"The man's real skinny," Gray says. "Tall. Kinda reminds you of one'a those marionette puppets." He closes his eyes again. "Wears this bracelet with a turtle on it. Must be his name, that's what she called him. Terrapene. Italian for turtle." He cracks one eye, but no smile, as he adds, "I only know that 'cause the Maryland college team's the Terrapins. But the guy, he was real into it. Got excited. Whatever she did to my back, he liked it a little too much."
He shifts a little, trying to both relieve the pressure on the wound and to make his skin feel like it fits again. It's a weird feeling, like he's too big for it.
"The girl, though. She was calm as Cheat Lake. Long, dark hair. Dark eyes, but they was bright as anything. She just kept up this talk all the way through, like I'm some kinda dinner guest. She was tall, too, but not as tall as he was. She was in charge. He called her Donna."
He reaches up with his left hand and its broken fingers to touch the back of his head, where it had finally stopped hurting from being knocked out. "The guy brought me to her to play with. Neither one mentioned the library. Neither one of them knew, I think, or if they did, it sure as shit wasn't the reason they took me. No demands, no pressure, no nothin'. But she was real preoccupied with my name. Kept calling me lupo uomo. Lupo's wolf, but I ain't got a clue what uomo means."
And that's the worst of it. It wasn't about his job or his family. He's been tortured for fun. For no good reason. No real reason.
He sighs and straightens himself up, looking over at James-call-me-Rodeo. "I guess it ain't no secret I'm Grayson Wolfe. Most folks call me Gray." He looks out the window for just a second, making this link in his mind: Rodeo and the Hellhounds, connected to Lita Singh, connected to Vannah. Figures Rodeo was always just a friend away.
And then, abruptly: "You know. Rodeo and the Hellhounds sounds like a band." It's absurd and totally out of place and not at all in step with the pain and the frustration and the argument with Vannah and Day he knows he's lost and is more than a little upset about. Guess he's just hit his enough-is-enough point.