Part 14 (2/2)
Freddy stared him back, positively livid. Tony could see it plain as paint, and he knew then that he would probably have to snap something in order to subdue his captive. He would not give it a second thought if he had to, and he brought up a very large fist to signal his intent.
”Gonna try for teeth too, are ya?” Tony spoke, his fist parallel with his cheek and thrumming ever so slightly in the air.
”You...” Freddy croaked through his pinched throat as his eyes rolled in the direction of the back seat, ”did... this.”
”I did this?” Lucy stated calmly, watching with a very doubtful gaze. ”He's the one that's got you by the throat.”
”G.o.dd.a.m.n fortunate I didn't grab him by the b.a.l.l.s,” Tony breathed. ”But I figured I'd go for the bigger target, y'know.”
”You... need... me,” Freddy wheezed out.
”You get the f.u.c.k out of this car. Right now,” and with that, Tony released the man, shoving him against the pa.s.senger door. ”And I don't need you. I still have the cash your buddy Tim gave me. You can be sure I'll be tellin' him of all the s.h.i.+t that's gone on since you've been with me, just so there're no secrets between us. Now, get out. Get.”
Looking like a demon poised to re-establish its dominance over its host, Freddy's form tensed up, and he bared some very white teeth. He felt his throat and ma.s.saged it briefly, and then decided it was best not to say anything. A smart move, Tony figured. If he had, Tony would have smacked the living s.h.i.+t out of him right then and there. He was barely keeping his whoop a.s.s in check.
Shaking with suppressed fury, Freddy reached up and unlocked the door. ”You'll see me, again.”
”Five,” Tony started.
A frown creased Freddy's face. He was getting a five count?
”Four.”
Shaking with anger, Freddy got out of his seatbelt and flung it back. Metal clipped off gla.s.s.
”Three, and if you cracked my window, I'll do a such f.u.c.kin' river dance on your flat a.s.s you'll feel as if you're squeezing tooth paste every time you take a s.h.i.+t.”
Freddy opened the door and got out. The rush of winter wind took some of the heat out of Tony, but he still wanted to be free of this p.r.i.c.k. He was trying really hard not to get out and go after him. Not with Lucy in the car.
”And don't you slam that door either,” Tony jabbed two fingers in Freddy's direction as if lasers would shoot out from them. ”Don't even think about it.”
Freddy obviously did think about it; however, in the end, he did not slam the door. He took one last furious look at Lucy and closed the door. Beyond the gla.s.s, he straightened up against the cut of the wind. Only his midsection was visible to those within the car.
Tony took his foot off the gas.
”f.u.c.k you, too,” he muttered and gunned the gas. They shot into the void of a very cold night, tail lights illuminating red snakes swirling on the asphalt.
Freddy watched the twin afterburners fading into the freezing night. He watched until the lights winked out, as if they had never existed at all. He stood there on the black surface of a frozen highway, in absolute darkness, and thought briefly that there probably wasn't anything darker than a winter's night. A s.h.i.+vering wind came up, flinging glacial chips into his face. It howled in his ears, trying to freeze his nerves as well as flesh and wanted nothing better than to see this piece of meat go mad with the desperation of being left alone in the middle of nowhere, at night.
Freddy inhaled deeply, h.o.a.rked and spat in its face. Frighten him? Take your best f.u.c.king shot, he thought savagely. He bared teeth, and dusted off the snow that had already gathered on his toque. He took the first step into the mouth of the building wind, marching right down its freezing throat. He meant to follow the highway as best as he could to wherever.
And d.a.m.n if he didn't hate walking.
Chapter 20.
No more than five minutes after leaving Freddy behind, Tony decided to speak. ”You can sit up front here now, y'know. If you want, that is.”
Back there in the darkness, two eyes flickered at him. ”No, thank you,” she said simply, her voice sounding like m.u.f.fled Christmas bells.
Suit yourself, he thought, but was glad of it. He wanted time to purge Fred's reek from his personal s.p.a.ce. To have the pa.s.senger side filled again so soon would not be wise.
”Wow,” Lucy finally said in mild awe. ”I suppose he had that coming? I mean, for you to just dump him like that. At night too. Out there. It's pretty cold out there.”
”He had it coming,” Tony a.s.sured her.
”What did he do?”
Tony tried to focus on the road. He squinted. He didn't want to answer the question.
”Anthony?”
”What?”
”What did he do?”
A tired smile spread across his face. The kind of smile that happens after a crisis has pa.s.sed. Freddy's supernatural a.s.s was gone. And this one in the back was more than a welcomed replacement.
”It's really not my business, but considering you did just leave the man on the side of the highway, it would make this pa.s.senger feel a little better. Actually,” she paused for a moment and looked up at the ceiling, ”a lot better. If you explained it to me. If it's not, you know, not too touchy.”
This one was not about to leave him alone. Tony sighed and checked his speed. What the h.e.l.l, he figured. ”He... scared me.”
Lucy allowed herself a moment to digest this. ”He scared you?”
”Yeah.”
”Threatened you?”
Tony glanced out his side window. ”No. Well, yeah. A little.”
”Did he have a gun or something?”
”It's hard to explain.”
”No gun, 'eh?” Lucy nodded, and then decided to let the matter go. ”We still going to Vancouver?”
Good question. ”Yeah.”
”I haven't decided yet if I want to head out that way with you or not,” she said.
”Ok, fine. You think about that then,” Tony said right back. He wanted a little bit of silence for the next few minutes regardless of how utterly delightful he thought her voice sounded. Christmas morning bells. There was a sentimental merriness in her voice. A note of innocent excitement. It actually made Tony consider turning around and picking Freddy up. He decided against it. If Lucy had anything to say, he figured she had already said it, and that was great. She didn't know about Fred or that f.u.c.ked up talent of his to make a person s.h.i.+t themselves without even looking at them. Tony still wasn't sure how he managed any of it, himself, but he knew this: he felt better and stronger the further he drove away from freak boy Freddy. h.e.l.l, he might even be able to eat something at the next roadside Irving if he could find one that was still open. He wasn't certain of the hours they kept outside of Nova Scotia.
”How long you guys been riding together?” Lucy decided to start again.
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