Exclusive Excerpt from Nightway Chant
by M.J. Calabrese
“You are an enigma, Dr. Coulter. Oh, and you can drop the frightened abused spouse act. Like I said, I’ve done some research on you.”
Adam slowly raised his head as a grin formed on his face. Any signs of fear disappeared from Coulter’s eyes. “All right. It was getting a bit tiresome to keep up anyway. So why do you want to kill Eagle?”
“Oh, you know. Revenge. Hate. The usual crap.”
Adam shook his head and smiled, “Don’t bullshit me, Dean.” If he could’ve shrugged, he would’ve. “Tell me the truth. In the long run, you’re going to kill me anyway so who would I tell.” His smile broadened, “Remember the saying, the truth shall set you free.” Adam took a deep breath then stretching his right index finger out, he began to tap the chain holding that wrist. Slowly, rhythmically, he kept tapping. He lowered his voice. Making it deeper and softer. “Come on, Dean, consider me your father confessor. Look at me and tell me.”
Dean stared into Adam’s eyes for a moment before his gaze slipped on up to the one moving finger. He tilted his head. His brain unconsciously focusing on it. Adam’s monotone voice droned on, getting softer and softer. He began to answer Adam’s questions, casting caution to the wind.
“Eagle was my mentor. He was my lover. My protector, in the beginning.” Dean paused; eyes still fixed on that one point above his captive’s head. “Everything I did. I did for him. He understood me. He listened to me. He loved me… until Corporal Javier Duran came along. He was younger and prettier. I tried twice to kill him, but Eagle always got in the way. He protected him. That was when I knew he was going to leave me. He got the kid transferred out of our unit about a month after he got there. I tried to find him, but they made him disappear.”
“Who made him disappear?”
“Eagle and the Colonel. Duran’s the next one on my list. I killed all the others. Mims, Presnell, Torres, Mako, Kinzer, Rayne, Lee. All gone. Told them I would. Told them I would kill them and their families…, and I did.” Dean’s eyes drooped but weren’t quite closed. “Only Eagle, Duran, and the Colonel are left.” Dean’s voice softened as he began to drift off. He heard Adam’s calm voice but couldn’t make out what he was saying. His words trickled over him like a babbling brook. It was soothing and warm as he began to slip beneath the surface of Adam’s words until there was silence. He could feel himself breathing. He could still hear the barely-there tapping, ticking off the seconds. He could hear his captive’s whisper.
Suddenly a sharp report tore him out of his calm. Pulling his gun from his waistband, he scanned the room, finger on the trigger as his heart rate raced. It took him a moment to realize where he was and who the man hanging in the middle of the room was. Slowly lowering his weapon, he turned back to Coulter with a grin. “Oh, you’re good, Doc. You almost had me, you sneaky bastard.” He raised his gun, pointing it at Adam’s head. “I should kill you for trying to hypnotize me. Too bad you got interrupted by that truck backfiring.”
Adam slyly grinned, “Oh, was that a backfire? How do you know I didn’t finish the job? How do you know I didn’t plant something in your arrogant, fucking brain, asshole? How do you know for sure?”
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