Stand Down by Don Pendleton

Author:Don Pendleton
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Worldwide Library
Published: 2011-11-08T05:00:00+00:00

10

Everado De Cavallos awoke to pitch-blackness. In his disoriented state, for the first few moments he couldn’t tell if he was conscious or still dreaming. Blinking his eyes, he felt one lid move slowly, sticky with what he hoped was only sweat and not blood.

His entire body felt like it had been thrown into a brick wall—everything hurt from his head to his toes. His right arm throbbed particularly hard, but when he tried to move it to check how badly it was damaged, it resisted his attempt. Pulling harder only sent sharp pains through his wrists, which were pinioned to his sides.

Breathing hard, Everado pulled again, trying to move his legs at the same time, but finding them secured too. He realized he was tied to a straight-backed kitchen chair. Straining his eyes to the limit only revealed more impenetrable blackness.

Suddenly he heard a soft, high-pitched whine, as if some kind of electronic device had just powered up. “Hey? Is anyone there? Can you help me?”

A firm hand fell on his shoulder, making Everado jump and cry out. “I could help you, Everado, but I don’t think you’d like it.”

“Cooper? Is that you? Hey, man, if you’re really Justice, you can’t do this to me. I know my rights. You gotta Mirandize me, and give me a lawyer and at least a fucking phone call.”

“Hmm, you’re right. Where are my manners?” A bright light flashed in Everado’s eyes, making him turn away from the glare. He felt something fall into his lap, and blinking, glanced down to see his own cell phone turned on with a speed-dial number appearing on the screen: Dad.

“I’ll bet you want to push that call button really bad right now, don’t you?” Bolan said. Despite himself, Everado realized he was straining down at the phone, trying desperately to reach it with his fingers, his nose, any way he could. He pulled as hard as he could, but the cell phone remained maddeningly out of reach. After maybe a minute, the phone was snatched away and turned off. “Let the record show that the suspect refused his phone call.”

“Hey, what the fuck—” was all Everado got out before a leather-gloved hand clamped tightly over his mouth. Everado felt warm breath on his neck and heard Cooper’s cold voice whisper in his ear. “Shh—you asked for your rights, so I’m going to tell you what they are.”

Everado tried even harder to break free, but his fingers were losing all feeling, and arching his back got him nothing but his head yanked back. Although his wrists were slick with sweat, he couldn’t get either hand loose.

“I’d be careful if I were you, Everado. Try anything else, and you could be charged with resisting arrest. You’re already neck-deep in crap at the moment, and adding more charges could make things go even worse for you.”

Breathing hard through his nose, Everado calmed, relaxing into his chair again. “Good, good. Now, where were we? Ah, yes, your Miranda rights. You

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