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CONTENTS
Acknowledgements
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
About the author
ADAM LANE SMITH
Maxwell Cain and Maxwell Cain 2: With a Side of Vengeance are copyrighted © 2020 by
(and property of) Adam Lane Smith.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents
are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any
resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, fictional persons, or actual or fictional events
is purely coincidental.
The elevator chimed and the sleek glass doors opened, freeing Max
and Kate to step from the brass-plated elevator car and into the
carpeted hallway leading to Kate’s apartment. They’d changed out of
their combat fatigues and into casual civilian wear, which meant
jeans and a white t-shirt for Max. Kate wore a modest blue sundress
with brown suede boots.
Max whistled as he scanned the framed oil paintings lining
the paneled walls to her heavy oak door. “Swanky place, Kate. The
Citizen Defense Force must be paying you pretty well.”
Kate laughed as she inserted her key into the door handle.
“Stop it. You make more than I do. I can’t help it if you choose to
live in the same rundown flea trap you did before.”
“Old habits. Grow up poor, you don’t know no better. Saves
on heating bills when you don’t have a heater.”
“Forgive me for living like a human.” Kate next unlocked the
deadbolt, then two more deadbolts. Then she keyed her six-digit PIN
into a pad below the door handle. As she turned the knob and let
them inside, Max nodded approvingly.
“Paranoid. I like that in a woman.”
“I know.” Kate favored him with another warm smile as he
slipped by her into the entryway and she shut the heavy door behind
them. A chorus of locks clicking into place filled Max’s ears as he
glanced around the tiled entryway.
Sandstone tiles underfoot continued up the walls, stopping
only at the vaulted white stucco ceiling high overhead. To the left lay
an archway into the wide kitchen, a baker’s dream full of every
appliance with double the normal counter space. Down the hall lay
the sumptuous living room full of white couches, oak tables, and the
biggest widescreen television Max had ever seen. Every video game
console imaginable plus a glowing monstrosity of a PC tower lined
an industrial shelf mounted on the wall under the television. Massive
bay windows covered by lacy white curtains filled the far wall. Four
bedrooms and a couple bathrooms lay down another hallway to the
right.
“Lot of space for just one woman,” Max commented, striding
into the living room and glancing around with his hands in his
pockets.
“We’re getting married next week,” Kate scolded him with a
smile as she tossed her purse down on a chair and followed him.
“After that, it’d better not be just one woman living here. And once
we have five or six kids—”
“Slow down there! What are you, part rabbit?”
Kate batted her eyelashes at him coquettishly and clasped
her hands in front of her, swishing her hips back and forth.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?”
Max growled approvingly. He stepped toward her, sliding his
hands around her waist to the small of her back and drawing her
close. They rested their foreheads together, drinking in each other’s
scent.
“It seems like so much has changed in the ninety-two days
since I met you,” Kate whispered breathily.
“Ninety-two?” Max laughed. “You’re keeping track?”
“Of course.” She met his gaze evenly, her blue eyes filling his
vision. The reflected lights shone like stars in her eyes. “You’re the
best thing that’s ever happened to me, Max.”
Max kissed her, slow but with building urgency. When she
gave back twice as hard, pressing the length of her body against
him, Max broke for air with a laugh. “I ain’t gonna be able to wait if
you keep this up. We’ve held off this long, may as well do it right
and see it through to the wedding.”
Kate pouted, but smiled. “I know it’s tough, but I’m glad you
respect me, Max.”
“Ain’t just about respecting you.” Max gave her a pat and
then moved her back from himself, easing her body away like a
loaded gun barrel.
“Can I get you a soda or anything before you go?”
“No thanks,” Max said, “Nick and I are gonna—”
An explosion of shattering glass cut him off. One of the bay
windows blasted inward and the lacy curtains shredded to cobwebs
as a hulking figure smashed into the apartment. The gorilla in a
white suit hurtled inside and barreled across the hardwood flooring,
catching the stunned Max off guard. The intruder snatched Max by
the throat and slammed his head against the stucco wall behind him,
denting the drywall.
The swirling stars filling Max’s vision cleared enough for him
to recognize the greased black hair, caveman brow, and predatory
eyes of Johnny Legion. Shock slammed through his body, eclipsed
only by the blinding pain. “What the hell? You were dead!” His words
choked off as Johnny applied pressure, strangling Max.
