“Oh, sweet Jesus,” Henry sobbed.
Leon leaned into his ear to whisper, “Jesus had nothing to do with this.The devil takes its own.”He leaned back and looked at the section bleeding freely.“Damn, I cut too deep.”
John just shrugged.“Like you said, it’s been a long time since you did this yourself.”
“Si, but by the time I’m done, it will be like I never stopped.”Leon shrugged.Then he paused and studied the strip of skin he’d just taken and shook his head.“You’d better heat the blade.We wouldn’t want them to bleed out too quickly.”
John grumbled, “Damn, I hate the scent of burnt skin.”
All three heads turned as they watched him go to the cabinet and haul out a large, wide knife.He also picked up a blow torch then ran the blaze over and over the blade.Soon, the blade turned bright red and they could smell the blade being heated.
John walked over to stand behind Henry.He screamed as the blade touched his skin.He kept trying to escape the heat of the blade but John wouldn’t stop.The hot blade sealed the skin shut and the horrific stench permeated the area.
Henry fell unconscious as the pain was too much for him to bear.
Leon just snorted.Then he moved to stand behind Myron.
Myron sweated as he felt the knife Leon held touch his back.Then he closed his eyes almost as if he were praying and he whispered, “In my pocket...One of the men we met dropped a letter as he was leaving.No one else saw it but me.I picked it up after they left.”His whisper was raw and low.“I didn’t read it until later.”His voice faded into the silence.
Leon leaned near to his ear to ask quietly, “And why should I care about a letter?”
“I don’t know but you might want to read it.”Myron choked on his own spit.“It might give you a clue to who is behind this.”
Leon nodded at John.
John walked over to the pile of clothing.He sorted through the clothing and shoved his hand into the pockets then he drew out the letter.With a raise of his eyebrow, he handed the letter to Leon.
Leon opened the letter and began to read.The letter was written in Italian.He paused at this.Reading the words on the paper, his eyes went dark with rage.After a long tense moment, he carefully folded the letter and handed the knife back to John.Then he looked at his son in law and said, “Leave them where they are for now.I’ll be back to deal with them after I make a few calls.”
John nodded then dared to ask, “What did it say?”
Leon shook his head at him and said, “This betrayal goes deeper than we realized.I must speak to someone in Italy before they can set something up.”He turned and walked out the door.
John just shook his head and looked at Myron.“Why didn’t you say something before about that letter?”
Myron swallowed hard.“I heard the two men who busted us out tell Orlan and Walter about the disruption but as they walked away I heard them say something about setting up an assassination.I didn’t tell anyone about the letter because I didn’t know what it said.I couldn’t read it but I did hear them say something about a Mr.G.I had no idea what they were talking about so I didn’t say anything.”
Henry had his head slumped but he muttered, “You are a turncoat, that’s what you are.Whining and trying to make a deal because you can’t stand a little pain.You deserve to die for being a fucking coward.”
“Excuse me,” John quipped.“But didn’t I just hear you begging and pleading for a deal while Leon was skinning you?”He made a fist and slugged the other man in the mouth which in turn broke his jaw.
Myron paled and stared at Henry then he looked at John.
John just shrugged and said, “I was tired of him running his mouth.All smoke and mirrors.At least you had something to trade.”
