Read Online Swords of Exodus [Dead Six 02] by Larry Correia, Mike Kupari - Free Book Online

help is greatly appreciated,” Ling said calmly. She sat kitty-corner across from me. “Exodus is very—”
    I cut her off. It was time for business. “I don’t give a shit about you or Exodus, or how much you appreciate anything. I’m here for my brother. You’re very lucky that I believed you when you said you don’t know where he is. If I didn’t, you’d be spilling your guts to me right now, literally, if necessary.”
    “You could attempt that,” Ling said diplomatically. Antoine grunted, obviously protective of her. Shen sat across the narrow aisle from me. He looked relaxed, but I could tell it was a facade. He was ready to pounce if I made a wrong move.
    “But that would take too long, and I’m sure you’ve got some sort of arrangement with your handlers. I know how this game is played, and I’m too old for it.”
    “Indeed.”
    “So that’s why we’re going to play a different game, I call it defining the working relationship.” My hands moved with lightning speed. I reached into the unzipped compartment and found a round, metal object. Before Ling or either of her companions knew what was happening, I slammed the hand grenade down onto the plastic table. I raised my left hand, with the grenade’s pin looped around my finger. The only thing preventing it from initiating was the death grip I had on the spoon.
    Shen drew a pistol in a flash, and had it pointed at my left ear. Antoine’s left hand had never come out from under the table, but my suspicion that he had a pistol in it was confirmed by the way he moved. Ling smiled slightly.
    I stared her down. “If I let go, it goes off, with a lethal radius bigger than your airplane. Try anything, we all die. Am I making myself perfectly clear?”
    Ling nodded slightly at Shen, so he refrained from blowing my brains out.
    “I’ve found it’s harder for people to lie when they’re about to get blown up.”
    “I’m telling you the truth. I don’t know where your brother is.”
    “Cut the bullshit. You think you can just come to my island, land this piece of junk on my airfield, and blackmail me into going along with this? Do you know who you’re screwing with? You come into my house and threaten me? Really?”
    Antoine’s pistol came out from under the table. He raised the big FNP-45 up and pointed it between my eyes.
    “Look at me, Lorenzo,” Ling ordered. “I’m telling you the truth. My people are doing everything they can to find your brother.”
    I glared at her. She glared right back. She wasn’t cracking.
    Antoine was starting to look nervous, and I could see his finger tightening up on the trigger. The hammer started to creep imperceptibly back. He was going to shoot me, and try to grab my hand before I let the grenade go. I shifted my glare to him, daring him to try.
    Reaching across the aisle, Ling placed her tiny hand on his massive arm. “No need, Antoine. He knows I’m telling the truth. What of your lady, Mr. Lorenzo? All she will know is that you got onto a plane with another woman and were never seen again.”
    I showed no emotion. I wasn’t going to give them anything. I wasn’t going to let up. I had to know the truth. “Ever see what happens to bodies in the ocean? Half of you will wash up on a St. Carl beach, bloated, green, crabs living inside. It’s pretty gross . . . Where is my brother?”
    She didn’t blink. “My soul is prepared, Mr. Lorenzo. Is yours?”
    A cold bead of sweat rolled down into my eye. I blinked it away. This woman was either as cold as ice or was giving me a performance worthy of an Oscar. Damned true believers. They were calling my bluff. Shit.
    Ling folded her hands across her chest and stared at me, daring me to do it. I actually cracked a smile. Shaking my head, I very carefully slid the pin back into its hole, and folded it down on the other side. “I gotta hand it to you, lady. You’ve got some brass balls.”
    Antoine was up in a split second, moving amazingly fast for a big