Read Online Denver Strike by Randy Wayne White - Free Book Online Page B

after you stole their silver claim. Hell, you don’t even have the nerve to face up to them now. So spare me that shit about what you would have done twenty years ago.”
    â€œYou think the Denver D.A. would take your word over mine, you son of a bitch? A man who openly admits to killing five of my—” Nek caught himself. “Who admits to killing five men. But what the hell am I sitting here talking to you about it for? I don’t know a goddamn thing about what you’re talking about. All I know is you came here supposedly to talk about the Chicquita Silver Mine. Is that just bullshit, too—”
    â€œThat’s right,” cut in Hawker. “We came to talk about the mine. And here’s what we have to say, so listen close. Ready? If you have your men release Jimmy Estes and Chuck Phillips within the next twenty-four hours, I promise not to destroy you and everything that has to do with your operation.”
    Nek shook his head slightly, as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “You really are out of your fucking tree, aren’t you?” he said. “You got balls bigger than your brain. For one thing, I still got no idea what you’re talking about. For another thing, if I did know what you were talking about, I’d be even more determined to make you look like the fucking fool you are.” Nek held up one finger in exclamation. “Let me show you something, tough guy.” He touched a switch on his desk, and three large mirrors in the room were illuminated. With the lights on, Hawker could see through the mirrors. Concealed behind each mirror, dimly seen, was a man holding an Uzi-size automatic weapon. All three of the weapons were pointed right at Hawker and Dulles.
    Nek switched off the lights with a pleased expression on his face. “See?” he said, now clearly back in control. “I’m nobody’s fool. Nobody’s fool, never . You mentioned my three old partners. Well, what about them? You think I was afraid of them?” He snickered. “That’s pure horseshit, ’cause they weren’t worth my time then, and they sure as fuck ain’t worth my time now. They’ve always been losers. Always. Always were. Always will be. Afraid of them? A man like me isn’t afraid of gutter trash like them.”
    â€œThen why do you want their mine?”
    Nek stiffened. “Because I’m a smart businessman, dumb shit. I’ve always been a smart businessman. That’s why I’m a success and my three old partners are broken-down fools.” He waved toward the window. “Hell, out there I got me a jet that can fly me anywhere in the world I want. I got cars, women, racehorses, islands; shit, everything.”
    â€œYou don’t have your old friends,” Hawker pressed. “And now you’re afraid they’re going to become as rich as you. That would be too bad, Nek, because it would show you up as the crook you are.”
    The old man slammed his hand on the chair and yanked open the drawer of his desk. “I’m not going to tell you where I’m keeping those bastards,” he screamed, “and I’m not going to put up with any more of your bullshit!”
    From the drawer the old man took a chrome-plated revolver, yanked the hammer back, and pointed the gun at Hawker’s head.

eight
    Hawker and Dulles leaped at the old man simultaneously. Dulles got there first, just as the revolver exploded. His face was briefly contorted by the sound-impact, but the slug missed his head and rammed into the wall. He yanked the gun from Nek’s hand and held it at the ready.
    The vigilante was already rolling off the desk as the three mirrors ruptured and the bodyguards stepped through. He kicked at the light switch with his foot, and he breathed a sigh of relief when the room went black save for the light of the fire.
    â€œBastard! Motherfucker!” Bill Nek’s voice was