Turned to Stone by Jorge Magano Read Free Book Online Page A

he’d whacked that poor unfortunate on the head. His hands turned the wheel on the freezer door and then pulled it toward him. The cloud of freezing air that came from the gap was much smaller than it had been earlier, but he didn’t notice this detail and quickly slipped inside, taking care to prop the door open with a stool.
    A strange feeling came over him when he saw that the body was not where they’d left it. In its place there was a strange structure built of broken wooden crates. As he approached he could hear a sobbing sound, accompanied by the chattering of teeth.
    It seemed that the wretch was alive, albeit at death’s door.
    He peered behind the pile of crates, expecting to find a dying lump of frozen meat, but all he saw was more boxes. The body had to be buried under them. “May I ask what you’re doing? I hope you haven’t injured yourself or broken any bones; the boss will be furious.”
    As he began to remove one of the crates, he realized that only the ones forming the outer structure were made of wood. The crates covering the moaning, shivering body were made of polyurethane and were much lighter. “Hey you,” the man with the mustache called out. “Stop playing games and come out of there or I’ll—”
    Just then a long object shot out from between the boxes and whistled past his face. Cartons and plastic flew everywhere as his intended victim clambered to his feet, retrieved the object, and tried for a second time to strike him with what looked, unbelievably, like a cow’s backbone.
     
    To Jaime’s dismay, the man with the mustache moved with agility and evaded his second lunge as easily as he had the first. Before he could attack once more, he felt the vertebrae cut into his hand as the improvised weapon was violently snatched from him.
    “You’re clever, kid,” said the man. “Very clever. But you have no idea who you’re messing with.”
    Jaime knew that in his weakened state he was no match for this dockyard goon, and he had no desire to hang around and get beaten to a pulp. He ran toward the freezer door, but the man struck him on the leg with the backbone, throwing him to the floor.
    “Hey! What did I tell you? Come on, get up from there.”
    Jaime rolled over and saw the man advancing toward him with the bony club held high above his head.
    “I wasn’t supposed to hit you,” the man said, “but now you’re really pissing me off.”
    As the cow spine traced an arc through the air, Jaime rolled his body away to evade the blow. As he stood up, he found himself at the end of the freezer opposite the door, near some shelves with boxes on them. Knowing that the thug was between him and the door, he decided to escape upward. He jumped to his feet and started to climb, moving himself beyond the reach of the man, who was now laughing heartily.
    “Go on, keep climbing. The higher you go the harder you’ll fall.”
    Jaime crouched at the top of the shelves as the man moved toward him.
    “Ready to come down?” Grinning, the thug grabbed the shelving with both hands and pulled until he’d torn it from the wall. As he looked up, he expected to see the terrified face of his victim.
    But what he saw was a box full of ice bags flying toward him like a meteorite and then smashing into his face.
    The man crashed to the floor, his septum shattered, blood gushing from his nostrils.
    Jaime jumped down from the shaky shelving and grimaced at the sight of the man lying faceup on the ground. He assumed this must be the person who’d delivered the blow to his head earlier, when he’d been aiming the gun at Sandra. He was about to run out of the freezer when he glimpsed a metal object protruding from his assailant’s belt. Jaime bent down and grabbed the automatic pistol. When he stood and turned, he found himself face-to-face with Sandra, who was staring at him in disbelief.
    “You!”
    “Yup, me.”
    She looked thoroughly confused. She’d undoubtedly expected to find a dead body.