Bite Me
Page 77
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Who? the older man pushed. Who do you talk to about Whitlans money?
Rob . . . Rob Yardley. Thats who I work with. Whoever his connections are, they talk right to Whitlan themselves.
Good, rich man. Very good. Now . . . you go back to hotel and to your pretty wife and lovely children. You stay there for night. By tomorrow . . . everything will be done. Clean like whistle. Several of the men walked into the house; Lyle had left the door open when hed fled. And, the older man said, you will keep mouth shut. You wont warn Yardley or anyone else. And you say nothing to police, yes? Because that would make us very angry. Not something you want, rich man.
As if to punctuate that, one of the men walked out of the house, a snake wrapped around his fist. That was disturbing enough, but then Lyle realized that the head of the snake was gone, the body just limp, and there was blood covering the lower half of the mans face. And the man was . . . chewing.
Lyle felt bile working its way up the back of his throat, his hand slapping over his mouth.
The older man laughed. Go, rich man. Go to your nice family. You stay out of this, and we wont be back, yes? And that make you happy. Never to see the likes of us again? He laughed again, slapped Lyle on the back, which almost had Lyle vomiting right there. Go, and be happy this will be worst of it for you.
Lyle did. He went back to his car, his wife and children at the hotel, and he triedfor the rest of his lifeto forget the last thing hed heard before hed closed the car door and driven away from the house he was already planning to sell.
The older man yelling out, Come, all my beautiful sons! It is time for us to feed!
CHAPTER 26
Vic had changed clothes. Not into anything too fancy. Just his black jeans, black boots, black sweater, and his knee-length black leather jacket. He figured that after the bout, he could take Livy out for dinner. Again, nothing too fancy, but nice.
He walked down the stairs and Livys cousin Jake came in the front door. He caught sight of Vic and stopped. Where you off to?
What makes you think Im going anywhere?
You shaved.
Really? I shave and that means Im going out?
Yes.
God, youre just like your cousin.
Jake smiled. She is me. I am her. Are you taking her out tonight?
She has a derby bout. If shes up to it after, I thought
Derby? Shen suddenly barreled out of the living room. Youre going to a roller derby bout?
Yeah.
Can I come, or do I have to stay here and keep an eye on the Jean-LouisParkers?
Well, since you completely freaked them out the last time I asked you to do that
Why did I freak them out? I didnt do anything.
You stared at them for three hours straight until they were forced to go to bed.
You said keep an eye on them . . . thats what I did. Its not my fault theyre sensitive jackals.
Im not going out tonight, Jake said. Ill make sure theyre fine.
Vic, satisfied with that since he knew how much Livy trusted her cousin, asked, Any word yet about Lyle Bennett?
Yeah. Jake yawned, scratched his neck. We got a name from him. It sounded vaguely fancy British.
Do you remember the name?
The badger thought a moment, then replied, Yardley. Rob Yardley. Any guy named Rob Yardley shouldnt be too hard to break.
No, Vic said quickly. Dont do anything yet.
You know him?
I know of him. Hes a gambler.
Thats even better.
No. Its not. Dont do anything until you hear back from me. Understand?
Jake studied Vic a moment, nodded. Okay.
Vic pointed toward the living room. And youll watch . . .
Its covered. Go. Have a good time.
Vic and Shen walked out of the house. Shen waited until they were halfway down the block before he asked, Who the hell is Rob Yardley?
A gambler who used to be under the protection of Grigori Volkov.
Shen stopped walking. Grigori? Hes under the protection of Grigori?
Calm down.
Calm down? Didnt you say that Livys family thinks a shifter must be involved?
It cant be Grigori.
Why? Because you like him? Because you went to his daughters wedding in Moscow? Because your mother calls him her little konfetka?
My mother calls everyone her little konfetka. It just means sweetie.
All Im saying is, I hope youre being smart about this. I know you like Grigori, Vic, but hes still a gangster.
Ill talk to him tomorrow.
That doesnt sound like youre being smart.
What do you want me to do? Let the Kowalskis meet with him? That can only end badly, and you know it. Ill deal with it. Tomorrow.
