Blood Dues

As Ha

The young woman stiffened, shaking off the fears. Inside, she knew that she would do whatever might be necessary to avenge her sister, to become a part of Matador's unending battle.

And it finally seemed, in spite of everything, that she might have an active part to play in that crusade. She looked forward to the opportunity — and not without a trace of fear — but she would not permit John Ha

Her sister, Margarita, had died in this cause. Now Evangelina had a chance to live for it, and she was holding on with both hands, refusing to let go while life remained.

The Chevy was a loaner. Ha

He had not recognized the caller's voice. It had been a different voice from the one that had suckered him the day before, but Ha

It was the message that had riveted him instantly, compelled him to risk another ambush, violate the trust that had been placed upon his shoulders. He could hear the words inside his mind, as if the caller had been sitting in the back seat, whispering in his ear.

"You looking for some trucks? Some guns? I know where you can find them."

The caller had provided the directions for a meeting, and Ha

Of course, the meet could be another trap. He recognized the risk; his memories of his brush with death were vivid in his mind. He knew the possibility — hell, the probability — that he was walking into mortal danger... but at least this time he would be going into it with both eyes open, armed and ready.

The woman, now, she was a problem for him. Bolan had surprised him with her, dumping her into his lap that way. And Ha

The lady was a veteran of sorts, by Bolan's own admission. Ha

The way it had always been, sure.

They were following the Dixie Highway, crossing out of Broward County into Dade, when Ha

The tail was gaining. He could make out hostile faces behind the broad, tinted windshield. Reaching inside his jacket he drew the Colt Python .357 Magnum out of its holster and laid it on the seat beside him.

The woman saw his move and craned around in her seat, following Ha

And Ha

Their eyes met briefly, and he found something inside there that he had seldom seen in the eyes of combat-hardened veterans. Strength, a hard, indomitable will — all tempered by a healthy fear of what was coming.

Some lady, right.

They shared a fleeting smile and then his eyes were on the road, his mind fully occupied with their immediate predicament. He milked some more speed from the Chevy's straining engine, but the more powerful Caddy was chewing up the distance between the two vehicles. The crew wagon's grill was inches from their bumper now, and Ha

Just as quickly he saw the gun muzzles nosing up above the dashboard, recognized the automatic weapons back there and abandoned the idea.

Any chance they had remained in flight now. Standing still, they could only be cut to ribbons by the gun crew.

Suddenly the Caddy surged around them, gaining on the driver's side, pulling abreast. In his side mirror, then through the window itself, Ha

John Ha

He was tightening into the squeeze when the guns in the Caddy erupted, raking his Chevy with a shattering broadside. Glass flew everywhere, jagged shards embedding themselves in his cheek and throat. Bullets drilled through the door and bodywork, one of them tracing fire across his thighs, another boring deep into his side, reaming vital organs along the way.

Ha

On the seat beside him he heard Evangelina scream, then the car was plowing shrubbery under, straining at the leafy barrier and finally stalling out amidst the ruins of a demolished hedgerow.

Through a haze of pain John Ha

As if from far away he heard the engine ticking, slowly cooling down, and beneath the hood, a steady dripping from the hoses severed by the broadside fusillade. It might be gasoline, he knew, but suddenly it did not seem to matter.

Something was holding his legs down, and Ha

She had fallen toward him when the Chevy came to rest. Now her head was resting in his lap, her shoulder jammed against his forearm, pi

It took only a glance to tell the veteran of Homicide that she was gone. The bullet's entry wound above one eye was tiny, but the fist-sized exit pit behind her ear had taken everything inside and scattered it across the back seat of his loaner.

She was dead as hell, and rising through the pain, John Ha

The fingers of his right hand still were locked around the Python's grip, and Ha

The girl was out of it, and Ha

Reaching down, he tried to lift her head, and in the process saw that much of the blood pooling down between his legs was hers.

He was reaching for the door handle, when a hulking shadow loomed beside the car. A man-shape blotted out the sinking sun and cast sudden darkness across the wounded and the dead.