Zeus's Pack 9: Rave by Lynn Hagen Read Free Book Online Page B

to release his gun, to drop it, but no matter how hard he tried to open his hand, he couldn’t.
    It was as if an unseen force was helping him, guiding his hand and applying so much pressure that he could feel his temples throb with exertion.
    His arm rose slowly, and the muzzle of the gun pressed hard into Tony’s temple, reminding him of the power behind the steel. He fought to breathe, fought to get the damn thing away from his head.
    He was sweating profusely as he glanced around the room, praying his finger didn’t pull the trigger.
    A hand curled around Tony’s neck and Tony realized in horror that it was his own damn hand.
    But he could feel that someone was standing behind him and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do. He was so fucking helpless and powerless to stop the person. His fingers dug into his windpipe, making it almost impossible for Tony to breathe as the pressure mounted. He stood there strangling himself with a gun to his head.
    This was not one of his better nights.
    “I could kill you right now or make you shoot your brains out, and no one would truly know what happened in here,” the man said from a darkened corner. Tony could hear the note of amusement as his finger slid next to the trigger, taunting him, making Tony believe that he was going to shoot himself. He became light-headed, white dots bursting all around him from the lack of oxygen as his fingers maintained their tight grip on his neck.
    “Go back to where you came from, or the next time I won’t stop you.” A few seconds later the door flew open, the night air spilling in.
    Tony caught a glimpse of the man’s face as the cheap, yellow lighting from outside splashed into his room and framed the man in a soft halo.
    Aba.
    The deep angles of his face were half masked from the shadows as his eyes glanced back at Tony. They were soulless eyes, eyes that said Aba would do exactly as he promised if Tony didn’t back off.
    Something Tony didn’t plan on doing.
    His fingers eased from his gun, and Tony’s arm fell limp at his side from his neck. He fell to the floor, gasping for air. Wheezing for air was more like it. The skin on his neck burned from where his fingernails had dug into flesh, and his throat felt raw, his breathing ragged. Tony was on all fours, forcing air into his lungs as the door snicked closed. Tears streamed down his face from the pure pressure that had been exerted, his head feeling as though it were going to explode.
    What the hell was he dealing with? The file had said that Aba had committed multiple murders, but they all looked like suicides. Tony hadn’t really put too much stock into those reports, but he was quickly changing his mind.
    His hand came up, rubbing at his neck as Tony pushed back onto his knees, gun still in hand. He glanced at the door, but it was closed and the feeling of someone watching him in the darkness was gone.
    Tony sat on his ass, his back against the bed as he wondered how he was going to capture someone who could make him want to just walk away and forget about this case.
    Good thing he was a stubborn ass bastard who never gave up.
    Tony stared down at his Glock. It used to be a solid, comforting weight in his hand, but now he only saw it as a tool for Aba to use against him. He finally pushed to his feet, swaying a little.
    He sat down on the side of his bed, staring down at the gun he had fired very few times over the years, and wondered if the next bullet fired would be into his own head.
    The thought was sobering, but Tony was not going to run away and allow Aba to go unpunished. If Tony scared that easily, he wouldn’t have advanced as far as he did in his career.
    No, for better or dead, Tony was in this until the job was done.
    Awake now, Tony grabbed the file he had on the styre mente and began to pore over the notes again. He grabbed the small notepad and pen from the side table with the motel monogram and began to make notes of his own. It was after six when he finished