Among Thieves Read Online Free Page B

agreed.
    Beck sat back. The wood chair creaked under his weight.
    He changed the subject. “So, thanks for this morning. You got out there and around those guys fast.”
    â€œBullshit. Not nearly as fast as I used to be. I got downstairs and through the basement, but that fucking hatch door to the street had so much ice and shit on it I could hardly get it open. And the fucking snow and mess between the buildings, shit. Next time I just go out the front door.”
    â€œNah. You did the right thing. You never want them to see you coming, Manny. Even if it takes a little longer.”
    Manny looked at Beck. The corner of his mouth lifted, conceding Beck’s point.
    â€œYeah,” he said. “I suppose.”

 
    3
    A tall, lanky man named Brandon Wright had just finished gently prying open Willie Reese’s nearly swollen-shut eye and examining it with a pen flashlight.
    Wright looked more like a cowboy than a doctor. He wore blue jeans, a flannel shirt, tan leather ankle boots. He had thick brown hair flecked with gray he didn’t bother combing. And he had big, sturdy hands.
    Wright worked with the calm, focused attention of a highly trained doctor who had spent seventeen years as an emergency room physician.
    Wright was a man of many interests: Eastern religions, quantum physics, French cuisine, art history. Right now, Willie Reese and his injuries interested him, and he took his time tending to them.
    James Beck sat at the bar, watching the doctor work on the large, muscular man who clearly had a very high tolerance for pain. Wright had already completed the excruciating maneuver required to position Reese’s broken septum. Watching it made Beck cringe. Reese barely uttered a sound.
    The doctor stepped back and just looked at Reese for a moment, his lips pursed, running through a silent analysis. Once he confirmed to himself he had done everything he could, he turned to Beck and started checking out his complaints, which were mostly about his collar bone and sore hands.
    Wright manipulated Beck’s left arm with a hand resting on his collarbone. He briefly looked at Beck’s hand and scuffed knuckles.
    Beck started to speak, but Brandon cut him off. “I don’t need the details.”
    He turned back to Willie Reese.
    â€œYou, sir, need to understand your injuries. Forgetting the contusions and all, I’m figuring probably two cracked ribs. That large elastic bandage I wrapped you with might help. I suspect you’ll take it off so you can breathe better, but…” Wright waggled a hand…” it’s probably not so bad if you do. Might mean less chance you end up with pneumonia.”
    Reese looked at the doctor with an expression that said he might be either thinking about punching him, or simply didn’t understand him.
    The doctor rephrased his comments.
    â€œKeep the bandage on if you want, take it off if you want.”
    Reese nodded once.
    â€œYour nose is frankly a mess. How many times have you broken it?”
    Reese shrugged.
    â€œWell, now the septum is broken, and the cartilage split up all to hell. And you’ve got lacerations in both nostrils. I’ve set it somewhat straight, but you really need to see a surgeon who can open the hood and properly repair that mess. Reset the whole thing, pack your nose, and give it six weeks to heal in place.” Brandon began writing on a prescription pad. “See this doctor. He won’t charge you much. Ice the hell out of it. Take ibuprofen, but nothing else.”
    Wright waited for any questions. Reese had none.
    â€œYour eye is the worst problem. Potentially. I’m writing down the name of an ophthalmologist. He’ll take cash. Do not avoid seeing him. You already have a subconjunctival hemorrhage, which is normally not a big deal, but you also have a deep scratch, perhaps some corneal damage, which raises the chance of infection. So don’t tough this out. You could lose