Alex Kava Bundle - Alex Kava [163]
As they approached the final checkpoint he glanced at the rearview mirror. He almost jumped, startled to find their prisoner staring back at him. All Del could see through the thick slit of glass were the piercing black eyes, and they were looking directly at him in the mirror.
Del recognized something in the prisoner’s eyes, and a knot tightened in his stomach. He had seen that look years ago as a boy, on one of his trips accompanying his father. They had visited a condemned prisoner, who Del’s father had met at one of his prison fellowship meetings. During that visit, the prisoner had confessed all the horrible, unimaginable things he had done to his own family before he murdered them—a wife, five children and even the family dog.
As a boy, the details Del heard that day had been traumatizing, but even worse was the evil pleasure the prisoner seemed to get from retelling each detail and watching the impact on a ten-year-old boy. Now Del saw that same look in the eyes of the man in the back of the armored truck. For the first time in twelve years, he felt as if he was looking straight into the eyes of pure evil.
He made himself look away and avoided the temptation to glance back. He pulled out from the last checkpoint and onto the highway. Once they got on the open road, he could relax. He enjoyed driving. It gave him time to think. But when he took a quick left, Benny, who had appeared to be lost in his thoughts, suddenly became agitated.
“Where the hell you going? I-95’s the other direction.”
“I thought we’d take a shortcut. Highway 45 has less traffic, and it’s a much nicer drive.”
“You think I fucking care about nice?”
“It’s shorter by about thirty minutes. We get the prisoner delivered, and then we’ll have an extra half hour for lunch.”
He knew his partner wouldn’t argue with an extended lunch hour. In fact, he had hoped Benny would be impressed. Del was right. Benny leaned back in his seat and poured another cup of coffee. He reached over and punched the AC. This time, cool air began filling the cab, and Benny rewarded Del with a rare smile. Finally, he had done something right. Del sat back and relaxed.
They had left Miami’s traffic and had been on the road only thirty minutes when a thump rattled the back of the truck. At first Del thought they had dropped a muffler, but the thumping continued. It came from the back of the truck but inside, not underneath.
Benny slammed his fist against the steel partition behind them. “Shut the fuck up.”
He twisted around to look through the small rectangle of glass that separated the cab from the back. “Can’t see a damned thing.”
The noise grew louder, sending vibrations under the seat. It felt to Del as though a baseball bat were being swung against the truck’s metal sides. Ridiculous, really. No chance the prisoner would have anything remotely like a baseball bat. Each blast sent Benny reeling, grabbing at his temples. Del glanced over and saw the Polynesian dancer swinging her hips with each slam of Benny’s fist against the partition.
“Hey, cut it out,” Del yelled, adding his voice to the noisy din that was beginning to make his head pound.
Obviously, the prisoner had not been completely restrained and was ramming himself against the walls of the truck. Even if it didn’t drive them crazy during the rest of the trip, it could cause some serious damage to the prisoner. He certainly didn’t want to be responsible for delivering a battered prisoner. He slowed down, pulled the truck to the side of