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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
two dirty feds arguing over a deal. My father was with me because, of course,
we’re in on it together. Maybe a few words got exchanged, and both sides
rides off in my father’s truck and whatever prize — he called it a book —
he thinks is inside.
“I’d like that gun now,” Ellis says, his pistol now aimed at my dad’s face.
Panicking, my dad picks up the gun and tosses it to—
“Don’t!” I call out.
Ellis catches it with his free hand — a hand that I realize is covered by a
plastic glove — but never takes his eyes off me. “You’re smarter than
Timothy,” he says. “You understand why I’m here, Cal.”
Behind me, the car on the road is about a half mile away. But the way Ellis
grow brighter — it’s like he doesn’t even care the car’s coming. His uniform
hand and how he rubs it over and over . . . and especially the way he keeps
glancing at his dog like it’s the Messiah. I don’t know what he meant when he
said he’s been searching for a century. But I know a zealot when I see one.
a city block away.
For a moment, I’m worried it’s someone he knows. But as Ellis lowers his chin
at the arriving lights and hides both guns behind his back, it’s clear this is a
stranger. And potential witness. For at least the next thirty seconds, Ellis
knows better than to pull the trigger, which means I still have a chance to—
“Don’t be this stupid,” Ellis tells me in a condescending6 tone.
But I’ve always been stupid. And stubborn. And lots of other things that look
bad on a report card. Right now, that’s the only thing to keep me alive.
Behind me, I hear my dad breathing heavily. Us alive. That’ll keep us alive.
The car’s fifty yards away. In this darkness, its lights barrel at my back like a
the exact same speed as my pulse.
“If you flag them down, their deaths will forever be on your conscience,” Ellis
I believe him. But if I let them pass, “forever” is going to last about twenty
more seconds.
into an angry glare. He’s pissed. This is my fault, he says with a glance. Go.
Leave. I consider it for a moment. But I’m not listening to him, either. Ellis
has two guns. We have none. Once this car passes, those bullets are going in
both our heads.
I take a step toward Ellis, who’s still too smart to raise his guns. But that
doesn’t mean he’s out of options.
The car’s so close, Ellis’s pupils shrink. This is it. On three . . .
One . . . two . . .
I leap as fast as I can. But not at Ellis. At his dog.
From the front seat, Benoni leaps like a wolf, all muscle and sharp teeth.
Finally, something goes my way.
part that hurts.
Like a metal trap, the dog’s jaw clamps down with all its strength. Its top
teeth sink into my forearm, but its bottom teeth get a mouthful of metal pole
the dog’s eyes, but that’s nothing compared with the pain felt by its owner.
mouth.
“Go . . . move!” I say to my dad, ignoring my own pain, grabbing the
Ellis freezes. It’s a choice between us and checking on his dog. When I was
twelve, I had a beagle named Snoopy 2. It’s no choice at all.
“Benoni, you okay, girl? . . . Y’okay?” Ellis asks, dropping to his knees.
It’s all the distraction24 we need. I try the door to Timothy’s car (locked, no
luck), then keep running along the shoulder of the road. My dad’s panting,
holding his side. We won’t be able to outrun Ellis and the dog for long.
On our left is the short chain-link fence that separates us from the Everglades
“I can’t run,” my father insists.
“That’s fine,” I tell him as I grab the back of his arm and drag him up onto
17
“Y’think they see us?”
hairy beach ball on the edge of the canal. My shoes and pockets are filled
soaked carpet.
We had only a few minutes’ lead time, enough to follow the canal underneath
Alligator Alley, where it forked and split into the wider canals that run parallel
to the road. If we’d gone left, we would’ve gone farther from Ellis. That’s the
only reason I went right.
No question, we were fast. But that doesn’t mean we’re fast enough. Except
as I crane my neck to peer out, we can’t see him, either.
There’s a hushed splash on our far right. We both turn just in time to hear the
krkk krkk krkk — someone walking through the dried saw grass on the edge
of the canal. The sound gets louder the closer they get. I squint and peer
between the branches, up toward the road. There’s a fast scratching sound —
someone running — then the unmistakable pant — hhh hhh hhh — that’s the
dog. Benoni. The dog’s right above us. By the road. I see her.