“Didn’t take,” Johnny growled.
Kate tried to yank a pistol from her purse, but Johnny
backhanded her with a meaty paw. She spun and slammed against a
wall, losing her purse in the process. The pistol went skittering away
under the sofa, and the blonde baker slumped to the ground
clutching her head.
“Just you and me, Cain.” Johnny’s predatory eyes turned
back to him, and as Max’s vision grayed at the edges, he struggled
against the killer’s vicelike grip. Johnny’s beefy arms bulged through
the suit, and his muscular body didn’t give an inch even as Max
punched and kicked at close range.
Kate hit Johnny with a flying leap, shrieking like a wildcat
and clawing his face with manicured nails. Her raw ferocity set him
back on his heels and gave Max enough space to gasp a breath. He
shoved with his full strength against the hitman, driving him back a
step, then broke the killer’s hold on his throat.
Johnny used one arm to hurl Kate away. She twisted like a
cat and landed hard on the sofa. With his other hand, Johnny
yanked a nickel-plated .50 caliber pistol from his belt.
“Time to die, Cai—”
The rest of the bay windows exploded inward as two dozen
soldiers in red fatigues with what looked like blunderbusses crashed
the party.
“Oh man,” Kate groaned. “There goes my security deposit.”
Johnny turned to see the newcomers, and Max spun away.
He dove for Kate’s spare gun she kept in an end table drawer and
bellowed, “Kate, get out! I’ll be right behind you!”
Kate obeyed without hesitation, springing from the couch
and sprinting down the narrow hallway toward the front door. She
threw open the locks in record time as Max yanked the drawer open
and pulled the .357 magnum from inside.
A violent electrical current slammed through Max’s body,
sending a riot of agony shooting through his entire nervous system.
Through his convulsions he tried to throw off a sudden heavy
weight, but the electrified net completely enclosed him. In his
peripheral vision he saw a red soldier fire his blunderbuss at Johnny.
An electrified net launched from the gun and hit the hulking killer.
Johnny fell to his knees, growling in agony but unable to control his
body.
Max collapsed to the floor, and his world went dark.
CHAPTER 4
Don’t Tase Me, Bro
Hard metal decking ground into Max’s face and mashed his lips
against his teeth. His body felt like a pile of jumbled bricks and he
didn’t even want to move, content for now to lay on his belly like an
old dog. A righteous headache prevented him from even attempting
to speak. He tried to open his eyes but they revolted, leaving him in
darkness. After a few more valiant attempts, he got them halfway
open and looked around.
Dim light filled a metal room shaped like a long tube. Jump
seats lined the walls, with metal bars and hanging nets up above.
Max counted six soldiers in red combat fatigues milling around the
long room, checking their rifles and talking quietly.
Johnny Legion lay unconscious nearby, his white suit
smudged with dirt and his meaty hands bound behind his back with
zip ties. Max realized through his haze of pain that his own hands
were bound as well.
Max worked his sore jaw and his ears popped with a
muddled explosion. Some of the pain in his head diminished. We
must be high up for that kind of ear pressure, he mused. Probably a
cargo plane. But where are we headed?
“You awake?” a gruff male voice asked. Max raised his head
weakly to see one of the red-clothed guards standing over him with
a rifle. The guard slammed the butt of his gun into Max’s forehead.
Max’s world went dark again.
CHAPTER 5
The Call Goes Out
The phone picked up on the second ring and Nick’s voice came
through the phone. “Yeah, Kate?”
“Nick,” Kate gasped. Her shrill voice echoed inside the metal
dumpster where she was hiding. It stank like moldy food, but she
was too upset to care. “They took Max!”
To his credit, Nick’s voice sounded sharp but in control. “Are
you safe? Where are you right now?”
“I’m in a dumpster in an alley six blocks south from my
apartment.” Kate sobbed. “I lost them, but… Oh Nick, they took
him!”
“Share your location with me and I’ll pick you up
immediately.”
“Okay.” Kate hung up the phone, opened the CDF app,
keyed in her PIN, and activated the secure Reaper Team beacon.
