Criminally Insane by Conrad Jones Read Free Book Online Page B

life in the armed forces, and he knew that his partner had not, despite his tales.
    “Look, I don’t expect a full cut, but it’s only fair to give me some of it. I have friends who can shift this stuff with no problems and no questions asked. They don’ sell to school kids, they sell it to suits.” Patrick was pushing his luck. He had stolen a stash of taxed drugs from their lockup. Gecko had been stupid leaving them there to rot, in his opinion. His crusade against organised crime was a folly. He would wind up dead in the boot of a car. Drugs were currency, and Patrick wanted his share.
    “I offered you half the cash, full stop. The drugs are nonnegotiable,” Gecko said.
    “Yes, but that was before we found out about this cocaine, come on!” his partner pleaded. “Let me take this and we can burn everything else we find!”
    “There will be more work, plenty of it. Don’t be greedy,” Gecko lied. The time had come to sever the partnership. They wouldn’t be working together again.
    “We worked well together. We’re a good team,” Patrick said.
    “The thing is we’re not a team, are we?”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Well, you took the drugs from the lockup and you’ve been entertaining yourself again, haven’t you?” Gecko accused him. “You’re putting the whole plan in jeopardy.”
    “I don’t know what you mean.” His partner looked guilty.
    Gecko stubbed out the cigarette and walked to the wardrobe. The hotel lodge room still smelled of new paint and polish. He took out a carrier bag and dropped it on the bed. There was a vacant look in his eyes as he tipped the contents onto the quilt. Gecko wasn’t squeamish but his partner had gone too far. He looked at his associate and waited for his reaction.
    “What is that?” The man’s eyes were flickering with recognition. His brain was in overdrive trying to find an answer. A lie that could cover up what he had done. “I haven’t seen that before.”
    “That tells me you’re a liar. Take your half of the money and leave now. I have things to do.” Gecko emptied the contents of the haversack onto the bed. He picked up a canvas roll and untied the cord which bound it before spreading it out on the bed. There was an assortment of medical cutting equipment sheathed in the roll. The steel handles glinted in the artificial light. Congealed blood stained the cutting edges. “These are yours, I think. I found them at a unit on Jamaica Street.”
    “Yes, they’re mine. You’ve been following me, that’s sneaky.”
    His accomplice reached over and grabbed the cutting tools off the bed. He rolled them up as if they were fragile and put them inside his coat lovingly. He looked embarrassed and it was obvious that he didn’t want to talk about the instruments. He quickly changed the subject. “Okay, half the money and one kilo?” He stuffed half the money into his sports bag and grabbed a kilo package of cocaine. “One kilo, that’s fair.”
    “Fine, take this too. I think it belongs to you.” Gecko tossed a freezer bag over to his irritating accomplice, who caught it and smiled as he looked at the contents through the clear plastic. Then his expression changed into one of shock and horror.
    “What is this, some kind of sick joke?”
    The rotting hand inside had a gold sovereign ring on the index finger. The wrist bone was exposed and yellowed and the flesh was beginning to liquefy inside.
    “Open it.”
    “No way, why did you go there?” Patrick knew it was real but he didn’t want to admit it to himself. His hobby was his business and no one else’s. He enjoyed his games but he wasn’t comfortable with people knowing what he liked to do. His mind wasn’t too warped to realise society loathed monsters like him.
    “I said open it.” Gecko pulled a Glock. It had a dull black suppressor attached to the barrel, makingit look more lethal than normal.
    “Okay, okay. I’ll open it. Keep all the cocaine, I don’t want it.” Patrick