Rain Gods (Hackberry Holland 2)

?You don?t think I?ll pick it up??

?Show me.?

Nick rested his hand in the drawer. The steel frame and checkered grips of the nine-millimeter felt solid and hard and reassuring as he curved his fingers around them. He lifted the gun out of the drawer. ?It?s light. You took the clip out.?

?It?s called a magazine. It feels light because you?re scared and your adrenaline gives you strength you normally don?t have. The firing mechanism has a butterfly safety. The red dot means you?re on rock and roll. Pull back the hammer.?

?I don?t want to.?

?Do it, little fat man. Do it, little Jewish fat man.?

?What did you call me??

?It?s not what I call you. It?s what Hugo calls you. He also calls you the Pillsbury Doughboy. Fit your thumb over the hammer and pull it back, then aim the front sight at my face.?

Nick set down the gun on the desk blotter and removed his hand from the grips. He was breathing audibly through his nostrils, his palms clammy, a taste like soured milk climbing into his mouth.

?Why cain?t you do it?? Preacher asked.

?Because it?s empty. Because I?m not here to entertain you.?

?That?s not why at all. Push the button by the trigger guard.?

Nick picked up the gun and squeezed the release on the magazine. The magazine fell from the frame and clunked on the desktop, the loading spring stacked tight with brass-jacketed shells.

?Pull back the slide. You?ll see a round in the chamber. The reason you didn?t point the gun at me is because you?re not a killer. But other men are, and they don?t think two seconds about the deeds they do. Those are the men I?m trying to protect your family from. Some of us are made different in the womb and are not to be underestimated. I?m one of them, but I think I?m different from the others. Is everything I say lost on you? Are you ignorant as well as corrupt??

?No, you make me want to blow your fucking head off.?

The door to the upstairs opened, and light flooded down the staircase. ?Who?s down there?? Esther said. Before anyone could answer her question, she descended the stairs, gripping an empty pot by the handle. She stared down at Preacher. ?Who are you??

?A friend.?

?How?d you get in my house??

?The side door was open. I?ve explained this. Why don?t you sit down??

?You?re one of them, aren?t you??

?One of who??

?The gangsters who have been plaguing our lives.?

?You?re wrong.?

?He?s about to leave, Esther,? Nick said.

?You?re one of those who abducted my husband,? she said.

?I wouldn?t call it that.?

?Don?t lie.?

?You shouldn?t use that term to me, madam.?

She stepped closer to him. ?The Asian women, the prostitutes, the illegals or whatever they were, you?re here about them. You?re the one who did it.?

?Did what??