Three minutes later, she got a text from Nick that read: Come out
to the road and get in the black SUV. She eased open the
dumpster lid, slipped out into the filthy alley, and scurried thirty feet
to the street where she hopped into Nick’s armored SUV. She
slammed the door behind her and huddled down in her seat, looking
wretched.
Nick pulled smoothly away and accelerated fast, headed
further south away from her apartment. “Do you need immediate
medical attention?”
“No, I don’t. Max ordered me out before they could hurt me.
He said he’d be right behind me, but they must have taken him
prisoner. They chased me through the streets. It took me half an
hour to lose them and get into that dumpster.”
“Who was it?”
Kate drew a shaky breath. “It was Johnny Legion.”
Nick’s stoic expression didn’t change, but he damn near
swerved the car into a telephone pole before regaining control of his
twitchy hands. “Impossible.”
“I know! But it was him, Nick. Huge and brutal and
terrifying. He broke in through the window and started strangling
Max. I tried to fight him off but it was like being swatted by a bus. I
was about to grab a weapon when the windows busted in again and
a swarm of goons in red army fatigues broke in. That’s when Max
ordered me out. He said he’d follow, but…” Her voice trailed off and
her lip quivered.
“Blood Sparrows,” Nick said. “And somehow, a dead hitman.
Are they working together?”
“I don’t know,” Kate sighed. “It happened so fast. Maybe
Johnny looked surprised to see them? I can’t say for sure.”
“Perhaps they figured out it was us hitting their shipments.
If so, Max is in for a world of trouble.”
Kate clenched her tiny manicured fists on her thighs, and
her blue eyes gleamed with determination. “Whatever’s going on, I
won’t stop until I get Max back. No matter what it takes.”
CHAPTER 6
Are You Not Entertained?
The guards were not gentle with Max or Johnny. They seized the
men with rough hands and dragged them across the sand into the
tunnel mouth. Darkness fell over them, lit only by dim light far ahead
down fifty feet of concrete tube.
They emerged into an underground concrete room, long and
sparse like a storeroom and lit with bare bulbs dangling from the
ceiling. Iron cages lined the walls on the left and right with a wide
hallway down the center and a steel door with no doorknob at the
far end. The cages held men in ratty clothes who glanced at Max
and Johnny before looking hurriedly away.
The guards walked Max to a cell, opened it with a key, and
shoved him in. The iron door clanked behind him and the lock
clicked. The guards did the same to Johnny, parking him across the
hallway from Max.
One of the guards, a greasy fellow with yellow teeth,
sneered at them both. “Now you two can spit insults to pass the
time, eh?” He and his fellows laughed as they tromped to the steel
door in back and knocked. The door opened and the guards hurried
through, slamming the door behind them and leaving the gladiator
barracks in pregnant silence.
Johnny exploded first. “You’re dead, Cain! I don’t care what
they do to us, I’ll be the one who snuffs you out.”
Max grasped his cage bars and snarled back. “I killed you
once, I can kill you again. Come at me any time. But here’s a
thought: Don’t get both of us captured next time!”
“This had nothing to do with me.” If looks could kill,
Johnny’s glare would be banned by the Geneva Convention. “These
assholes are your problem, Cain. After I smear you across the floor,
I’ll get ahold of Wong and let him know I’m in the personal service
of Antonio Lombardo, here to avenge his father. I’ll get out quick.”
“Antonio? Man, I should have known that sniveling little
weasel would make trouble for me.”
“You killed his father, Cain. What did you expect? Even if he
wasn’t a loving son, you made him lose face in front of the entire
city. He’s gotta wipe you out. And he sent me to do it.” Johnny
grinned, all his teeth on display. “But I’d have done this job for free.”
“Feeling put out that I stomped you so hard?” Max leered at
him as the killer’s face turned red. “I’ve been living the high life this
whole time, Legion. Killing dirtbags, unlimited guns and ammo on
the company dime, dating a beautiful woman. Man, life has been
sweet. All I had to do was kill one lousy, two-bit hitman. Everyone
hyped you up as this big-time tough guy, but all it took was one little
bullet. And you should have seen how your white suit soaked up all
your blood! You should run an infomercial program, sell your suits as
rags. That’d make them about as useful as you. I killed your boss
and all you did was soak up some spilled blood. What a joke.”
