Midnight Sun (96 page)

“
Oh
,
shut
up
,
you
dickless
wonder
.
”
Kharzai
kicked
him
in
the
face
hard
enough
to
knock
several
teeth
loose
,
then
turned
to
Blue
and
pointed
to
himself
with
two
fingers.

“
Hey!
Eyes
here,
on
me.
”

Blue
started
for
the
gun
in
the
back
of
his
pants
,
but
Kharzai
poked
him
in
the
forehead
with
the
knife
handle
,
then
turned
the
blade
back
toward
him
,
flicking
it
between
his
eyes.

“
You
don
’
t
want
to
do
that.
I
will
kill
you
before
you
can
even
get
it
out.
Besides,
you're
being
promoted.
”

Blue
held
his
hands
up
in
surrender.
Kharzai
knelt
down
and
wiped
the
knife
on
Snake
’
s
pant
leg.

“
Nice
knife.
Lost
mine
earlier
today
,
so
I
’
ll
keep
this one
,
thank
you
very
much.
”

Snake
quit
screaming,
his
face
strained
against
the
waves
of
pain
that
coursed through
him
, life visibly draining out of him
.
Kharzai
looked
into
his
bulging
eyes.

“
In
case
you
are
wondering,
this
was
partly
because
you
tried
to
rape
those
two
women.
While
I
hate
rapists
with
a
passion,
and
think
that
men
like
you
should
have
their
minuscule
little-boy
penises
shredded
with
a
cheese
grater,
the
main
reason
I
have
killed
you
is
because
you
gave
away
our
position
to
the
other
side.
You
let
your
tiny
pee-pee
do
your
thinking
and
now
have
jeopardized
our
entire
mission
because
of
it.
I
am
putting
Blue
in
charge,
and
am
quite
certain
he
will
understand
the
deeper
implications
of
your
foolish
deeds.
”

Kharzai
rose
to
his
feet.
Blue
stared
wide
-
eyed,
his
mouth
half
open.

“
So,
now
you
know.
Blue
,
you
are
in
charge.
Do
you
feel
empowered?
”

Blue
nodded.

“
Good,
”
Kharzai
said
as
he
handed
him
the
package
of
bills.
“
Here
is
twelve
thousand
dollars.
I
need
you
to
get
a
total
of
four
of your
most
faithful
men
and
bring
them
to
this
address
.” He
reached
into
his
pocket
and
handed
him
a
small
piece
of
paper
. “To
night
at
seven.
If
they
do
what
I
ask
,
each
man
will
get
four
bundles
just
like
this
one.
 
That
’
s
forty
-
eight
thousand
dollars
each.
All
for
a
few
hours
of
work.
”

Blue
took
the
package,
his
attention
no
longer
on
the
nearly dead
Snake.

“
Only
get
men
I
can
trust
to
be
diligent.
Or
you
will
end
up
shedding
your
life
like
the
Raunchy
Reptile
here
.
”
Kharzai
motioned
toward
the
man
who
was
sucking
his
final
few
breaths
in
short
,
sharp
gasps
that
kicked
tiny
plumes
of
dust
up
from
the
ground
in
front
of
his
face.
“
Speaking
of
which,
take
his
body
somewhere
and
dump
it.
I
am
sure
you
have
places
like
that
somewhere
around
here.
”