pruning shears above Harvath’s face and worked the dirty blades back and forth. “I think they’ll do the trick just fine. We’ll go slow so you can appreciate the entire show. I hear in parts of the world eunuchs are still hired to watch over harems. What a shitty job that would be, huh? Water, water everywhere and no mouth to drink it with. It’s up to you. Tell us what we need to know and once we have it confirmed, we’ll talk about making a deal. We’re holding all the cards.”
“Oh, yeah? Well you can shove the whole deck right up your ass.”
“I was hoping you’d say that,” said the man, with a twisted smile, as he righted Harvath’s chair and affected a perfunctory cleaning of the shears by wiping them on the sleeve of his shirt.
He had just begun cutting up Harvath’s left trouser leg, when another man walked into the kitchen and said, “Hold up on the prisoner.”
“And the good cop appears just in time,” quipped Harvath.
“Shut your fucking mouth,” said the man as he stopped clipping halfway up Harvath’s lower leg.
“There you go again. Let’s talk, no, shut up. Let’s talk, no, shut up . If you’ll let me call my editor, I’m sure she’d be happy to fax over a copy of that whole communications skills article.”
“You’re trying my patience,” said the man as he turned, “Why are we stopping?”
“Orders.”
“We don’t have time for this. Orders from whom?”
“Goaltender.”
“What does Goaltender care about this piece of shit?”
“A black Chevy TrailBlazer was found abandoned not far from Leighton’s house.”
“So?”
“They ran the plates. We’re supposed to uncuff the prisoner and make him comfortable until Goaltender gets here.”
“Goaltender is coming here? You’ve got to be kidding me. What for?”
“Apparently he wants to talk to the prisoner himself.”
“But that car could have easily been stolen. How do we know this is the guy it’s really registered to?”
“I described the prisoner to him myself and we also got a DMV photo match. Goaltender says to take the cuffs off, but not to let him out of your sight until he gets here.”
As his colleague left the kitchen, the man removed a key and unlocked Harvath’s cuffs. “It looks like I’m done asking the questions for the time being.”
“Then I’ve got more than a few of my own,” replied Harvath. “Why don’t we start out by you telling me who the hell you are and who you work for?”
“I’d take it easy if I were you,” said the man as he finished uncuffing Harvath. “Goaltender will be here soon enough and believe me, when he asks you a question, you’d better answer it.”
“Who the hell is this Goaltender? What is he some kind of a hockey buff?”
“Oh, don’t worry. You’ll recognize him the minute you see him. And keep in mind,” said the man, “that while he’s talking to you, I’m going to be on the other side of the room sharpening my pruning shears. All it will take is one nod from him and I’m going to finish what I started.”
“What’s to stop me from taking out your precious Goaltender? It seems to me it would have been smarter to leave my handcuffs on.”
The man smiled and said, “Part of me would like to see you try, but then again there’s part of me that wants at least a little piece of you left for myself. You’d never make it. They’d tear you to shreds. Goaltender has the best bodyguards in the world.”
Harvath had to laugh.
“What’s so funny?” said the man.
“That’s one area that I can guarantee my people do better than anyone else.”
“We’ll see,” said the man.
“You bet we will,” replied Harvath.
Chapter 15
A fter removing his handcuffs, Harvath’s interrogators gathered all of the equipment from the long table and left him alone in the kitchen. It only took a few minutes to confirm his suspicions that though nobody was in the room, he was still being watched. The entire kitchen was covered by
“Oh, yeah? Well you can shove the whole deck right up your ass.”
“I was hoping you’d say that,” said the man, with a twisted smile, as he righted Harvath’s chair and affected a perfunctory cleaning of the shears by wiping them on the sleeve of his shirt.
He had just begun cutting up Harvath’s left trouser leg, when another man walked into the kitchen and said, “Hold up on the prisoner.”
“And the good cop appears just in time,” quipped Harvath.
“Shut your fucking mouth,” said the man as he stopped clipping halfway up Harvath’s lower leg.
“There you go again. Let’s talk, no, shut up. Let’s talk, no, shut up . If you’ll let me call my editor, I’m sure she’d be happy to fax over a copy of that whole communications skills article.”
“You’re trying my patience,” said the man as he turned, “Why are we stopping?”
“Orders.”
“We don’t have time for this. Orders from whom?”
“Goaltender.”
“What does Goaltender care about this piece of shit?”
“A black Chevy TrailBlazer was found abandoned not far from Leighton’s house.”
“So?”
“They ran the plates. We’re supposed to uncuff the prisoner and make him comfortable until Goaltender gets here.”
“Goaltender is coming here? You’ve got to be kidding me. What for?”
“Apparently he wants to talk to the prisoner himself.”
“But that car could have easily been stolen. How do we know this is the guy it’s really registered to?”
“I described the prisoner to him myself and we also got a DMV photo match. Goaltender says to take the cuffs off, but not to let him out of your sight until he gets here.”
As his colleague left the kitchen, the man removed a key and unlocked Harvath’s cuffs. “It looks like I’m done asking the questions for the time being.”
“Then I’ve got more than a few of my own,” replied Harvath. “Why don’t we start out by you telling me who the hell you are and who you work for?”
“I’d take it easy if I were you,” said the man as he finished uncuffing Harvath. “Goaltender will be here soon enough and believe me, when he asks you a question, you’d better answer it.”
“Who the hell is this Goaltender? What is he some kind of a hockey buff?”
“Oh, don’t worry. You’ll recognize him the minute you see him. And keep in mind,” said the man, “that while he’s talking to you, I’m going to be on the other side of the room sharpening my pruning shears. All it will take is one nod from him and I’m going to finish what I started.”
“What’s to stop me from taking out your precious Goaltender? It seems to me it would have been smarter to leave my handcuffs on.”
The man smiled and said, “Part of me would like to see you try, but then again there’s part of me that wants at least a little piece of you left for myself. You’d never make it. They’d tear you to shreds. Goaltender has the best bodyguards in the world.”
Harvath had to laugh.
“What’s so funny?” said the man.
“That’s one area that I can guarantee my people do better than anyone else.”
“We’ll see,” said the man.
“You bet we will,” replied Harvath.
Chapter 15
A fter removing his handcuffs, Harvath’s interrogators gathered all of the equipment from the long table and left him alone in the kitchen. It only took a few minutes to confirm his suspicions that though nobody was in the room, he was still being watched. The entire kitchen was covered by
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