My father and I both duck deeper into the water. It’s freezing cold and my
shirt sucks like a jellyfish to my chest. The dog bite didn’t break skin, but my
arm still stings. Behind me, my father’s still holding the wound at his side. We
ourselves without a word.
Up on the embankment, the dog stands there, her pointy ears at full
attention. I squat even lower until the muddy black water reaches my neck,
submerged. My father does the same — as far underwater as he can get. A
skates across the surface. I hold my breath, pretending it’s not there.
came.
My father doesn’t move. I don’t move. Nothing moves until the krkk krkk krkk
fades in the distance. For a moment, I worry they’re coming back — until,
My father’s truck — Ellis wants the prize inside even more than he wants us. I
lift my head as the muddy water streams down my neck and face.
“They’re leaving,” I whisper.
fades. I assume it’s because he’s still terrified . . . still in shock . . . and most
likely way pissed if Ellis drove off with his truck.
in his eyes.
“You did — You saved my life.” He shakes his head over and over. “I thought
you hated me.” He starts sniffling.
I raise my hands from the water and pull him toward the bank. “Listen,
erm . . . Lloyd . . . I appreciate that — I do. But can we please have this talk
later?”
He nods, but the tears are still there. “I just — What you did — You didn’t
have to do that for me.”
Sometimes a speech can make things better. This isn’t one of those times.
“Can we just go back to that cop? Ellis. Who the hell is he?” I ask as we
slosh through the canal, climbing back up toward the road and eyeing the
fence that separates us from the alligators44.
“I have no idea.”
“Don’t lie,” I challenge, waiting to see his reaction.
“Cal, I swear to you, I’ve never seen him until tonight. When he pulled me
over, I thought he was giving me a ticket.” His voice is flying — he means it —
but as he says the words, the consequences finally hit. Reaching the top of
the embankment, he looks across the road at my van and Timothy’s car,
where the blue lights are still spinning.
“Motherf—! He stole my truck!” my dad shouts.
“What was in it, anyway? He mentioned a book.”
“D’you know what this—? I’m dead.”
“What book was in the truck, Lloyd?”
“Mary, mother of — I’m dead!” he explodes at full detonation45, spit flying
through the air. “We should’ve killed his fu—” He catches himself.
During my short career in law enforcement, I sent eleven people to prison. To
real prison. And when you go to prison — no matter how straitlaced and Dr.
Jekyll you are going in, the monsters within those walls always bring a little
bit more of your own monster out.
My father swallows hard, clearly regretting the outburst. Whatever tears he
had are long gone. “I’m sorry, Cal. I’m not — It’s been a tough few years.”
“Just tell me what’s in the truck, and who you’re so scared of.”
“It’s not that simple.”
— or at least who Ellis is working against.”
“That’s the thing: When they got in contact, they didn’t give me a name.”
“How could you not—?”
“Last year, I got my second DUI, which got me fired from my company.
Since then, business is more word of mouth these days, y’know? I get a
phone call. They send the paperwork and tell me where to drop it off — in this
case, I was supposed to leave Alligator Alley at Naples and wait for a call. I
know they have a 216 area code. From Cleveland. But that’s it.”
“That’s it? You sure?”
“Why wouldn’t I be sure?”
“A minute ago, you were saying, ‘I’m dead! I’m dead!’ Why be afraid of
someone you don’t know?”
My father studies me. I look for his U.S. Navy ring and realize he’s no longer
wearing it.
“Calvin, I may not be the best father . . .”
“Don’t sell yourself short, Great Santini. Though I have to admit, I cannot
wait to see how you finish this sentence.”
“No, Lloyd, you’re just an innocent truck driver. Nothing more than that,
right?”
another Michael Kors.
“You’re giving me too much credit,” my dad says. “I never heard of no
books, and got no idea what could take centuries to find, except for maybe
some old art or something. Ease up, okay?”
“Oh, I’m sorry — usually when I get attacked, potentially framed for murder,
and almost killed, I’m much more cheery and fun.”
“What do you want from me, Calvin?”
“I wanna know what the hell is really going on! You’re fresh out of the
hospital and still got up at four in the morning for this! You’re telling me you
“It’s Miami, Calvin. If they’re calling me instead of a real company — I
figured it was guns or . . . or . . . or something like that.”
