Page 44 of Crocodile Tears
“I like a man who can think on his feet – you and I are going to get along very well, Sergeant Raine.” He reached out a long, gangly arm and plucked the puppy off Josiah’s head. “Now, as a reward, you can name her.”
“How about Hattie, sir?” he suggested. “She seemed to like sitting on my head just now.”
Hunt laughed. “I love it. Hattie it is, then. We won’t be stationed here for long – once we get out on the road again, I’ll be in sole charge of the convoy, and Hattie here won’t have to be hidden.”
“She can be our mission mascot, sir.”
“I like that idea. Good thinking.” Hunt shot him a smile that made Josiah’s stomach flip, then he reached out and touched his arm, sending a spark of electricity straight to his belly. “Sergeant Raine – please be careful in your new job. I’d appreciate it if you didn’t get yourself killed – I rather like you.”
Josiah glanced around the dark garage, feeling suddenly alone. Peter had always been such a vibrant force in his life, and the world felt cold and colourless without him.
He plonked himself down on the sofa in the living room andworked for a few more hours, going through the data file Reed had supplied, but found his mind wandering. He was unsettled by today’s date, by the case, and by Alexander Lytton – and there was only one place to go to deal with that.
The shabby gym down the road was open twenty-four hours a day. Winston, the night manager, looked up, saw him, and shot off a mock salute.
“Hey, Sergeant.” Winston grinned toothlessly. A wiry, dark-skinned man in his sixties, he had a squashed nose and a piece of titanium on one side of his head where his skull should have been. They’d bonded one night over a sparring session and shared memories of the army.
“Corporal.” Josiah fired back a casual salute in return.
“Haven’t seen you for a bit,” Winston said, handing Josiah a locker card.
“Been busy,” he replied, avoiding the other man’s gaze as he took the card; they both knew why he was here. Josiah worked out on an ancient treadmill for a few minutes, warming up, and then did some abdominal crunches in deference to his waistline.
Winston wandered over and leaned on one of the exercise bikes beside him.
“You’re not fooling anyone, Sergeant,” he said, taking a long puff on his cigar.
“I could arrest you for that,” Josiah said, jerking his head at the cigar.
“Nah, I reckon you don’t get out of bed for nothin’ less than murder.” Winston blew a plume of smoke in Josiah’s direction. “But you ain’t here to work out on the ’chines and do sit-ups, man. Not at this time of night.”
“That so?” Josiah reached for his towel.
“Yup. You only come in at this time of night when you’re in the zone, and you only want one thing when you’re here.”
“You think I want to fight?” Josiah stood up, towering over Winston.
“Yup.” Winston gave him a sly smile.
He sighed. “You could be right. You got any action going on tonight?”
“Proper fight – bare knuckles – no rules?” Winston asked, with a gleam in his eye. It was illegal, but nobody cared about what happened after midnight in a rundown gym next to a lost zone.
“Yeah. Anything doing?”
“I think I could arrange somethin’. There’s a kid sparring next door who looks like he’d be up for it.”
“Fair fight, Winston,” Josiah warned. “I don’t want to…”
“Hurt anyone?” Winston grinned at him. “Ain’t that kinda the point, Sergeant? Youdowanna hurt someone. You wanna hurt someone bad, but dontcha worry – this kid’s Quarterlands scum, and they love fightin’.” He shot Josiah a knowing wink, then turned to go, chuckling to himself.
Josiah watched him go, hating himself. Every time he did this he felt terrible about it afterwards, but he needed it tonight.
Winston returned, beckoning him into the back room. A tall, dark-haired kid in his late teens was standing there, next to the boxing ring, taking off his gloves. He was fit and handsome, in a skinny, sharp-boned way.
A couple of other men were pounding away at punching bags, and there were a few more in the corner hanging out, smoking cigars.
The punching bag often gave Josiah the release he craved, but he knew he was beyond that this evening. Only real flesh and blood would do.
