Blood and Silver - 04 by James R. Tuck Read Free Book Online

didn’t make any noise. “You hear dat? McMahon done got himself a little white girl, he ain’t gonna want you! Now what am I gunna do? I gots to get my fix.”
    I stepped closer to her. The nerve under my eye started twitching, throbbing hard enough to make my eyelid flutter. The skin on my hands felt swollen, my palms itched with the desire to clench into fists. “Start by letting her go and knocking that shit off.”
    She turned on me,her voice rising. “You tellin’ me how to raise my own child? Who da’ hell you think you is?” She was making too much noise. She was going to draw attention to us in any second.
    My fingers shot out, closing on the greasy skin at the back of her neck. I yanked her close. She smelled bad. Like she hadn’t washed in a week or maybe she’d had a shit sandwich for breakfast. “Who is McMahon?”
    “He da’ crackman! Dis his house you at.”
    “What does he want with a little girl?”
    Both her hands clasped on my arm. I stared at her broken fingernails. There was blood dried on the ones where she had been scratching and picking at herself. Something gross was caked under her middle finger, some unidentifiable chunk hanging against the splintered nail. She wasn’t fighting, just holding on and staring at me sullenly. At least she had let her daughter go. The girl stood there, watching us. The crackhead’s eyes narrowed as she studied me.
    “What kinda cop are you?”
    I jerked her close, making her look in my eyes. “Do I look like a fucking cop?” I shook her like she had shaken the little girl earlier. Corroded stumps of teeth clacked together. “Answer the question.”
    “He likes dat. He give a big fat rock if you bring a girl for him. Ever’body know dat!”
    My blood ran cold. The anger that had heated my skin dropped like a stone, congealing in my stomach and curdling. I had to shove her away to keep from breaking her neck. “Get out of my sight.” Words stuck to my clenched teeth. “Leave the girl. Run away.”
    She stared at me sullenly. “What you give me for her?” She hopped from foot to foot, arms bouncing at her side like chicken wings. “I gotta get sump’thin.”
    I raised the shotgun and pointed it at her head. “I’ll give you your worthless, miserable life. Now get the hell away from me.”
    I watched her over the top of the shotgun barrel. I watched her draw in a breath. I watched her rotten mouth open. A flake tumbled away from her chapped lips, leaving a pink square uncovered.
    “WHITEBOY WID A GUN! WHITE BOY WID A—”
    The back of my hand flew off the gun, whipping around and smacking her on the cheekbone. There was no resistance as she dropped to the ground like a sack of bricks. The girl watched her fall and then turned big intelligent eyes up toward me.
    I knelt down beside her. “I’m not going to hurt you.”
    “I know.” Wide brown eyes blinked at me. “You said you were here to save that girl.”
    “I am.”
    She thought about it for a moment. Her tiny forehead furrowed as she pondered. “Could you save me, too, mister?”
    My heart twisted, drawing my chest tight. “What’s your name, sweetie?” My throat was tight as I asked.
    “Mary.”
    I pointed at the Comet. “You see that car over there, across the street?” She nodded earnestly, her eyes following my finger. I pulled out the keys, separated out the door key, and handed them to her. “Go wait in the car. Lock the doors and lay down in the backseat. Stay there no matter what happens outside the car or how much noise you hear and I will come back for you when I am done.”
    “Are you really going to come back?” That little face held a lifetime of disappointment. Broken promises filled her eyes.
    I smiled at her. “I have to. You have the keys to my car.” I softly put my hand on the top of her head. “Go on now, Mary. I’ll be done soon.” She watched me for a second. She looked down at the keys in her hand and then back up to me. Turning, she took one