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THIRTEEN

Shane opened his mouth to protest, but a quick, hard look from me shut him up I told Lou to search him, and he found a cell phone in the kid&039;s jacket pocket It was one of those little kind, and Lou flipped it open, saying, "Kirk to Enterprise"

I took the cell phone and handed it to Shane "Call Benny"

"What?"

"Call your brother"

"I don&039;t-"

I slapped him hard across the face Tears welled in his eyes

"Don&039;t give ht now I&039;ll tell you what to say"

"Okay, okay" He dialed

I said, "Tell him this address Tell hi with your drug deal, and you need him to come here Tell me you understand"

"Sure I understand"

We waited

"Hello, Benny?"

I cocked his pistol and put the barrel against Shane&039;s temple

"Yeah, it&039;s me," said Shane "I need your help I had some problems with the drop"

Benny&039;s voice screeched on the other end, and Shane pulled the phone away froo into it right now" Shane glanced at ave Benny the address Shane said, "Hurry"

Benny showed up twenty minutes later I had Lou stand behind the door and open it I stood out of sight on the other side We made Shane stand in front of the door about ten feet inside the house where Benny could see him Shane still favored the bad knee

The door creaked open, and Benny walked in It never occurred to hiet his head handed to him

"What the hell&039;s this?" Benny asked Shane "Soht bill?"

He took threeall over the place for you, Benny"

Benny started at my voice, turned to look His eyes needed a second to adjust, then he saas me "Oh, hell"

Hehands fell on his shoulder

"Charlie, you got to lettown just when everything&039;s turning sour, but I can explain, I tell you"

"There&039;ll be a tis first You know the routine"

"Charlie, please"

I slapped a strip of duct tape over his mouth

We used the rest of the roll to tie Shane to a staircase

I thought maybe I&039;d tie Benny to a chair, but there wasn&039;t a single stick of furniture in the house Lou and I took Benny into the bathrooly sturdy We tied his hands up to the rod with strips of rag we&039;d found under the kitchen sink He looked scared, the blood gone from his face

He worked his , but I shookwould come later After we softened him up

I worked the ribs for a little while,hard into Benny&039;s side He took the shots hi not to give any spot particular attention, spreading the punches around his whole torso I stopped for a few seconds to shed liht, but this wasn&039;t a fight

Benny cried a little, and I let up

I pulled the tape off with one quick jerk "Where&039;s Stan?"

He dreheezing breath, like ice skates on a chalk-board I turned the shower on hi it wash over his face, hanging limply from the curtain rod

"Okay," I said "Let&039;s hear it"

"How much do you want to know?"

"Start when the Earth cooled, and I&039;ll tell you when to stop"

"It was Beggar Johnson," began Benny The water beaded on his bald head, dripped down and streaked his face, soaked his mustache "He came to me with an offer It wasn&039;t like I had a choice, Charlie"

"That&039;s bullshit"

"No, Charlie, no bullshit Really Beggar said Stan was finished in Orlando Young blood was coo soft or he ar put it He said o easier for everyone Geez, Charlie I ht What aar Johnson?"

"You could have coht of that I really did, but Beggar had Sanchez with hioing over to Beggar I got scared"

"You sold out"

"It&039;s not like that" Benny tugged at his bindings "They&039;re cutting off the circulation"

I shook ood to us, like a dad, Benny"

"There&039;sto like it," he said

"Talk"

"Stan was" Benny shook his head, groping for the words "So with him, Charlie"

"Shut up What do you know about it?"

"He&039;s a good man, but he wasn&039;t sharp anymore He wasn&039;t all there"

"I said shut up" My fists balled

"I&039; he&039;s senile just, I don&039;t know Old fashioned Beggar could see he wasn&039;t running the show right"

I got all hot up throughhe was I had to make him understand My teeth clenched My fists carateful fuck"

"They&039;re nurabbed a fistful of his shirt, held hi I started punching again, short jabs with the other fist One, two, three-

"Wait-"

Six, seven, eight-

"I just want-"

Ten, eleven, twelve-