Page 44 of Kane's Bounty
She slumped in the arms of the soldier holding her as Banta released her head. Lena’s eyes closed.
“The grandmother has them,” Banta said.
The soldier dumped her into the chair, where she curled into a ball. Her walls were back up, but Kane has sensed she was still whole inside before she’d cut him off again.
Rage burned white hot in Kane’s chest. He wanted these people dead. Every cell of his body yearned for their throats crushed under his fingers, the man who approached him now most of all. He vowed he would see Oscar Thorn dead or wishing he was.
Thorn smiled down at him. “Save your anger, Mr. Lakeland. You should start your prayers now. I’m sure you have quite a few sins to repent for.”
“I’ll have more before this is done.” Kane’s voice was just above a whisper, but the intensity trilled in the air.
Thorn backed away a step. “Kill him, but don’t make a mess. Take her to her room. Troth, get me the old woman and my stones.”
“Yes, Mr. Thorn.” Banta didn’t glance at Kane. He gave his men orders and left with two of them.
One lifted Lena and carried her limp body out of the study. Thorn left through another door behind his desk. Three soldiers grabbed Kane and dragged him from the room, down a flight of steps and into a concrete basement.
He stopped struggling. There was no point. He hadn’t seen a silencer on any of their weapons. They were not likely to shoot him in such a residential area. People would hear the guns and call the cops. That was the last thing Thorn would want when he was so close to getting his way.
Two of them dragged him to the center of the dimly lit, musty room. They held him while the third unlocked the handcuffs and re-shackled him in the front. Then they lifted his arms and looped the chain of the handcuffs over a large utility hook that was screwed into a crossbeam. The tips of Kane’s toes still touched the floor, but his ribs and shoulders ached in this position.
The third soldier had light skin and blue eyes. He watched the other two string Kane up. He pulled a long knife from the sheath strapped to his leg and tapped it against his palm. None of them had any real Psi talent. They were just hacks who could sense strong emotional outbursts perhaps a second before they manifested externally. It made them better soldiers, but they were no match for a talented telepath.
“You Psi-Alignment guys all think you’re something special,” the blue-eyed soldier said as he approached. “Look at you now. Like a lamb to the slaughter.”
One of the other two, a dark-skinned young man said, “Just do him, Dink. Don’t make an ass of yourself.”
The third was smiling and looking from Kane to Dink with wide, excited eyes.
“I’m going to make an ass of this joker. He’s going to beg me for death by the time I’m done with him, Luke.”
Luke shrugged. “Then you’re going to clean up the mess you make. I’m not.” The third one giggled madly.
Dink came closer, lifted his knife and cut a small slit under Kane’s ribs on the left. “Beg me. Bitch.”
Kane felt the sting, but ignored it. He kept his mind quiet and his eyes focused on
Dink. “I don’t have to beg. How’d you get that name, Dink? Got a tiny weeny, do you?”
Fury filled the weak-minded soldier. He lifted his right arm to strike. Kane pulled his legs up, wrapped them around Dink’s neck and squeezed until he felt the pop.
The other two rushed him as Dink’s lifeless body crumpled to the floor. Kane used the crazy, giggling one’s shoulders to push himself up and over the edge of the hook keeping him off the ground. As he fell, the crazed soldier fell too. Kane pulled the chain at his wrists around the boy’s neck from behind and crushed his throat. Then he turned to the African American soldier.
Kane circled the young man, looking for an opportunity to strike. “If you run now, I’ll let you live, Luke. No need to die for the asshole upstairs.”
Luke’s eyes widened and then narrowed. “I can’t do that.”
“Too bad.” Kane ran forward and slammed his forehead into Luke’s head. The kid went down in a heap. He was still breathing, but would likely be unconscious for a while.
He found the key to the cuffs in the pouch on Dink’s belt and released himself. The knife wound was only a scratch. He had a knot on the front of his head. He touched it briefly and looked down at the only living soldier on the floor and shook his head.
After taking Dink’s knife, he moved upstairs to find Lena.
