The Fall(71)

“I can handle my business,” Tony protested, his hand getting a case of the shakes, clearly not as tight as he thought he was.

“Are you done yet?” My arms stayed locked in position. “Because I feel like shooting him just for boring me.”

“If he doesn’t put the gun down, I’ll shoot him myself.” Sal lowered his gun and turned his attention to Tony. “Let me handle this, I’m not in the mood to clean up your mess.”

“Everyone needs to stop.” Jimmy raised his hands, the * still believing he had control over what was going down. “I can’t f*cking think.”

“Take your daughter and f*ck off.” I nodded to the black on black Mercedes E class they’d arrived in. Hard to believe the cocksucker was her father. He sure as shit didn’t act like it. “And I’ll want the rest of my money.”

“You want the rest of your money?” Jimmy’s diaphragm went into convulsions. “Check you out, the balls on you.”

“If you wanted a bargain, Jimmy, you should have gone to K-mart.” I had yet to lower my weapons. “You will pay me the remaining amount.”

“Or what? What are you going to do?” he spluttered, clearly believing his own press in thinking he was God. “You’re nothing more than a street thug. You don’t have any power.”

“You’re right. I’m nothing more than a street thug. But before I blew Sofia’s brains all over my shoes, she had a lot to say about things you’ve done. Seems your little girl was willing to sing like a f*cking canary in order to save her life. So I let her get as chatty as she wanted, and when she ran out of shit to talk about, I finished what I started. So I’d be careful about who you threaten.”

Jimmy lunged for me, and if not for Sal wrapping his meat hooks around the dude’s torso, he may have gotten a little further.

“You little cunt!” he yelled, fighting a losing battle against the extra eighty pounds Sal had on him. “All I have to do is let it be known what you did to my only daughter; you’ll be dead within a day.”

“Oh, like the bounty you had on Sofia?” I laughed. Couldn’t help it. The idea that Jimmy thought he had one over on me freaking hilarious considering how deep he was in his own shit. “Yeah, ’cause that worked out so well for you. Not to mention that me taking her out just alleviated a lot of headaches for almost anyone willing to take the job. I’d say they’d be more inclined to shake my f*cking hand rather than help you.”

“Watch your back, boy!” Jimmy yelled, Sal pulling him back toward the Benz. “This is far from over.”

Tony wisely didn’t interfere, his hands instead got busy holstering his gun and helping Sal contain Jimmy.

“It really pisses me off when *s like you call me boy.” I eyeballed him as his entourage forced him to take a backward step. “And it’s you who should watch your back.”

There was some posturing on their part, mainly from Jimmy, but Sal managed to convince them that they didn’t want to do it here. He took the ash can with him, his eyes trying to burn a hole in me as he got in the car and peeled out of the shipping yard.

His reaction had been predictable. I wasn’t expecting him to high-five me after I’d supposedly S’mored his kid, but I’d played it straight down the line, and the sentiment was exactly my MO.

After giving a quick three-sixty of my surroundings, I slipped back into the Chevy and took the long way back to the warehouse. Not that it mattered now, even if they did follow me, they wouldn’t find anything there. Still, it’s not like I wanted to roll out the welcome mat for these dipshits either. And another thing, I needed another set of wheels. Losing the Camaro had happened days ago, and while there had been more pressing issues at the time, kicking it in the POS I had been currently driving was getting old. Not to mention when I finally went and picked up Sofia I needed something with a little more power under the hood. Something that could outrun their fleet of foreign douche mobiles if it came to it.

When I returned to the warehouse, it was empty. No shit, considering that was the way it was supposed to be. But I could still smell her in the air even hours after she’d been gone.

It was too soon.

We would both have to sit tight for a few days until I was positive I wasn’t being followed. Only then could I risk heading back to the church. Then maybe I would indulge my fantasy and watch the f*cker burn, either way I’d sooner stab myself right in the dick than ever set foot in that place again.

“Yeah.” I answered my phone, the f*cker buzzing beside me displaying no caller ID. Not that this was a surprise given the company I had been keeping the last few weeks.

“Your shit is ready. But you’re paying double because I had to rush the order.”

“Well hello to you too.” I laughed into the speaker. “Is it still up to standard?”

“Suck my dick, Mike.” It was his turn to laugh. “Everything I do is quality.”

“Fine, double.”

“Pleasure doing business with you.”

The call ended without the need to confirm any more details. Leon AKA The Polack and I had done business before and we had a system. He’d have everything I needed personally delivered to a predesignated PO box, and I’d reciprocate with payment. There’d be no follow up, and we wouldn’t speak to each other again till either of us needed something. It’s the way shit worked with people like us.