Read Online Maxie’s Demon by Michael Scott Rohan - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Michael Scott Rohan
Tags: Science-Fiction
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know horse from horseshit! I don’t do this sort of stuff!’
Fallon sucked in his breath impatiently. ‘Sod this! I’m not hanging around for the filth to zero in on!’ He caught me by the scruff of the neck and dug the knife under my chin. ‘You check it or he can, but if I haven’t got my dosh in five minutes flat, it’s you floating face down out there – got it?’
‘All right,’ said Ahwaz.‘Choose a bag, bring me it. From the bottom of the pile.’ But when I tried to hand him the plastic sack, he shook his hands away sharply. ‘You hold it!’ He unclasped a pearl-handled knife and stabbed it gently, then touched the tip of the blade to his mouth. He tasted, spat and nodded. ‘That’s it.’ The driver produced a briefcase and opened it. ‘Give the man this. Bring back the envelope. Thenget the others loaded up.’
I reached in for the fat envelope, puzzled. It wasn’t just for a middleman Ahwaz wanted me; he would have been safe enough with his goons. And he seemed desperate not to touch anything—
I stopped dead. He wanted me to. I didn’t have gloves on. He’d got a bag of heroin back there with my fingerprints on it, and nobody else’s. He’d have a few more in this heap. And he’dhave me. With that kind of evidence he’d have me by the short and curlies; he could shop me to the cops with a plausible story, do me and get in good with them at the same time. I had a record, not a bad one, but with that kind of form who’d believe me? Chances were I’d go down till I was tripping over my beard. He could turn me in tomorrow, or keep me slaving away for him till doomsday becauseit would still be a shade better than prison. He could rule my life—
‘C’mon,c’mon!’ snarled Fallon. I must have frozen where I stood, and Ahwaz knew why, because I could hear him laughing.
I stopped him so fast he nearly choked. It was stupid, I shouldn’t have dared; but my blood was roaring in my ears. After what I’d been through these past two days I wasn’t half as scared of Ahwaz as I shouldhave been; he didn’t glow green, for one thing. I’d been pushed too far. I jumped to the bank’s edge and stood there, teetering in the mud, with the envelope held high to fling.
‘This’ll sink like a bloody stone!’ I yelled. I saw the sudden movement in the boat, my blood froze, but I couldn’t give in now or they’d kill me anyway. ‘Even if you shoot me—’
I knew my mistake the moment I’d saidit. Never give people ideas, especially those who don’t have too many of their own. Ahwaz was bright enough to hold back, but not Fallon’s goons. Somewhere out there two lonely brain cells met and cuddled, and the rifle swung up; I could see it clearly, a faint, dull gleam in the night, and I didn’t even have time to be afraid. I heard the shot, deep and strange and hollow, not at all the flat whipcrack I’d expected. A wind sang past me, too close; but there was something wrong with it—
I felt nothing. Butthe rifle barrel flew up and discharged skyward with a shocking crash in that silent night, and the flame danced on the black water like fireworks. Then the rifle tipped down into it with a flat splash, and a bulky outline fell forward as if diving after, but landed writhing on the inflatable’sside. Fallon’s face, behind his scrubby beard, stood out pale in the shadows, eyes gaping in their deep sockets; but it was past me he was looking. There were no doors there, but it felt as if somebody opened one all the same.
There was another boat. This one you could see, though you wouldn’t be too happy about it – not because it had a searchlight or Customs markings, nothing nice and normallike that. You saw it by its own light, just a little, a glimmer, like sea phosphorescence. It was a sailing boat of some kind, not enormous, and it was gliding speedily in to shore with its two sails taut. The trouble was, there was barely a breath of wind. And what there was wasn’t blowing in that
Fallon sucked in his breath impatiently. ‘Sod this! I’m not hanging around for the filth to zero in on!’ He caught me by the scruff of the neck and dug the knife under my chin. ‘You check it or he can, but if I haven’t got my dosh in five minutes flat, it’s you floating face down out there – got it?’
‘All right,’ said Ahwaz.‘Choose a bag, bring me it. From the bottom of the pile.’ But when I tried to hand him the plastic sack, he shook his hands away sharply. ‘You hold it!’ He unclasped a pearl-handled knife and stabbed it gently, then touched the tip of the blade to his mouth. He tasted, spat and nodded. ‘That’s it.’ The driver produced a briefcase and opened it. ‘Give the man this. Bring back the envelope. Thenget the others loaded up.’
I reached in for the fat envelope, puzzled. It wasn’t just for a middleman Ahwaz wanted me; he would have been safe enough with his goons. And he seemed desperate not to touch anything—
I stopped dead. He wanted me to. I didn’t have gloves on. He’d got a bag of heroin back there with my fingerprints on it, and nobody else’s. He’d have a few more in this heap. And he’dhave me. With that kind of evidence he’d have me by the short and curlies; he could shop me to the cops with a plausible story, do me and get in good with them at the same time. I had a record, not a bad one, but with that kind of form who’d believe me? Chances were I’d go down till I was tripping over my beard. He could turn me in tomorrow, or keep me slaving away for him till doomsday becauseit would still be a shade better than prison. He could rule my life—
‘C’mon,c’mon!’ snarled Fallon. I must have frozen where I stood, and Ahwaz knew why, because I could hear him laughing.
I stopped him so fast he nearly choked. It was stupid, I shouldn’t have dared; but my blood was roaring in my ears. After what I’d been through these past two days I wasn’t half as scared of Ahwaz as I shouldhave been; he didn’t glow green, for one thing. I’d been pushed too far. I jumped to the bank’s edge and stood there, teetering in the mud, with the envelope held high to fling.
‘This’ll sink like a bloody stone!’ I yelled. I saw the sudden movement in the boat, my blood froze, but I couldn’t give in now or they’d kill me anyway. ‘Even if you shoot me—’
I knew my mistake the moment I’d saidit. Never give people ideas, especially those who don’t have too many of their own. Ahwaz was bright enough to hold back, but not Fallon’s goons. Somewhere out there two lonely brain cells met and cuddled, and the rifle swung up; I could see it clearly, a faint, dull gleam in the night, and I didn’t even have time to be afraid. I heard the shot, deep and strange and hollow, not at all the flat whipcrack I’d expected. A wind sang past me, too close; but there was something wrong with it—
I felt nothing. Butthe rifle barrel flew up and discharged skyward with a shocking crash in that silent night, and the flame danced on the black water like fireworks. Then the rifle tipped down into it with a flat splash, and a bulky outline fell forward as if diving after, but landed writhing on the inflatable’sside. Fallon’s face, behind his scrubby beard, stood out pale in the shadows, eyes gaping in their deep sockets; but it was past me he was looking. There were no doors there, but it felt as if somebody opened one all the same.
There was another boat. This one you could see, though you wouldn’t be too happy about it – not because it had a searchlight or Customs markings, nothing nice and normallike that. You saw it by its own light, just a little, a glimmer, like sea phosphorescence. It was a sailing boat of some kind, not enormous, and it was gliding speedily in to shore with its two sails taut. The trouble was, there was barely a breath of wind. And what there was wasn’t blowing in that
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