Rock Chick Revenge (Rock Chick #5)(168)

Ren had ordered Santo and Lucky to bring me cookies and they obviously obeyed orders well. There were Oreos, Chips Ahoy, four different types of Milanos and a plethora of other Pepperidge Farms choices, Nutter Butters, Pecan Sandies and a variety of Archway and Entenmanns on the coffee table in front of me.

Tod and Stevie would have been there but they were flight attendants and they were both flying. However, Indy was watching their chow dog, Chowleena, and Chowleena was sitting on the couch between me and Sissy, panting. So I figured Tod and Stevie were there in spirit.

Detective Marker rose from the armchair at the side of the couch. “I got what I need,” he announced.

I nodded as Indy came forward and handed me a fresh, skinny vanilla latte. I set down my milk and took the latte. Then I sipped.

Heaven.

“Who’s up next?” Detective Marker asked Indy, sounding resigned but apparently deciding it was best to prepare for the next disaster.

“I’m thinkin’ Mace,” Indy replied.

“I got my money on Ally,” Shirleen put in.

Ally twisted to Shirleen. “Me?” Then swiftly (and weirdly), her eyes sliced to Ren before they went back to Shirleen when she kept talking.

“That blond boy’s headed to DC. You think you’ll escape this shit? You’re a Nightingale,” Shirleen replied.

“Darius needs a woman,” Daisy threw in.

“Huh,” Shirleen grunted. “Darius would put up with this shit for about a second.”

The doors flew open, the bell over them clattered and Smithie came in. “What’d I miss?” he yelled to no one in particular.

“Ava, held at gunpoint. Kidnapping. Car chase. Car crash. Car explosion. It’s over,” Jet explained. “I missed it too, I was working,” she sounded disappointed.

“Thank Christ for that,” Eddie muttered.

“Amen,” Hank added under his breath.

“Shee-it,” Smithie said.

I reached for a cookie, found the variety too complex and bit my lip in indecision.

“Ava, give it up with the cookies,” Riley told me.

My eyes moved to him, “But –”

He shook his head. I glared but sat back.

“What’ll it be?” Tex boomed at Smithie.

“Latte with some of that butterscotch syrup,” Smithie replied, walking in.

Detective Marker moved to leave when the doors flew open again, the bell over them clattered and three big guys I’d never seen before rushed into the store, guns raised and pointed at Dom.

The room went still.

Ho-ly shit.

What now?

“Nobody move, Vincetti, you’re comin’ with us,” one of them ordered.

No. This was not going to happen. I could take no more. I was going to put an end to this, right… f*cking… now.

I stood. “Not so fast,” I snapped.

“Ava –” Ren started, eyes on me.

I stomped up to the men with guns. They stared at me as I did so, obviously taken aback by my bold behavior. I didn’t care. I walked right up to one and yanked the gun out of his hand.

“What the f**k?” he clipped, staring at me with his gun.

I twisted, tossed the gun five feet to Eddie who, at the last minute, came out of his frozen stupor, a stupor caused undoubtedly by my crazy-as-shit actions, and caught it.

“Do you know there are three policemen in this room?” I asked.

The men looked around.

“No shit?” one mumbled.

“No shit,” I replied. “What’s your deal with Dom?” I demanded.

“He stole money from us,” one of the men said.

“So?” I asked.

“A lot of money,” another one said.

“So?” I repeated.

“We want it back,” the one I took the gun from said.

I turned to Uncle Vito. “Can you give them back their money?”

“I already told ‘em I’d pay ‘em,” Uncle Vito replied.

I turned back to the men. “Okay then, what’s the problem?”

“The man we work for don’t like it when people steal from him,” the first man said.

“Charge interest. Make it worth his while. This isn’t rocket science boys. Yeesh,” I returned.

“That sounds like kind of a good idea,” the second man said.

“Twenty-five percent,” the first man told Uncle Vito.

“Ten percent,” Ren returned.

“Twenty,” the first man haggled.

“Ten,” Ren repeated.

“Fifteen,” the first man tried again.

“Ten. You take it or you got war with the Zanos,” Ren told him.

The three men shifted, not liking this idea but still not wanting to give up. I sighed, heavy and huge. Men!

“For goodness sake!” I snapped.

“We just want Vincetti,” the third man said.

“Dom’s a Zano,” Ren replied.

“We don’t want family trouble, just cut him loose,” the second man threw in.

Ren shook his head. They all looked at each other.

“All right, ten. Fuck,” the first man relented.

“Tell The Man he’ll have it in the hour,” Uncle Vito cut in.