so I’m not sure what they might be expecting. But someone’s nervous these days.”

Byrne thought of the rumors that someone had been killed on the island during a fire in the servant’s quarters. Should he share this intelligence with Harris? He wasn’t sure he should but couldn’t say why. Did he not trust his own sergeant? That wouldn’t be a first considering the lessons learned doing his corruption work as a New York police officer. He’d be surprised of

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