Read Online A Song In The Dark by P. N. Elrod - Free Book Online Page A

do?”
    â€œY-you’ll kill me,” he whispered.
    â€œYou’re gonna remember that every time you think of me, every time you say my name, every time you hear my name, that’s what you will remember. I will kill you.”
    I broke the gun open, tipping the cylinder clear. Shell casings rained out. Grasping it in one hand and the frame in the other I gave them each an opposing twist that hurt even my hands, but it was worth it. The metal held for a second,then abruptly snapped. I dropped both pieces on either side of the astonished Hoyle.
    â€œ Every time.”
    I slouched across the Caddy’s backseat for the return trip to Chicago, a strange reprise of how the evening had started, just a different mood. Playing tough was getting easier the more I did it, but afterward the reaction would set in, leaving me surly and almost as torn up inside as the people I’d leaned on. Of course, I couldn’t show any of that to Strome. My breaking the gun in two had breached even his expressionless reserve, and I didn’t want to lose what awed respect had been gained. Not that I didn’t already have it in spades.
    I wanted Gordy on his feet again real soon. Some number of the boys in the gang were like Hoyle, resenting an outsider giving them orders, but they’d behaved themselves out of respect for Gordy. That Hoyle had a grudge against me for taking the big chair wasn’t news, but he’d given no hint till now about making an open challenge. It wasn’t only against me but Gordy as well, which was a few miles past stupid, but brains were in short supply for some of them. Hoyle had thrown down the glove, mob style, and I’d beaten him silly with it. Would that and my promise of death be enough to hold him in place?
    â€œIs Hoyle going to be smart?” I asked Strome, interrupting the long silence of the drive.
    Strome didn’t answer right off, which boded ill. He thought it over a while. “He might.”
    â€œBut . . . ?”
    â€œHe might not.” He gave a minimal shrug, which reminded me a lot of Gordy. “He could get over his scare andtry something else. You shoulda scragged him. Or at least sent him onna vacation like you done others.”
    I had a reputation for persuading stubborn people to do very unlikely things, like suddenly running off to Havana. None was aware they’d been forcibly hypnotized. It was part of my edge. I used it to get out of troublesome situations, like earlier tonight with Kroun. But after that head-busting agony I wasn’t about to try anything fancy so soon. Hoyle wasn’t worth the pain. I’d broken the gun to keep from breaking him. Which I could have done all too easily. It’s a frightening thing to find out what one is capable of when the restraints are gone. Hog Bristow taught me that.
    â€œKeep an eye on Hoyle,” I said. “See to it he leaves town and have someone keep tabs where he goes and what he does when he arrives. If you think he’ll step out of line, I wanna know before he does. The same for his goons. You tell me, and we’ll take it from there. If I’m not available, use your best judgment and take care of ’em yourself.”
    â€œRight, Boss.”
    â€œAnd don’t get caught.”
    â€œRight, Boss.”
    It was just that easy to put a death sentence on people. God, what had they twisted me into? I wasn’t supposed to be like this. I was a normal guy with parents in Cincinnati, friends, a girlfriend, my own business. I liked flashy clothes, reading dime magazines, and was trying to turn myself into a writer one of these nights. So what that I was also a vampire? Killing people wasn’t part and parcel with the condition. Hell, I didn’t even have to kill to eat, just drain a little blood from cattle that could spare it . . .
    Bad line of thought, that. Head it off. Quick.
    â€œStrome. What happened back at the club?