ClownFellas Read Online Free

thiopental intended for the lion’s anesthesia. If I am correct, say
What do you want for dessert? I’ll pick it up on the way home.
”
    “What do you want for dessert?” Earl didn’t bother saying the rest.
    “The first chance you get, I want you to inject Bozo with the stuff. It’ll be enough to put him into a coma, then he’ll die in his sleep. Use your phone to take a picture of his body and send it to me. Then figure a way out of there. If you understand, say
I’ll see you tonight.
”
    Earl didn’t say it.
    “Say
I’ll see you tonight.
”
    Earl looked behind him. Captain Spotty was leading a group of three clowns into the auditorium toward him. He wasn’t sure if any of them was the boss.
    “I’ll see you tonight,” Earl said.
    “When we get the picture, we’ll let your family go,” said the Frenchman. “You have one hour. Say
I love you.
”
    “I love you.”
    “I’m sorry, Mr. Berryman. I really am. If we were able to get close enough to Don Bozo we would have done it ourselves. But he’s just too well protected. It’s in your hands now. Remember, if you ever want to see your wife and children again, Don Bozo has to die.”
    Earl watched the clowns as they came toward him. None of the guys with Spotty were the boss. They were the boss’s bodyguards. Large clowns the size of bodybuilders, armed with .38s and caramel apples. Even if Earl succeeded in killing Bozo, there was no way he was getting out of there alive. The boss’s men would take him down before he got ten feet to the door. He was beyond fucked.
    The Frenchman said, “Say
Good-bye.
”
    “Good-bye,” he said, but the Frenchman was already gone. Earl was on his own.

Chapter 8
    Earl’s hands shook as he returned his phone to his pocket. His wife, his daughters, they were being held captive at gunpoint, their lives riding on him succeeding at something he couldn’t possibly accomplish. He wondered what was going through their heads at that very moment. Were they scared? Confused? Was his wife keeping their daughters calm or was she heightening their anxiety? One thing was for sure, if they all made it out of there alive Laurie was going to be pissed. That woman was not someone you ever wanted to see pissed.
    But strangely enough, the thought of how angry his wife would be only made Earl smile. He had no idea why, but he liked her when she was angry. It was how he fell in love with her in the first place.
    Back when he was in grad school, working toward a degree in wildlife medicine, he had a part-time job making corned beef sandwiches at a bagel shop and deli. The waiter kept moaning about this girl who wouldn’t stop yelling at him.
    “First, she’s pissed that we’re out of lox and whitefish salad. Then she’s pissed that we don’t take credit cards. She complains about the smell. Then she demands to switch tables because the one she was at was supposedly covered in poppy seeds and cream cheese, but it looked spotless to me. I’m telling you, the girl’s a grade-A bitch.” Then the waiter dropped everything to go out back and smoke a cigarette even though it wasn’t his break time.
    Earl nearly dropped the pastrami on the floor when a woman walked up behind him and said, “Where’s that lazy waiter with my food? I’ve been waiting out there for fifteen minutes!”
    When he turned around, he saw a woman who did not match her grating voice. She had short, curly hair tucked behind horn-rimmed glasses, and dark-blue eyes he could swim inside.
    Earl couldn’t believe the nerve of the woman. “What are you doing back here? You’re not allowed in the kitchen.”
    “I’m going to be late getting back to work. I’ve never had to wait this long for lunch in my life.”
    Earl wasn’t used to dealing with customers. He worked in the kitchen for a reason. “It’s busy at this time of day. We’re short-staffed.”
    “Save your excuses. Is my food ready yet or not?”
    Earl looked at his orders on deck. “Which one