“Don’t take too long or I might run off with that one over there.” I tilted my head at Uhlig. “He was already making eyes at me.”
Uhlig chuckled, a dangerous sound that still managed to be mischievous.
Moose rolled his shoulders and stood tall, drawing away from my grasp. “You do what you have to do.”
My pride twinged, but before I could come up with a clever quip, he’d charged out through the doors with the unruffled blondie hot on his heels. I was confused because I’d half expected applause or cheering. Clearly, there was some illegal fighting going on. Probably a healthy exchange of dirty money, too. I hadn’t been to one of these things in New Gothenburg, but I had in other places. Like attracted like, and different types of bad men tended to congregate together. I’d been drifting around the country for a few years, going wherever my job took me—and unsolved crimes were highest.
Sometimes it was good to be at the top of your field. No one suspected the man wearing the crown of murder. Well, unless you were sloppy about it.
I wasnotsloppy.
It probably didn’t hurt that most cops weren’t in a huge hurry to solve the murders of known drug dealers. But I liked to think I was just that good.
Curiosity got the best of me, and I nearly bounced toward the doors Moose had vanished through. There were two round glass windows at eye level. In the other room, Moose circled the big guy who’d already brutalized the wretch dying over the drain. There was a row of what appeared to be stone tubs along the far wall, and the rest of the room was a circle of cement walls about seven feet high. Above was solid glass and beyond that rows of benches were filled with people looking down.
Joy and excitement swept the crowd as Blondie jabbed at Moose.
“Well, isn’t this place a horror fest,” I said cheerfully.
“It is! I love it! Officially, this used to be an observation room for medical procedures and other treatments.” Uhlig made air quotes. He adjusted his red tie as he came to stare out the other window and bounced on his heels. “Hell of an investment.”
“You own it?”
“Mm-hmm.”
The man over the drain groaned, and we both glanced in his direction, but he flopped and didn’t make any more noise.
“Think your toy died,” I said.
Uhlig shrugged, raising an eyebrow in my direction. If he thought I was going to get all squeamish and need to join the broken idiot on the floor, he had another thing coming. I would slit his throat before I became a victim.
Perhaps I had managed to communicate some of that by squinting at Uhlig because his eyebrows danced up and down. “Eh, probably passed out.”
“Unless he has a brain bleed. Or ruptured liver. Or spleen. Or intestines. It’s the internal bleeding that can be the hardest to predict.”
The corner of his lip curled into a sick parody of a smile. “Moron should’ve fought better. Or gambled smarter. He’s a waste. We’re doing everyone a favor.”
Intrigue hit me, a lightning bolt, almost the same way it had when I’d seen Moose sending people away from his table earlier, but it was of a different variety. While lust was mixed up in my game with Moose, it was my thirst for blood that was piqued by this man. But I wasn’t stupid. I didn’t want to get sucked into whatever was going on here. It was too brash, and my body count was too high.
I had plans to continue to live as a free man forever.
There was a shout from behind the doors, and we both swung around in time to see Moose land a vicious left hook that dropped Blondie to his knees. I glanced up. The crowd in the seating area stood and cheered and clapped, but none of the noise made it through the thick glass. It was eerily silent in the pit where Moose landed another punch to the man’s face.
Uhlig grinned at me. “Want a closer look at your boyfriend?”
“Does a bear shit in the woods?”
A heartbeat passed. Uhlig snorted. “If you have his luck—” He pointed at the man over the drain. “—they probably shit on your car. Come on.” He pushed open the doors, and we stepped out.
I felt exposed, but all eyes were on Moose as he dragged Blondie over toward the stone tubs, and I was shocked as he flipped Blondie inside the first one he came to. There was a splash that drenched Moose and splattered the floor around him. People rushed the glass and started pounding on it as Blondie flailed.
Moose held him under, muscled arms bulging.
Was it wrong that my dick was becoming an issue? Probably. Yes. Definitely. But I didn’t care.
“What in the world?” I said, taking another step forward.
“The tubs were used to torture the crazy out of the patients here back when this was a functional asylum. Cold water therapy.” Uhlig ran his thumb down his jaw, playing with the stubble.