Johnny’s face purpled with rage. He slammed the bars,
making them creak. “I’ll kill you, Cain! I’ll butcher you like a fucking
animal!”
“Why don’t you two give it a rest?” A gruff male voice cut
into their arguing, and Max turned to see a dark-skinned man that
practically filled his cage with his broad shoulders and barrel chest.
He looked about forty, with dreadlocks in a high ponytail on the back
of his head and spilling across his shoulders. His bare chest and face
looked like he kept scars as souvenirs, but his warm brown eyes
were full of amusement. “You can spit at each other all night, but
you’ll just make the floor wet.”
“I’ll make the floor wet,” Johnny growled ominously,
pounding his bars again as he glared at Max.
The dark-skinned man laughed. “You will. We all will.
Everyone is equal in the pit, newcomer.”
Max took an instant liking to the man, who seemed pretty
genuine. “I’m Max. Max Cain.”
“Hank.” The older man mimed shaking hands from across
the room. Max laughed and did the same. Johnny snorted and
turned away.
“You two friends, or what?” Hank asked with a twinkle in his
eye.
“Ex-cop and resurrected hitman,” Max answered. “You’re
looking at Johnny Legion, the former terror of San Pajita. I killed him
a few months back and now he’s looking for revenge.”
“No shit?” Hank’s eyes got wide as he scanned the hitman in
the filthy white suit. “He don’t look dead.”
“Hasn’t told me how he did it.” Max called across to Johnny.
“Hey, Lazarus, want to share your secret?”
“Piss off, Cain.”
“About what I figured.” Max shrugged at Hank and shot him
a wink, which earned him a smile. “I’m not too worried, though. I’ve
busted out of worse places than this.”
“I really doubt that,” Hank sighed. “I been here six months
now and never seen anyone escape.”
“I don’t have six months,” Max told him. “I’m getting
married next week, and I intend to stand at that altar and make the
most beautiful woman in the world mine. Got no time for upstart
crime captains and their bloody games. I’m busting out, mark my
words.”
A young kid, probably fifteen, piped up from another cage.
“You really think you can, Max?”
Max eyed the scrawny waif. His brown skin and matted hair
were covered in dirt. “I sure do, kid. What’s your name?”
The boy looked hesitant but gave Max a shy smile. “Keel.”
“He mostly stays behind me during our fights,” Hank
explained. “He’s only been here a couple weeks.”
Max nodded in understanding. He glanced around at the
other eight dirty men in their cages, but all avoided his eyes. He
looked back at Hank. “How many fights you see?”
“About one a day,” Hank answered. “Not all of us, and not
always the same. Sometimes we fight animals, sometimes guards.
Other times we have to fight each other. Hasn’t been one of those in
a while.” He looked somber. “I’m serious, Max. Put ideas of escape
out of your head. It’s impossible here. Make peace with the time you
have left.”
“And I’ll kill you long before you even get close to escaping,”
Legion growled from across the aisle.
“We’ve got a better chance if we all work together,” Max told
Hank.
Hank sighed. “Like I said, Max. Sometimes they make us
fight each other. Teaming up is pretty hard knowing we may have to
kill each other to survive.”
“Ain’t no way I’d ever work with you,” Johnny snarled. He
shuffled to the back of his cage, flopped down on a pile of straw,
and rolled over toward the wall.
Keel sniffled. “I don’t want to fight. I just want to go home.”
Max clasped his bars. His voice was quiet, but his eyes
shone with determination. “Don’t you cry, Keel. I’ll get you home.
And I’ll kill Andy Wong along the way.”
“I’d pay to see that,” Hank laughed.
“Then grab your ticket,” Max said. “But be warned. With me,
the first few rows are a splash zone.”
CHAPTER 8
Somewhere on a Rooftop…
The cold wind howled around Kate, but her warm hooded coat kept
her insulated as she stared through her sniper rifle’s scope. Despite
the darkness of night and the height of her skyscraper rooftop
perch, she was easily able to make out each pore on Nick’s face as
he strode into the sculpture park sixty stories below and half a mile
away wearing a dark gray suit. The bipod legs on her rifle scraped
the stone ledge she stood against as she examined the lush plaza
around Nick. The wide park sprawled across several city blocks and
took up the entire open space ringed by other tall towers.
