PMadriani 12.5 - The Second Man by Steve Martini Read Free Book Online Page B

didn’t want to worry them, so I told them she left town on the spur of the moment without telling me where she was going, and I need to reach her. I told them her phone must be on the blink. They hadn’t seen or heard from her. The same with her friends. It’s not like her. She would call somebody unless there was a reason. And the only reason I can think of is that she’s with Akers and doesn’t want to discuss it with anyone.
    â€œYou’re working yourself into a hole on this,” says Herman.
    â€œI don’t know what else to do.”

 
    Chapter 10
    A KER S FINALLY TURNED off the music in the car and asked Joselyn: “How’d you sleep?”
    â€œYou mean except for the trucks rolling through town all night and the occasional bedbug chewing on my leg?”
    Buttonwillow sported an Olympic-­class truck stop, two small motels, and an oasis of gas stations. Miss it, and you might not get where you’re going. Highway Five through the Central Valley was an octane desert and had been since its completion in the late 1970s. There were long stretches between gas stations and even fewer places to eat.
    â€œI warned you. You should have slept with me. I’d have protected you from the bugs, and my bite’s not that bad.”
    Joselyn didn’t ask him how he slept because she knew. Twice during the night, he woke her up shouting in his sleep from the next room. The place had thin walls, but even if it had been solid concrete, she would have heard him. Then in the morning, on the way to the car, he turned back. He forgot something. He went back inside his room. Through the open door, Joselyn saw him lift the pillow off his bed and grab an unsheathed knife, a heavy seven-­inch blade, what the military called a Ka-­Bar. He slipped it into his backpack. She wondered if he was carrying a gun.
    â€œHow about tonight maybe we share a room?” he said.
    â€œYou don’t quit, do you?”
    â€œNo, and you want to know the truth? I don’t think you want me to.” He looked over at her and gave her a full dental set, pearly whites. He hadn’t shaved. The forest of even dark stubble gave his face a more rugged appearance if that was possible. “Quit, that is.”
    â€œIf it makes you happy, you go on thinking that,” said Joselyn.
    â€œI will.”
    â€œIf anybody ever accuses you of lacking self-­esteem, you just send them to me. I’ll set them straight,” she told him.
    â€œThank you.”
    â€œIt wasn’t a compliment,” she said. “Does the ego come with the turf?”
    â€œWhat do you mean?”
    â€œI mean ­people who deal in death on a daily basis, dishing it out and risking it, sooner or later I suppose must develop a fairly strong God complex.”
    â€œSo you think I look like Apollo?”
    She gave him a smirk. “Tell me, what does it feel like to kill someone?”
    â€œDo you have anyone specific in mind?”
    â€œStop it!”
    â€œI mean, if you and Madriani had a fight, I can take care of him for you.” He was smiling.
    â€œSeriously, I’d just like to know. How do you deal with it?”
    â€œI knew this was coming.”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œAnalysis,” he said. “Are you a pro or is this amateur hour? If you’re a pro, I want to see your head-­shrinking license.”
    â€œSo you prefer not to talk about it,” said Joselyn.
    â€œAs long as the right ­people get killed, I don’t have any problem with it.”
    â€œSome ­people get off on it,” said Joselyn.
    â€œSome ­people might. I don’t. It’s a job. Has to be done.”
    â€œHow may ­people have you killed?”
    â€œToday? None.” He looked over at her and grinned. “But then the day is young.”
    â€œYou know what I mean. Over the course of your career? Do you know? Any idea of the number? Or do you just do what they