Okay, Shen agreed. But I really hope you know what youre doing.
Rob . . . Rob Yardley. Thats who I work with. Whoever his connections are, they talk right to Whitlan themselves.
Good, rich man. Very good. Now . . . you go back to hotel and to your pretty wife and lovely children. You stay there for night. By tomorrow . . . everything will be done. Clean like whistle. Several of the men walked into the house; Lyle had left the door open when hed fled. And, the older man said, you will keep mouth shut. You wont warn Yardley or anyone else. And you say nothing to police, yes? Because that would make us very angry. Not something you want, rich man.
As if to punctuate that, one of the men walked out of the house, a snake wrapped around his fist. That was disturbing enough, but then Lyle realized that the head of the snake was gone, the body just limp, and there was blood covering the lower half of the mans face. And the man was . . . chewing.
Lyle felt bile working its way up the back of his throat, his hand slapping over his mouth.
The older man laughed. Go, rich man. Go to your nice family. You stay out of this, and we wont be back, yes? And that make you happy. Never to see the likes of us again? He laughed again, slapped Lyle on the back, which almost had Lyle vomiting right there. Go, and be happy this will be worst of it for you.
Lyle did. He went back to his car, his wife and children at the hotel, and he triedfor the rest of his lifeto forget the last thing hed heard before hed closed the car door and driven away from the house he was already planning to sell.
The older man yelling out, Come, all my beautiful sons! It is time for us to feed!
CHAPTER 26
Vic had changed clothes. Not into anything too fancy. Just his black jeans, black boots, black sweater, and his knee-length black leather jacket. He figured that after the bout, he could take Livy out for dinner. Again, nothing too fancy, but nice.
He walked down the stairs and Livys cousin Jake came in the front door. He caught sight of Vic and stopped. Where you off to?
What makes you think Im going anywhere?
You shaved.
Really? I shave and that means Im going out?
Yes.
God, youre just like your cousin.
Jake smiled. She is me. I am her. Are you taking her out tonight?
She has a derby bout. If shes up to it after, I thought
Derby? Shen suddenly barreled out of the living room. Youre going to a roller derby bout?
Yeah.
Can I come, or do I have to stay here and keep an eye on the Jean-LouisParkers?
Well, since you completely freaked them out the last time I asked you to do that
Why did I freak them out? I didnt do anything.
You stared at them for three hours straight until they were forced to go to bed.
You said keep an eye on them . . . thats what I did. Its not my fault theyre sensitive jackals.
Im not going out tonight, Jake said. Ill make sure theyre fine.
Vic, satisfied with that since he knew how much Livy trusted her cousin, asked, Any word yet about Lyle Bennett?
Yeah. Jake yawned, scratched his neck. We got a name from him. It sounded vaguely fancy British.
Do you remember the name?
The badger thought a moment, then replied, Yardley. Rob Yardley. Any guy named Rob Yardley shouldnt be too hard to break.
No, Vic said quickly. Dont do anything yet.
You know him?
I know of him. Hes a gambler.
Thats even better.
No. Its not. Dont do anything until you hear back from me. Understand?
Jake studied Vic a moment, nodded. Okay.
Vic pointed toward the living room. And youll watch . . .
Its covered. Go. Have a good time.
Vic and Shen walked out of the house. Shen waited until they were halfway down the block before he asked, Who the hell is Rob Yardley?
A gambler who used to be under the protection of Grigori Volkov.
Shen stopped walking. Grigori? Hes under the protection of Grigori?
Calm down.
Calm down? Didnt you say that Livys family thinks a shifter must be involved?
It cant be Grigori.
Why? Because you like him? Because you went to his daughters wedding in Moscow? Because your mother calls him her little konfetka?
My mother calls everyone her little konfetka. It just means sweetie.
All Im saying is, I hope youre being smart about this. I know you like Grigori, Vic, but hes still a gangster.
Ill talk to him tomorrow.
That doesnt sound like youre being smart.
What do you want me to do? Let the Kowalskis meet with him? That can only end badly, and you know it. Ill deal with it. Tomorrow.
Okay, Shen agreed. But I really hope you know what youre doing.