Nick’s voice came through her earbud, sharp and clear.
“Entering the park now.”
“Copy.” Kate raised her rifle and scanned the surrounding
towers slowly. “I’m sweeping for enemy snipers.”
“I suspect you’ll find at least three. This is a Blood Sparrows
lieutenant we’re meeting here, and he knows I’m a member of the
team that’s been hounding his boss’ shipments. He’s going to be
twitchy, but his desire to capture me and score some points with
their leader Andy Wong is going to make him greedy. Take out those
snipers quickly and clear the surrounding buildings, then get eyes
back on me. I’m positive I’ll meet ambushers as I close on his
location in the center of the park.”
“I’ve got your back, Nick.” Kate said. “Er, I mean, roger.
Over. That’s it.”
Nick sighed. “Remind me to put you through a refresher
course on military communication protocols, Sergeant.”
“What’s that, Nick? You say you want me to let the
ambushers beat you up a little before I rescue you?” Kate was
already scanning the rooftops to the east. Sudden movement in the
shadows on a forty-story building caught her eye. “First sniper
located.”
“Fire at will. I trust your judgement, Kate.”
Kate eased the safety off and zeroed in on her target.
Moonlight gleamed on a polished barrel poking over the edge of the
rooftop aimed in Nick’s direction. She pressed a small button on her
rifle’s grip, and her scope clicked to the green and black of amplified
crystal-clear night vision. She could easily make out the enemy
sniper in a black trench coat lying flat on the edge of the rooftop
behind his long gun.
Kate squeezed the trigger. Her rifle leaped in her hands, but
no sound issued from the gun. A forcefield enclosing the rifle’s barrel
opening allowed the bullet to exit but converted all excess energy
from the released high-pressure gas into light and shot the light as a
deadly laser running parallel to the solid projectile. A small burned
hole appeared in the sniper’s head a microsecond before her bullet
slammed into him and blew his brains all over the rooftop.
“Seems like overkill,” Kate remarked as she ejected the
spent shell casing and slid the bolt home, chambering another
round. She scanned for the next enemy sniper. “But it’s just so
satisfying.”
“That rifle isn’t meant for human targets,” Nick told her. “The
Praetorian is more often used to hit armored targets, burning a
guide hole with the laser to allow the bullet easier penetration. It’s
like drilling a hole first to set a larger screw.”
Kate located the second sniper, dressed like the first in a
hooded trench coat and standing in the shadow of an air
conditioning unit on a tower to the south. She fired and popped his
head like a water balloon. “Second target down.”
“Copy.”
After a few tense seconds, she spotted the third man on a
rooftop to the west lying beside his rifle, eating a sandwich, and
staring at his smart phone. Kate dropped him with another shot, and
his phone flopped to the rooftop to reveal he’d been sending explicit
pictures through a sleazy dating app.
“No real loss to society,” Kate mused to herself. “Hey Nick,
three down. That covers three of the cardinal directions, but I’ve got
a hunch I’ll find one more.”
“Copy that, but I’m getting closer to the center. I need eyes
on me ASAP.”
“I’ll be quick.” Kate scanned the buildings around her with
increasing urgency. Her gut told her the Blood Sparrows would want
all angles covered, but she wasn’t seeing their fourth man. Am I
wrong?
“Kate,” Nick said urgently. “Where you at?”
“Walk slow,” Kate said tersely. “I know he’s here.”
“I can’t walk too slow or the lieutenant’s spotters will tell him
something’s up.”
Kate kept looking. She traced a path from the other snipers
to the center of the park, then followed the same equidistant line
toward herself. Then it hit her. I’m closer to the park than they were.
She ran to the right side of her building, aiming north over the
ledge, and spotted her fourth target. He was crouched on a rooftop
with extended bipod legs, taking aim at the park. She plugged him
straight between the eyes and he fell over backward with his limbs
spread out like he was making blood angels in the red pool growing
around him.
“Fourth target down,” Kate announced as she rushed back to
her original spot. She planted her bipod on the rooftop ledge and
sighted in just in time to catch a flicker of movement behind Nick. A
hulking gangster in a red suit had snuck up behind the taller warrant
officer and held a blackjack poised to strike him. Kate fired, and the
silent shot blew the gangster’s brains all over the lawn just behind
Nick.
