“Kind of funny,” Will said. “The software company hired a hit man with a bug inside his fucked-up hard drive.”
The low chuckle rumbled out of Chambers’ chest again. “They offered to pay me in stock. I took cash, and it’ll be offshore waiting for me. Unfortunately, they’re pretty sure the doc made a copy of some incriminating documents and gave them to someone for safekeeping. Obviously I’ve got to get them back to get paid. What are you doing, Borders?”
“It’s hot.” Will undid his necktie and tossed it to the floor. He didn’t want Chambers to use it later to choke him. Chambers wasn’t paying attention. He returned to the shelf, put down the SIG and retrieved Dodds’ nine millimeter Smith & Wesson.
“Do be comfortable,” he said. His tongue flicked out of his mouth. “I lied. I wanted the two of you down here tonight so I could kill old Dodds here. You know how many cops eat their service weapons. The despair of the job and all that. And I was going to take a little road trip with Cheryl here and get the information I need. Hell, if I was in the mood, I was going to stop by your room,” he looked at Will, “and smother you with a pillow. Sleep apnea’s a real problem. Then I’d be free and clear. It was all going to be nice and neat, no loose ends. Mason would still be in jail for killing the lady doctor. But you had to show up again, Borders.”
Will fought back the panic smashing against his chest. “I just have an asshole detector and have to follow it, Marion.” Chambers glared at him with hate, his eyelid nervously fluttered, and suddenly Will felt a strange calm inside himself.
“After I take care of Dodds and handcuff Cheryl, you and I are going to settle up,” Chambers said. “This will be pleasure, not business.”
He strode to Dodds, chambered a round in the pistol and, using the gloved clown hand, brought it up to his temple. At that instant, Will used every molecule of his adrenaline to launch himself out of the chair. With a sharp exhale, he shot straight out toward Chambers, who desperately tried to re-aim the gun at Will. But they were now too close. Will’s legs started to give way-damned legs, damned spinal cord!-but not before he fired a savage uppercut with the heel of his hand.
It connected with the base of Chambers’ jaw with a snap and bony crunch, and he lurched backward onto the floor. The nine came out of his hand and slid all the way to the door. Will fell forward like a bag of potatoes, breaking his fall with his hands. He fought to disentangle himself from the footrests of the wheelchair. He relied on his strong right leg, using his right foot as a hook to catch the left and pull it free. Then he was flat on his belly, trying to crawl an eternal distance to the gun.
“Will, watch out!” Dodds yelled. Chambers was on his hands and knees, slowly shaking his head. Then he stood and advanced on Will. “I’m gonna kill you,” he slurred. His shadow was over Will when glass shattered. Chambers wobbled to the side. Cheryl Beth had grabbed the Tiffany lamp from the desk and struck his head. But it was not enough. He delivered a brutal backhand and Cheryl Beth careened into the wall, hitting her head. Her eyes were closed and she didn’t move.
Pain exploded in Will’s side and a second later another kick came. Bright lights flashed around the edges of his eyes…he thought he was going to throw up. He fought to breathe. The foot came again and Will deflected it, getting the surgical footlet in his hand. Then his scalp erupted in fire. Chambers pulled him up by his hair and smashed him in the eye. He went momentarily blind, felt dizzy, and his cheek and eye socket burned in agony. Something felt loose in his face. Chambers was cut and bleeding from the lamp. The look in his eyes was the devil’s, the last look those women saw, that Theresa saw.
He picked up Will and shoved him into a cabinet. Another cascade of pain blasted through his back. Will was showered by a mass of used needles and other medical flotsam. The red hazmat disposal box had come down on him and split open. He tried to get to his knees, every joint aflame, but Chambers kicked him again. Will fell backward into the footrests of the wheelchair and he was trapped. Chambers spun wildly around, as if another adversary might appear. Then his eyes focused on the floor in front of Will.
“Goddamn.” He bent down, pushed aside the spent needles and picked up a computer disk. He looked as if he had discovered buried treasure. “This is where she hid it.” He stood and glanced back at Will. “I’m done now.”
He put the disk in his pocket and his right hand changed to metal.
“He’s got brass knuckles!” Dodds yelled, trying to stand. Chambers slashed toward his face and Dodds collapsed back into the chair, then toppled to the floor.
Chambers turned to Will. “You’re not good enough to use a knife on. Now you’re gonna pay.”
He only needed two steps forward to start dismantling every bone in Will’s skull. It was just enough time.
Will twisted, screaming in agony. He fought to keep from passing out as he found the fanny pack attached to the side of the wheelchair and inside it the smooth, slim steel cargo he sought. He turned back just in time. As Chambers started to swing his fist in a wide haymaker, Will pressed the button on the switchblade. One second later he plunged the blade into Chambers’ right thigh.
The man emitted a sharp scream and tried to retreat. But Will now had hold of his leg, and as Chambers tried to step back, he carried Will with him. Will slammed and twisted the knife into the muscle, found bone, brought another shriek. Chambers fell on his back and Will climbed up him as if scaling a deadly escarpment. Will’s left leg was thirty pounds of dead weight, cramping. Chambers flailed with his brass-knuckled fist but Will grabbed his wrist, twisting it as hard as he could. The knuckles fell out with a clank. He held both Chambers’ hands to the cold floor.
Will felt the body under him writhing madly. Veins now standing out in his forehead, Chambers strained to use his good leg to push himself toward the door, toward the gun. His other leg spasmed ineffectually. The pasty skin of Chambers’ face reddened deeper every second. Will slid across his torso and smashed his right fist into Chambers’ nose, spewing blood like a fireworks burst.
“Kind of hard to move, cripple,” Will hissed, “now that things are a little more even between us.” He rammed his fist again into Chambers’ right eye, drawing more blood. “You like to hurt women, don’t you, Marion?” Will didn’t recognize the sound of his own voice. He reached behind him, twisting the knife again, and the room was filled with a sound as if an animal was being tortured. “How’s it feel to pick on somebody your own size, cripple?”
Chambers spat a viscous mix of blood and mucus into Will’s eyes and freed one fist long enough to connect with his jaw. Will wobbled, dizzy, but couldn’t be easily dislodged. Yet in an instant, Chambers’ hands were around his throat, trying to crush his windpipe. The room tilted before Will put his fists together, made a V with his lower arms, and rammed them into Chambers’ grip, breaking it.
He pulled in sweet air and his hands now found Chambers’ throat. He slammed his head against the floor and dug into the soft, warm flesh of the murderer’s neck, connecting with the harder tissue of his windpipe.
“Will Borders, don’t you dare kill him!”
It was Cheryl Beth, shouting at him. “You’ve been given the gift of life, and don’t you dare throw it away over him, over the past.”
Will stared into Chambers’ eyes, rage meeting rage, his fingers turning into a vise.
“You have a life to live, damn you!” He felt her on his back, trying to pull him off. “People need you!” Then her soft hand touched his cheek. “I need you.”
As if a spell had lifted, he released Chambers’ throat and heard him gasp for air. He lay unconscious but breathing.
Will fell backward onto the floor, and Cheryl Beth held him. “I got you. It’s going to be all right now…all right.”