Snake Eyes (9781101552469) Read Online Free

lamplight.
    â€œI am sorry for your loss, Mr. Garaboxosa,” Brad said.
    â€œYou call me Mike, eh?”
    â€œMike,” Brad said, a wry curl to his lips
    â€œThen you will come with me to the mountains?”
    â€œI will,” Brad said. “Somebody’s got to take this Schneck down a notch or two.”
    Pendergast brightened as Garaboxosa offered his hand to Brad and the two shook hands.
    Then Harry walked to a large cabinet and opened it.
    â€œI have a present for you, Brad. I bought it from my gunsmith this morning, at Mike’s suggestion. I hope you like it.”
    Brad turned his head to see what Harry was taking out of the tall cabinet.
    Pendergast carried the object over to the couch and handed it to Brad. It was a black leather sheath polished to a high sheen, out of which jutted the polished curly maple stock of a sawed-off shotgun. Brad pulled the double-barreled weapon from its boot and stared with wide eyes at the cross-hatched pair of hammers, the graceful trigger, and the bluing on the barrel that shone with a lustrous glow as he turned it in the lamplight. There was no front sight, nor a rear one. This was a gun for killing man or beast at close range.
    Harry reached down and picked up a box of shot shells. He handed them to Brad.
    â€œDouble-ought buckshot,” he said.
    â€œIt’s a beautiful weapon, Harry,” Brad said, still stunned at the gift. “But why? Why give me this gun?”
    â€œIt’s a Greener, but my gunsmith filed down the sear. Those are hair triggers. Just a slight pull will set it off.”
    â€œIn the mountains,” Garaboxosa said, “we all carry these short shotguns because there are many trees and snakes, wolves that come after the sheep, and sometimes the bears and the mountain lions. We have the long rifles, too, but we use the shotguns when the danger is close or prowling among the pines and the junipers.”
    Brad set the gun and its case down and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a folded letter and held it out to Pendergast.
    â€œHere’s my letter to Felicity, Harry. Will you send a note that I won’t be back home for a while? And, don’t read what I said to her. It’s private. Between man and wife.”
    â€œI won’t look at it, Brad. And I’ll write Felicity a nice note explaining that you are on a special case that might keep you here for several days.”
    Garaboxosa grinned.
    Lomax sniffled as his tears dried up and stopped flowing.
    â€œDo you need any ready cash before you go, Brad?” Pendergast asked as he strode to his desk.
    Brad shook his head.
    â€œI expect Mike will feed me and give me a place to lay out my bedroll, right, Mike?”
    â€œYou will not need money. But if you capture Schneck or kill him, I will pay you a bonus of five hundred dollars. Just to you, Brad. Not to Mr. Pendergast.”
    â€œI hope I don’t have to kill him, Mike.”
    Garaboxosa reached over and picked up the shotgun.
    â€œDid you tell him the name of the gun, Harry?” he asked.
    â€œNo, thought you might do that, Mike.”
    â€œThe shotgun has a name?” Brad asked.
    â€œHarry and I named it this morning, when he showed it to me,” Garaboxosa said, a smile on his face.
    â€œTell him its name, Mike,” Harry said.
    â€œSnake Eyes,” Garaboxosa said. “Look at the barrels.”
    He set the shotgun on the floor butt-first, and Brad stared at the twin muzzles. They were dark and ominous, like eyes that could kill.
    Pendergast picked up something from his desk and walked over to the couch. He knelt down and shook the objects inside his closed fist.
    He threw two dice onto the floor.
    Brad stared at the white cubes, each with a single dot in the center.
    â€œThese are loaded dice from a case we were on some months ago involving some cheating gamblers. The gamblers would palm these and switch dice when a pigeon was winning. They always come up