Nick turned around and stared at the mess for a heartbeat
before resuming his walk toward the park center. “Shaving it a little
close, don’t you think?”
“Just giving you a chance to appreciate my work,” Kate
answered. She kept her rifle trained on Nick’s location and scanned
the area around him as he strode casually with his hands in his
pockets.
A second goon crept up on Nick as the gray-suited Reaper
reached the outside edges of the towering sculptures. Kate nailed
the ambusher when he was still thirty feet from Nick, so he never
even saw his would-be attacker.
“Second ambusher down. You’re welcome.”
“I can see why Max likes you.”
“No, you see why he loves me.” Kate couldn’t keep the grin
from her face, but it quickly soured into a trembling lip. “I want him
back, Nick.”
“We’ll get him back, Kate. Now give me some radio silence
while I beat information out of this scumbag lieutenant.” Nick
reached the foot of a marble reproduction of Michelangelo’s Pieta
reimagined with lizard people. Another man stepped from around
the statue, dressed in a slick red suit of obviously expensive make.
His shaved head looked ugly and lumpy, and he had a scar running
through one bushy eyebrow. He looked surprised to see Nick there
but covered it with a surly frown and narrowed his slanted eyes at
Nick.
Nick’s sensitive earbud picked up the newcomer’s whiny
voice. “You the special forces guy harassing my boss?”
“I am,” Nick confirmed. “You one of Andy Wong’s
lieutenants?”
“Sure am. Call me George. You are?”
“Would that be George Li?”
George shifted uneasily. “You obviously know, since you
called this meeting. What do you want?”
“Looking for information. And you’re gonna give it to me.”
“I don’t think so.” Kate could hear the leer in the George’s
voice. “Move in, now!”
Nothing moved in the park.
“Expecting someone?” Nick asked casually. Kate saw him
draw his pistol from his pocket.
George’s voice shook. “I said, move in. Grab him, you
idiots!” When nothing happened, he shouted, “Snipers, take him
out!”
“Your gang can retrieve your four snipers later for their
funerals,” Nick told him. “For now, you’re going to tell me exactly
what I want to know, or I’m going to beat you until every bone in
your body is nothing but powder. Understood?”
George gulped. Even from her perch, Kate could see sweat
beading on his bald head. “What do you want to know?”
“Your underlings kidnapped my boss. Where’d they take
him?”
“Man, I don’t know about—Argh!” Nick pistol-whipped
George in the eye, and the short gangster reeled back.
Nick grabbed him by the lapel and pulled him in close, then
rammed his gun barrel up under George’s chin. “Try again.”
George’s voice shook with fear. “The boss, Andy, he set up
cameras to watch your last raid. Recognized Maxwell Cain from them
old news vids. He had us follow the guy and sent in the special team
to grab him.”
“Where is he being held?”
“Andy uses guys like that for his private death matches.”
Kate’s blood ran cold.
“Where?” Nick demanded.
George twisted to get free and shoved his hand into his
pocket.
Nick blew him away with a bullet to the head at the same
moment as Kate nailed the gangster with a heavy shot between the
eyes. His head burst like a melon, and he fell over dead at the foot
of the lizardman Pieta.
“Damn,” Kate cursed. “We needed to know where he’s
keeping Max!”
Nick slipped his pistol back into his pocket and turned to
stride from the park. “I’ve got a few educated guesses.”
Kate folded her bipod down and turned to head back to the
stairwell. “Then we’ll check them out. I won’t stop until Andy Wong
is dead and Max is back in my arms where he belongs.”
CHAPTER 9
Facing Extinction
Max passed the day resting, playing “I Spy” with Keel who always
seemed to guess it right away, and grilling Hank for more
information on Andy’s fortress. Hank knew precious little, having
arrived unconscious the same as Max, but both agreed they couldn’t
be far from San Pajita since Andy wouldn’t want to make extended
trips back and forth to the city.
They ate stale bread and hot dogs the guards tossed into
their cages and drank water from flimsy paper cups. The guards
didn’t speak to them, didn’t even look at them in fact, and left
quickly through the steel door. The other eight men similarly sat
quietly, hunched and surly in their cages. Their eyes looked scared
and defeated, like men who’d seen their last hope fly away through
the window.
