Chapter 115

Everything had been leading up to this moment - the last few years, all of Kyle’s tricks. My hand was still trembling as I moved the gun forward until it touched Kyle’s forehead. To be honest, I didn’t know what I would do next.
I was hoping it might come to this. One of us in control of the situation. This is where it gets interesting to me,’ he said. ‘What do you do now?’
Kyle pressed his skull¹ into the gun barrel. ‘Go ahead, Alex. If you kill me like this, then I win. I like that, actually. Suddenly, you’re the murderer.’
I let him talk - the Mastermind, the total control freak.
‘Let me tell you a harsh truth,’he said.’Can you take a little truth?
How much truth can you stand?’
‘Go ahead, enlighten me. I think I can take it, Kyle. I want to hear everything.’
‘Oh, and you shall. What I do ... it’s what all men want to do. I live out their secret fantasies, their nasty little daydreams². I completely control my environment. I don’t live by rules created by my so-called peers. I live a full fantasy life. Everything I do is motivated by self-interest. It’s what everybody wants, trust me on that. So stop being so self-righteous. It irritates the shit out of me.’ I shook my head. ‘I have some news for you. It isn’t what I want, Kyle. It’s a self-centered adolescent’s fantasy.’
‘Oh, spare me the provincial³ pop psychology⁴. And yes, it is what
you want to do. The chase, the thrill. It’s your life, too. Don’t you see that? Jesus Christ, man. You love the hunt. You love it! You love this!’
We studied each other in the small kitchen for several minutes.  The hatred⁵ between us was so obvious now. Then Kyle began to laugh again - he roared. He was laughing at my expense.  ‘You still don’t get it, do you? You’re a fool. You’re so inferior. You have nothing, not a shred⁶ of solid evidence on me. I’ll be out on the street in a few days. I’ll be free to do whatever I like. Imagine the possibilities. Anything I can dream up. Isn’t that a consoling thought, Alex? Old buddy⁷, old pal⁸.
‘I wanted you to know who and what I am. It’s no fun unless somebody knows. I wanted this to happen. Desperately⁹. More than anything. I set it up. And once I’m out, you’ll know that I’m somewhere ... waiting and watching. You see, I won this time, too. I wanted you to catch me, you asshole. What do you think of that?’ I stared into Kyle’s eyes and it was like that game kids play - who’s going to look away first? Who’s going to blink?  Finally, I winked¹⁰ at him. ‘Gotcha,’ I said.
‘What I think,’ I continued, ‘is that you just made your first big mistake. You didn’t think of everything. You missed an important detail. Mastermind. Know what it is? C’mon, you’re a smart guy.  Figure it out.’
I stepped away from Kyle. Now I was the one who smiled, maybe even smirked¹¹. I stared into his eyes and let him think about it. I could see he had no idea. ‘Watch closely.’
I took my cell phone from my pocket. I held it up for Kyle to see. I showed him that it was turned on.
‘I called my home phone before we started to talk. The phone has been on speaker. Everything you just told me is on my voice mail. I have your confession¹², Kyle. Everything, every word.You lose, you sick, pitiful sonofabitch.You lose. Mastermind.’
Kyle suddenly sprung up from the floor at me - and then I got to knock him out again. I hit him with the best punch of my life, at least it felt that way. His body lifted up off the floor and he lost a couple of front teeth.
That was how he looked in the news photograph after his capture, the great Mastermind, missing two front teeth.

1 skull   

n.头骨；颅骨

参考例句：

• The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
• He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。

2 daydreams   

n.白日梦( daydream的名词复数 )v.想入非非，空想( daydream的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Often they gave themselves up to daydreams of escape. 他们常沉溺进这种逃避现实的白日梦。 来自英汉文学
• I would become disgusted with my futile daydreams. 我就讨厌自己那种虚无的梦想。 来自辞典例句

3 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

4 psychology   

n.心理，心理学，心理状态

参考例句：

• She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
• He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。

5 hatred   

n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨

参考例句：

• He looked at me with hatred in his eyes.他以憎恨的眼光望着我。
• The old man was seized with burning hatred for the fascists.老人对法西斯主义者充满了仇恨。

6 shred   

v.撕成碎片，变成碎片；n.碎布条，细片，些少

参考例句：

• There is not a shred of truth in what he says.他说的全是骗人的鬼话。
• The food processor can shred all kinds of vegetables.这架食品加工机可将各种蔬菜切丝切条。

7 buddy   

n.（美口）密友，伙伴

参考例句：

• Calm down,buddy.What's the trouble?压压气，老兄。有什么麻烦吗？
• Get out of my way,buddy!别挡道了，你这家伙！

8 pal   

n.朋友，伙伴，同志；vi.结为友

参考例句：

• He is a pal of mine.他是我的一个朋友。
• Listen,pal,I don't want you talking to my sister any more.听着，小子，我不让你再和我妹妹说话了。

9 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

10 winked   

v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮

参考例句：

• He winked at her and she knew he was thinking the same thing that she was. 他冲她眨了眨眼，她便知道他的想法和她一样。
• He winked his eyes at her and left the classroom. 他向她眨巴一下眼睛走出了教室。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 smirked   

v.傻笑( smirk的过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He smirked at Tu Wei-yueh. 他对屠维岳狞笑。 来自子夜部分
• He smirked in acknowledgement of their uncouth greetings, and sat down. 他皮笑肉不笑地接受了他的粗鲁的招呼，坐了下来。 来自辞典例句

12 confession   

n.自白，供认，承认

参考例句：

• Her confession was simply tantamount to a casual explanation.她的自白简直等于一篇即席说明。
• The police used torture to extort a confession from him.警察对他用刑逼供。