Valley of the Dead by Cook J.S

Author:Cook, J.S. [Cook, J.S.]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Published: 2013-08-03T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

WHEN I arrived at the police station later that morning, Ibrahim Samir was in Sam’s office, sorting through papers on Sam’s desk. He glanced up but didn’t smile. “Captain Halim is not here.”

“Good morning to you, too. Where is he?”

Samir shuffled rapidly through a stack of file folders. “He has taken exercise. You will find him in the athletic club on Sharia Soliman Pasha.”

“You… you okay, Samir?”

“I have never felt better.” His gaze was pointed, his dark eyes as hard as obsidian. “Was there something else you wanted?”

“No. No, I’m good.” Whatever the hell was wrong with Samir was his business; I wasn’t interested. I found the athletic club on the Sharia Soliman Pasha, as Samir said. Sam wasn’t in the sauna or getting a massage, but I did find him in the boxing ring, sparring with some hulking brute of a guy who had fists like hams. I stood by the ropes for a while and watched.

Sam was a naturally graceful boxer, light on his feet and with lightning-quick fists. The big guy moved in, flailing, and a punch caught Sam on the side of the face, but he shook it off. His opponent came at him again, lashing out with both hands, but Sam danced back out of his way, and then feinted a right hook. The big guy struck again, a glancing blow high up on the cheek that opened a cut under Sam’s eye. He’s going to get pulverized, I thought. I was sure I’d be scraping Sam off the mat when everything was said and done, but he surprised me.

He waited till the other man swung, overreaching himself, and then danced back out of range. The big guy kept on coming, but Sam stayed away from him, leading him around and around the ring like a tethered ox until finally, when he had sufficiently exhausted his opponent, Sam stepped in with an uppercut and simultaneously slammed a left hook into the side of the guy’s head. He dropped like a stone. Sam grinned, and then bent over to help the younger man up. I recognized him as one of the policemen from the station.

“Please, Captain Halim, no more.” He laughed. “I beg you. No more.”

Sam saw me waiting and stepped through the ropes to where I was. “Enjoying the show, Jack?”

I grinned at him. “Remind me never to get on your bad side.”

“Oh, that? I like to keep myself in form. It is necessary for my work. You are looking very well this morning.”

“You look fine except for that cut under your eye. You should get that looked at.”

He dabbed at his face with a towel. “Yes. El Ajat might not be fast, but he is big and strong. Perhaps I’ll assign him to the Bulaq district as punishment.” He laughed. “Join me in a steam?”

“Sure.”

It was early, and most of the club’s clientele seemed to be elsewhere, so we had the sauna to ourselves. The hot steam felt good, and I didn’t have any problem sitting there admiring Sam’s naked body, either.

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.