点击收听单词发音
1 killer | |
n.杀人者,杀人犯,杀手,屠杀者 | |
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2 amber | |
n.琥珀;琥珀色;adj.琥珀制的 | |
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3 obsessed | |
adj.心神不宁的,鬼迷心窍的,沉迷的 | |
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4 tattoo | |
n.纹身,(皮肤上的)刺花纹;vt.刺花纹于 | |
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5 murmurs | |
n.低沉、连续而不清的声音( murmur的名词复数 );低语声;怨言;嘀咕 | |
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6 condescending | |
adj.谦逊的,故意屈尊的 | |
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7 swirling | |
v.旋转,打旋( swirl的现在分词 ) | |
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8 squint | |
v. 使变斜视眼, 斜视, 眯眼看, 偏移, 窥视; n. 斜视, 斜孔小窗; adj. 斜视的, 斜的 | |
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9 tugging | |
n.牵引感v.用力拉,使劲拉,猛扯( tug的现在分词 ) | |
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10 furrows | |
n.犁沟( furrow的名词复数 );(脸上的)皱纹v.犁田,开沟( furrow的第三人称单数 ) | |
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11 eyebrows | |
眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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12 pounce | |
n.猛扑;v.猛扑,突然袭击,欣然同意 | |
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13 squat | |
v.蹲坐,蹲下;n.蹲下;adj.矮胖的,粗矮的 | |
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14 squeal | |
v.发出长而尖的声音;n.长而尖的声音 | |
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15 pelting | |
微不足道的,无价值的,盛怒的 | |
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16 gravel | |
n.砂跞;砂砾层;结石 | |
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17 cape | |
n.海角,岬;披肩,短披风 | |
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18 jaw | |
n.颚,颌,说教,流言蜚语;v.喋喋不休,教训 | |
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19 baton | |
n.乐队用指挥杖 | |
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20 yelp | |
vi.狗吠 | |
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21 collapses | |
折叠( collapse的第三人称单数 ); 倒塌; 崩溃; (尤指工作劳累后)坐下 | |
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22 whining | |
n. 抱怨,牢骚 v. 哭诉,发牢骚 | |
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23 darting | |
v.投掷,投射( dart的现在分词 );向前冲,飞奔 | |
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24 distraction | |
n.精神涣散,精神不集中,消遣,娱乐 | |
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25 alligator | |
n.短吻鳄(一种鳄鱼) | |
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26 underneath | |
adj.在...下面,在...底下;adv.在下面 | |
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27 alley | |
n.小巷,胡同;小径,小路 | |
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28 ledge | |
n.壁架,架状突出物;岩架,岩礁 | |
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29 overpass | |
n.天桥,立交桥 | |
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30 hiss | |
v.发出嘶嘶声;发嘘声表示不满 | |
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31 thorny | |
adj.多刺的,棘手的 | |
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32 plowing | |
v.耕( plow的现在分词 );犁耕;费力穿过 | |
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33 coffin | |
n.棺材,灵柩 | |
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34 filthy | |
adj.卑劣的;恶劣的,肮脏的 | |
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35 tilted | |
v. 倾斜的 | |
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36 indigo | |
n.靛青,靛蓝 | |
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37 darts | |
n.掷飞镖游戏;飞镖( dart的名词复数 );急驰,飞奔v.投掷,投射( dart的第三人称单数 );向前冲,飞奔 | |
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38 hiccup | |
n.打嗝 | |
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39 diesel | |
n.柴油发动机,内燃机 | |
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40 belch | |
v.打嗝,喷出 | |
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41 slashes | |
n.(用刀等)砍( slash的名词复数 );(长而窄的)伤口;斜杠;撒尿v.挥砍( slash的第三人称单数 );鞭打;割破;削减 | |
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42 rumbles | |
隆隆声,辘辘声( rumble的名词复数 ) | |
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43 blurts | |
v.突然说出,脱口而出( blurt的第三人称单数 ) | |
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44 alligators | |
n.短吻鳄( alligator的名词复数 ) | |
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45 detonation | |
n.爆炸;巨响 | |
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46 dealing | |
n.经商方法,待人态度 | |
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47 liar | |
n.说谎的人 | |
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48 tugs | |
n.猛拉( tug的名词复数 );猛拖;拖船v.用力拉,使劲拉,猛扯( tug的第三人称单数 ) | |
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49 shrimp | |
n.虾,小虾;矮小的人 | |
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