LITMIR.BIZ

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and she could almost taste him, wishing he were inside her.

      Finally he kissed her again. She responded with a lustful hunger but felt him pull away.

      “I’m sorry,” she murmured. “I keep forgetting you’re injured. Did I…”

      His placed his finger lightly on her lips, shaking his head. “No, you didn’t hurt me,” he said softly. “I just want to remember this moment forever.”

      Their mouths found each other again and her passion grew with intensity until it exploded when she felt him inside her. When they were finished, she lay with her head on his chest, enjoying the feel of his hand as he continued to caress her body.

      She was not totally unaccustomed to making love, but it had never felt so good and so right in all her life as it did tonight. Her body tingled again under his touch and soon she was aroused to a passion that, until now, was something she thought existed only in books and the fantasies of others.

       chapter twenty-three

      Lance Morgan locked the public door from inside his arcade and walked to his office in the rear. It was mid-week, and business had been slow. He flicked off the lights and opened the rear door leading into a small parking area behind the arcade.

      The barrel of a shotgun rammed deep into his belly below the rib cage. He doubled over, his lungs paralyzed as his knees sunk to the floor. Danny stepped forward and with his free hand grabbed Lance’s hair and sent him sprawling backwards. Jack followed and flicked on the light to the office as the door swung shut behind him. He also carried a shotgun with a metal folded stock.

      Lance looked up from the floor, still trying to catch his breath, and gasped, “Take it, guys, no need to hurt me. It’s only about four hundred bucks. Mostly coin. I’ll open it for ya,” he said, waving his arm toward a small safe in the office.

      “You don’t remember me, do ya?” Jack barked out the words while stepping closer and sticking the barrel of the shotgun into Lance’s crotch.

      Lance used his hands and feet to edge himself backwards on the floor. He stopped when Jack pushed the shotgun deeper into his crotch. His eyebrows furled as he stared up at Jack.

      “One week ago, behind the Black Water,” Jack added.

      The blood drained from Lance’s face. He whispered, “You’re Eddy!”

      Jack smiled down at him. “So, how does it feel to be on the receiving end?”

      “You ought to know,” said Lance bitterly. “Live by the gun, die by the gun. Just do what you came here to do, man. I had nothin’ against you personal, so just kill me an’ get it over with.”

      “Tell you what,” snarled Jack. “Tell me why you tried to kill me and maybe I’ll consider letting you live!”

      “Yeah, sure you will,” said Lance sarcastically. “Besides, you know the answer to that yourself!”

      “I want you to tell me!”

      “You’re a rat!”

      “Who says so? Who told ya I was?” snapped Jack.

      “I don’t know, I was just carrying out orders,” replied Lance defiantly.

      “From who? Who were the two guys with ya? Fuckin’ talk, man, or I’ll blow ya away right now!”

      “Fuck you. You’re gonna do me anyway. I’m not sayin’ nothin’, so you might as well get it over with!”

      Jack raised the shotgun and pointed it directly at Lance’s face. Lance glared back. When he saw Jack’s finger slowly squeeze down on the trigger he closed his eyes. The seconds ticked by. When he opened his eyes he saw that Jack had lowered the shotgun.

      “I got some news for you, Lance. I’m not going to kill you. But I might arrest you!”

      “You what?” asked Lance, looking confused.

      Jack and Danny produced their badges.

      “You guys are cops!” A nervous laugh escaped his lips.

      “Yes, I’m a police officer. My real name is Jack Taggart. For attempting to murder me, you could be looking at a long time in the crowbar hotel.”

      “Oh, man,” said Lance, shaking his head, “I didn’t know you were a cop! I thought you were just a rat.”

      “Well, this could be your lucky night, Lance, because if you become a rat, we’ll forget the whole thing!”

      “What? You’d let me off tryin’ to kill ya? Just for me to rat out?”

      Jack nodded. “Yeah, but you’d be working for us for the next ten years. I think that’s fair. You’d be ours, body and soul. You lie to us just once or try an’ hide something from us and we feed you to the wolves!”

      Lance reflected on the proposition, then gestured to a picture on his desk of his wife and four children. “I can’t. Go ahead and bust me. I got them to think about.”

      “You’ve got my word. I will never arrest anyone or do anything if I think it will jeopardize your position. Once we haul you out of here it’s too late to change your mind. You could be looking at life in prison. You won’t be any good to your family in there.”

      “Thanks, man, I appreciate what you’re sayin’, but no, I’m still not turnin’ in my brothers.” He gave a weak smile, then added, “As they say, don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time!”

      Jack picked up the picture of Lance’s wife and children. “I’m no psychic, but I have a feeling that if you don’t cooperate, you’ll be a widower soon.”

      “What are you talking about?”

      “If you don’t cooperate, I’ll arrest you now and charge you with stealing the car. Considering your record, you’ll probably get about six months in jail. I’ll put in a good word for you so you’ll be out as soon as you’re eligible.”

      “You’re only going to charge me with stealing the clunker?” Lance gave Jack a puzzled look.

      “Later tonight,” continued Jack, “we’ll pick up Wizard and Rolly and charge them with attempted murder. They’ll end up getting life. Especially with the parole reports I’ll do on them.”

      Lance gawked up from where he sat on the floor. “What do ya mean? You already know who they are? I tried to kill ya just as much as…” He stopped talking when he saw the grim smile creep across Jack’s face.

      “You can’t! They’ll think I cut a deal with ya! That I gave ’em up to save myself!”

      Jack nodded. “Life’s a bitch, ain’t it! Your own brothers, as you call ’em, will do you just like Lenny. Except with you, they’ll probably take it a bit more personal. I doubt they’d kill you as quickly as Lenny.”

      Lance sat in a stunned silence, slowly shaking his head. Jack knelt down so they could look at the picture together.

      “Nice family. Tell me, I’m curious to see what will happen. You know your bros better than I do. If we see to it you serve your time in protective custody, where they can’t get at you … what do you think they’ll do?”

      “You fucking bastard! You know what they’ll do!”

      “Oh, well,” said Jack, standing up. “What did you say? Live by the gun, die by the gun? Well I have one you can tell your family: If you fly with the crows, expect to get shot at.”

      Lance’s face turned pasty white, and for the first time his trembling body betrayed his fear. He looked up and his voice quavered. “Okay, you guys win, but I gotta tell ya, you got someone on your side who’s talkin’. Someone big.”

      Jack and Danny looked silently at each other for a moment, then Jack turned back to Lance. “We

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