Max’s tiger wound burned in his chest, but at least the
bleeding had stopped. One of the guards came back and tossed him
some antibiotic ointment on a strip of tissue paper. Max smeared the
clear goo into his wounds and lay down in his fragrant straw with his
back to the room.
Sometime after Max had slept, the steel door opened again
and twenty guards filed in with automatic rifles at the ready. They
unlocked the cages one by one and herded the dozen men down the
narrow cement tunnel toward the iron portcullis. Johnny glared at
Max, who did his best to ignore the hitman in favor of inspecting
their surroundings for means of escape. He found nothing promising,
and when all twelve gladiators were assembled before the heavy
gate, it rose into the air through a slot in the ceiling. The guards
ordered them forward. Max led the way, striding into the sandy
arena with Hank and Keel following next.
The wide sandy arena was packed with huge boulders, some
a few feet high and others taller than Max. Billowing clouds of fog
poured from blocks of dry ice scattered around the arena. Eager
faces peered down at Max and the other gladiators from atop the
concrete wall, where finely dressed fops and floozies dripping with
jewelry gawked at the fighting men in their rags and scars. Max
flashed his winning smile at a few of them, and they laughed
scandalously.
No harm in winning over the crowd, he thought. PR could
count for something later.
In the center of the boulder-strewn arena, a dozen spears
stood thrust into the sand. Max hurried to them and yanked one
from the ground moments before Johnny did the same. The hulking
brute immediately rushed at Max, thrusting his metal-tipped weapon
at Max’s heart with a cry of rage.
Max sidestepped the attack and thrust back, narrowly
missing Johnny’s throat. The big hitman batted the spear aside and
stepped in to kick at Max, trying to shatter his knee.
Max backstepped and thrust again with his spear, shortening
his grip to the halfway point so he could make rapid strikes. With a
flurry of quick thrusts, he drove Johnny back. The two combatants’
feet threw sand in all directions as they fought their savage duel.
Andy Wong’s laughter boomed from the hidden speakers in
the dome overhead. “Look how eager they are for blood! I’d thought
to set them a good match, but it looks like these two just want to kill
each other instead!”
The crowd laughed.
Between attacks, Max glanced over to see Andy standing
atop his royal platform, dressed in the same long red coat as the day
before. Today his underclothes glittered with gold embroidery. The
Blood Sparrow captain raised his hand and pressed a button on his
black remote.
The iron portcullis across the way slid open, exposing the
gaping tunnel mouth.
A quick blow swept Max’s feet from beneath him, and he fell
on his butt. He looked up to see Hank repeat the same maneuver on
Johnny, dropping the massive killer to the sand. Hank stood over
them both with his spear held high.
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Reason. Because the more any sin appears in the Church, the
greater dishonour doth it bring, not only to the sinner himselfe, but
also to the whole Church, whereof he is a member.
Use 1. This may serve to instruct us, to see and bewaile the
miserable condition, whereunto men are obnoxious by reason of sin;
because they have no part clean or void of sin.
2. To admonish us, to use all care to cleanse our selves, and all
our faculties and parts both of body and mind from such
uncleannesse.
Reason. Because that doth chiefly pertaine to the rule and sway
which the devill exerciseth over his servants, 1 Iohn 2.16.
Vse. This may serve to admonish us, to leave off our wicked
purposes in time.
Reason. Because they are most opposite and contrary unto that
which is most to be loved.
Vse. This may serve to exhort us, to shew our zeale in flying from
sin and sinners.
Verse 15. Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray
following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the
wages of unrighteousnesse,
Verse 16. But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumbe Asse speaking
with mans voice, forbad the madnesse of the Prophet.
The Analysis.
Vse 1. This may serve to enforme us, not to be too much troubled
at the wickednesse of men, that live with us, because there is
nothing new under the Sunne in that kinde.
2. Because that is the right way which certainly leadeth unto life,
and eternall happinesse, Matthew 7.14. but wickednesse tendeth
unto death, Proverbs 7.27. & 8.36.
Vse 1. This may serve to admonish us, to apply our minds unto
these rebukings of God, and not to be carelesse of them, as
desperate men use to be; but to yeeld unto them, and shun all those
things that are rebuked by God, either in the Scriptures, or in our
consciences, or in the creatures.
