Read Online The Spider Inside by Elias Anderson - Free Book Online

well, of the--”
    Chester laughed. “Relax man, I’m fucking with you. Yes, it
is short for Winchester, just like the gun. Now I understand you know my
cousin, yes?”
    “I do. He was kind enough to set this little meeting up for
me. Hope it’s not too early?”
    Chester laughed again. “Business does not sleep, Mr.
Nicholson, especially the business of guns.”
    “Call me Nik,” Nik said.
    “Short for Nicholson?” Chester asked.
    “No, my mom just had a shitty sense of humor. Nik
Nicholson.”
    Chester laughed, and Nik wondered if he was high on fucking
whippits or something. Everything was hilarious to this fucking bean.
    “I understand from what Gomez has told me that you are in
need of a certain kind of weapon.”
    “Yes.”
    “Anything specific you are looking for?”
    “Well, something reliable and compact, but for starters
something without any bodies on it.”
    “You insult me! I do not sell used merchandise.” Chester
looked at the two armed guards. “It is stolen, but not used.” This got him laughing
again, and the two armed men laughed as well, though from them it sounded
forced. Nik also laughed, but only because he believed it good policy to laugh
whenever someone with a gun thought something was funny.
    “Now then,” Chester continued. “It is a pistol you are
looking for?”
    “Yes.”
    “Would you prefer an automatic or a revolver?”
    “Well, I’m partial to automatics myself but in this case I
think a revolver would be the way to go. I’m looking for something along the
lines of a .38 maybe? Or a .357?”
    “Ah! I have the perfect weapon. Come.” Chester walked toward
one end of the table and Nik followed him. Chester picked up a pistol, opened
the cylinder and spun it to show Nik it was empty, then handed the gun to him.
    “Eight shots?” Nik asked, counting the holes in the cylinder
again to be sure.
    “Si. This is a Colt .357 with a six inch barrel, rubberized
grip, eight shot capacity.”
    Nik hefted the gun, thumbed the hammer back, pointed it at
the wall at the far end of the room.
    “Nice, but do you have anything a little smaller?”
    Chester nodded and scanned the table briefly, then handed
Nik another gun.
    “It’s light,” Nik said.
    “Taurus .357, four inch barrel. Made of titanium, so it
weighs about half as much as that Colt. Now, this means there will be more kick
to it, but they’ve compensated a little by venting the end of the barrel, you
see those slots there? Faster second-shot acquisition. You’ll still feel the
difference in the recoil, but overall it’s a great little gun. I have two of
them at home myself.”
    “Seven shots,” Nik said, checking the cylinder and snapping
it shut with a flick of his wrist.
    “Yes.”
    “Seven is good though,” Nik said.
    “Unless you need eight,” Chester said, and this time Nik
laughed with him for real.
    “How much?” Nik asked.
    “Normally they retail between four and a half and five,
street value of a clean weapon like this? Untraceable? I could get anything
between eight hundred and a thousand for it. But my cousin says you’re good
people, so I can give it to you for six.”
    “Six it is,” Nik said and took out his wallet. He handed the
money to Chester who held each of the fifty dollar bills up to the light.
    “What about ammo?” Nik asked, as they walked back toward the
middle of the table.
    “I can throw in a box, each additional box will run you five
bucks. Keep in mind these are the heavy loads, too. Go for damn near half a
buck a bullet, retail.”
    Nik calculated how much he could stow in the rear
compartment on his bike and gave Chester another twenty.
    “You got a holster for this thing?” Nik asked.
    Chester smiled. “You want it on your back or on your side?
Personally, let me ask you...do you wear that coat a lot?”
    “If I wear a coat, it’s this one, yes.”
    “I got the perfect thing for you,” Chester said. “Take that
jacket off, man.”
    Nik did as he was told and