“Ben Gordon.” He dropped his head forward again, and my brothers held him up by his upper arms. “Gordo.”
I nodded and waved my hand at Hero.
Together, Hero and Danger dragged Peter back toward the tank of box jellyfish. He began to fight again, kicking them and trying to swing his arms. Other men were already waiting beside the aquarium, and one on the right pressed the glowing blue button on the back that controlled the lid as Hero and Danger approached. The heavy glass lid retracted out of the way, turning on its side, then sliding into a slot beside the tank. Hero and Danger stopped. With the help of the men, they stripped Peter down to his boxer briefs while he continued to fight. A man would do anything to survive when he knew he was about to die, and I couldn’t help but appreciate the show of human nature at its best.
At the back of the tank was a wide set of steel stairs, and they dragged Peter up each step while he screamed and strained. When they got him to the top, they shoved him into the tank. Danger secured the heavy lid again with another press of the big blue button.
There was a small amount of breathing room between the heavy glass lid and the water. I didn’t want my enemies to die from drowning before taking the brunt of a jellyfish sting. Peter used the space to take deep breaths, his legs kicking at my pets as though it would help him, but it did the opposite. The jellyfish’s tentacles slapped the exposed skin on his legs, arms, stomach, and across his back, and he shrieked.
I stepped closer to the aquarium, satisfaction burning deep in my bones as I watched another traitor being stung to death. Tapping on the glass, I grinned. “These big fellas are Chironex fleckeri, or as you simpletons call them, box jellyfish, and they usually have fifteen tentacles on each corner of their body, which means they have up to sixty. These beauties each have enough venom to kill sixty adults.”
Peter ducked under the water and swam toward me, slamming a closed fist against the glass, but nothing he did would move it. We’d created a stable tank, cemented into the floor to ensure it couldn’t be toppled. The jellyfish lived up to their name, their translucent, flexible bodies bobbing and moving around him, as though having a human swimming beside them meant nothing. Their tentacles never got tangled because they were too slippery, and as far as we humans knew, they didn’t feel pain because they didn’t have brains.
They were perfect creatures.
I smiled and spread my fingers over the glass where his fist stayed. He was beginning to falter, and I could see the change in him by the way he twitched in pain.
“Unlike the Irukandji, these guys can kill you in minutes, as I promised. You won’t be in pain for long, not that you bloody deserve the generosity.” I shook my head and tapped the glass with my forefinger before I sighed and stepped back. I gestured at Hero, and he came rushing down the stairs and around the tank to meet me at my side. “When he dies, get one of the blokes to get rid of the body. Throw it in the ocean. Far as the cops are concerned, a jellyfish out in the water got him and he drowned. They’ll question the bruising, but they can’t prove anything. He’ll die from a heart attack or a brain aneurysm.”
Hero nodded. “Sure thing, Ledge.” He glanced toward Peter, who was clutching his chest with his mouth open. Bubbles spilled from his lips and his body spasmed from the amount of venom attacking his insides. “He won’t have long to go.”
“Yeah.” I patted Hero on the shoulder. “Mum’s made breakfast, so don’t take long. You know what she’s like.”
“Nah, yeah. I know. I’ll be there soon. Tell her not to get her knickers in a knot.” He winked when I grunted out a laugh.
“No man on this planet is brave enough to tell her that, especially not me. I like being able to breathe.” I shoved him and left the room, letting my men and brothers deal with the soon-to-be-dead Peter in the tank.
My office was on the middle level of the house, right beside the wide front door, which made bringing in prisoners a lot easier. The kitchen and dining room were up a level, so I ascended the black metal stairs to get to where Mum waited at the oak table. She had theTownsville Bulletinspread out in front of her, a pen clutched in her hand and her black-rimmed glasses on, as she completed a crossword, like she enjoyed doing every Saturday morning.
I strode over to her and kissed her cheek. “Mornin’, Mum.”
She looked at me, mouth pursed. Her gray hair was naturally wavy today, but it hadn’t always been that way. She’d had a long braid that went to the middle of her back, until she got cancer and it fell out from the chemo. Now that she was in remission, her hair was beginning to grow back, and it was much longer than it had been last year.
“Did you deal with the traitorous toad?” Mum asked.
I laughed and headed to the open-plan kitchen. The black marble benches gleamed from the sun that filtered through the door that opened directly onto a balcony. This high up on Castle Hill, we looked over the city of Townsville and toward the city’s main beach—The Strand. The sight was breathtaking, and I could appreciate it this early before the real heat began to set in and I would need to escape into the air con.
It was only 7:00 a.m. and the humidity was high, with the air pressing in on us. Living in North Queensland meant we got the tropical heat, and it wouldn’t be long before Mum closed the doors and switched on the air con. Everyone with sense lived with the air cons on in the summer.
“’Course I did. He went for a swim.” I grinned at her and grabbed the plate that she’d made for me out of the oven. There were two other meals in there, one each for Hero and Danger, so I left the appliance on low as I walked back over to the table. She’d cooked bacon and eggs, our favorite for the start of the weekend. It’d been a tradition to have this for breakfast since we were kids.
“Good.” Mum grunted in displeasure. “There’s nothing more disgusting than a snake in the grass. Slimy bastard. The fleckeri or Irukandji?”
I chuckled and took a seat beside her, immediately digging into the food. “Fleckeri. He gave us a name, but I still don’t think he’s the mastermind.”
Her eyes narrowed and she threw down the pen on the table. She took off her glasses next and laid them on the newspaper gently. “Who?”
“Ben Gordon.” I shoved eggs into my mouth and moaned at the burst of flavors. Whether it was from the memories of childhood or if it actually tasted good, I didn’t know or care. There was nothing better than Mum’s bacon and eggs.
“I don’t know who he is.” She frowned and pressed her hand to her mouth.
“He’s low level, a soldier who works under Diesel. Their stomping ground is in the north, mostly in Mount Low and Bushland Beach and as far up as Cairns.” I moved my bacon onto the piece of toast and squeezed some tomato sauce onto it, something I’d been doing since I was a kid. Every other day, I ate healthier, but Saturdays were my treat day.
“Should we be concerned?” She tapped her finger against the newspaper. “Because I can help.”
I chuckled and smiled at her. “No.”
She pointed at me. “Boy, if you think you are protecting me—”