This is gathered from the end of verse 16. the dumbe Asse
speaking with mans voice, forbad the madnesse of the Prophet.
Verse 17. These are welles without water, clouds that are carried
with a tempest, to whom the mist of darknesse is reserved for
ever.
Verse 18. For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they
allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonnesse,
those that were cleane escaped from them who live in errour.
Verse 19. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the
servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the
same is he brought in bondage.
Verse 20. For, if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world,
through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,
they are againe entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end
is worse with them then the beginning.
Verse 21. For it had beene better for them not to have knowne the
way of righteousnesse, then after they have knowne it, to turne
from the holy commandement delivered unto them.
Verse 22. But it is hapned unto them according to the true Proverbe;
The Dog is turned to his own vomit againe, and the Sow that
was washed to her wallowing in the mire.
The Analysis.
Answer. They had that faith which we use to call temporary faith,
but they were never soundly rooted in faith. This is proved out of the
14 verse, where all those that were seduced by these deceivers are
called unstable soules. For if they had beene by sound faith grafted
into Christ, then they should have been stable and corroborated in
him also. And whereas they are said verse 18. to have cleane
escaped from the wicked, this was, 1. In respect of the profession
which they had made of their true conversion. 2. In respect of the
assent, which we must think that they did give inwardly also unto the
word, by which they were called to this conversion. 3. In respect of
the change which they had made in their outward carriage. 4. In
respect of some small beginning also, whereby they tended towards
holinesse it selfe.
This is gathered out of verse 17. and the beginning of 18. For
they are said in the text to be as it were vanity it selfe, as Solomon
saith of all things that are under the Sunne, in respect of happinesse
they are vanity of vanities. Now they are said to be vain, 1. Because
they have only a shew of some truth or good, not the thing it selfe.
2. Because they make a shew of communicating some good unto
others, but they do not performe it, nor can they. For that is properly
called vaine, which is void of that thing which it should have, or
which is unfit for that use and end whereunto it should serve.
2. Because they are led by Sathan, who is the father of lyes and
of all vanity.
This is gathered from these words: they allure through the lusts of
the flesh.
Use. This may serve for admonition, that if we would be safe from
infection and seducing, we should diligently labour for mortification of
the flesh. For neither are they only in danger of seducing that have
not yet known the truth, but they also that have in some sort clean
escaped from those that live in errour, as it is in the text.
Doctrine 4. The chiefe lust of the flesh, whereby men are wont
to be seduced, is the love of carnall liberty.
Doctrine 5. They that most labour for this carnall liberty, are
the most wretched servants of sin.
Doctrine 6. They that are brought into this bondage, after that
they have made profession and confession of the truth, their
condition is more deplorable, then the condition of other sinners.
3. Because the devill the Prince of sin doth more severely beset
those, that he hath withdrawne unto himselfe from the flight as it
were, Matthew 12.45.
4. Because the anger of God is incensed against such men,
Hebrews 10.26,27.
Vse. This may serve to admonish all those, that know the way of
God, to labour also to continue constantly in the same, in all parts of
their life and conversation.
The Analysis.
This is gathered from these words: I stir up your pure minds. Now
he doth not so much commend them by this his testimony, as shew
them, what thing they ought chiefly to labour for, that they may
receive benefit by this writing. So Iames 1.21. and this first Epistle
chapter 2. verse 2.
Vse 1. This may serve to reprove those, that have no care at all,
rightly to dispose themselves for to receive the word of God aright.
Verse 3. Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last dayes,
scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
The Analysis.
This is gathered from these words: Knowing this first. For the
Apostle would, that for the present they should first and chiefly think
of those things, that the Apostles had spoken for their present use,
touching those wicked men.
Reason 1. For that iniquity doth abound more in the last dayes, it
is because knowledge doth abound, which is held under
righteousnesse: that makes the sin the more sinfull, Romans 7.13.
and doth more incense the wrath of God, Romans 1.18.
Use 1. This may serve to informe us, not to be too much troubled
in mind, when we see as it were an inundation of iniquity and
impiety, flowing every where; because such things were foretold us
before, Iohn 16.4.
Doctrine 3. Amongst wicked men they are the worst of all, that
scoffe at godlinesse.