Redemptive (Combative, #2)(14)
*
Tiny called, told me he was on his way with some urgent news but didn’t want to tell me over the phone, so as soon as he hung up I checked the news websites.
And there it was.
A fishing boat had found Pauly’s body.
No more than five minutes later, Tiny called again. I didn’t bother answering; I just opened the door for him. “I just saw,” I told him.
“You know what that means, right?” he said, stepping into my house.
It was a Sunday, and it was early. Way too early for me to be thinking straight. Luckily, Tiny didn’t work off a clock. He worked off my schedule, which was why I paid him more than I paid myself. “I’m still wrapping my head around it.”
“They only found one body, Nate. You told Benny you’d dumped them both.”
Bailey’s bedroom door opened, and she stepped out, her features softening when she saw Tiny. She asked him, “Can I talk to you?”
He nodded.
“In private?”
I crossed my arms. Whatever she needed to say should be said in front of me. It was my f*cking house she was living in.
Tiny must have sensed my disapproval because he said, “There are no secrets here.”
Her face fell, her frown was all-consuming. She switched her weight from one foot to the other while seeming to contemplate. After a moment of silence, she said, “I have my period. I need stuff.”
I headed for my room. “Give Tiny a list of what you need. We’ll take care of it. When we get back, we need to talk.”
*
“You ever wonder what she does during the day?” I asked Tiny as he picked up a box of what I assumed were tampons.
“Obviously you do. You also have surveillance cameras set up throughout the house. You could always spy.” He shrugged. “Anyway, it’s a Sunday. Day of rest. Why don’t you spend the day at home and find out,” he mumbled, distracted by the box.
Bailey didn’t have much on her list. Pads, tampons, socks and underwear. That was it.
Tiny’s eyes moved from left to right as he skimmed the words on the box of tampons. “How is this a sixteen pack?” He lowered the box to his crotch as if comparing the size of the tampons to his cock.
I shook my head at him. “You’re such a dick.”
He looked around the store and called out, “Yo!”
A girl packing shelves a few feet away looked up.
“Can you help with these?” Tiny asked.
The girl stood from her squatting position and made her way over.
Tiny asked, “How does this work? Will this fill her?”
“It’s not—” The girl’s face contorted into a look of disgust. “The sizes are based on flow.”
“Flow?” Tiny asked, clearly confused.
“Maybe you should just get her one of each, just to be safe.”
“They come in singles?” he asked.
“No.” She shook her head and picked up three different boxes off the shelf. “That should do her.”
“She said I needed to get pads, too.”
The girl grabbed a few different packets and handed them all to him. “Anything else?”
“No.”
She started to walk away, but Tiny yelled out, “Do these have an expiration date?”
“No,” the girl said, becoming impatient with his lack of knowledge.
“Can I buy a carton of each?”
“What?”
Tiny shrugged. “She doesn’t get out much.”
“Whatever. Meet me at the registers.” She walked away, mumbling something about feeling sorry for his girlfriend.
*
“What the hell are we doing in here?” I asked Tiny, my eyes scanning the skimpy outfits inside the lingerie store.
“She said she needed underwear.”
“Surely we could just buy a bulk pack and move on.”
Tiny shrugged. “I don’t know, Boss. She’s had a shitty life, and it’s only gonna get shittier. She deserves to have at least one nice thing.”
The girl behind the register looked us up and down as we approached, clearly confused by our presence. Tiny stood straighter when we got to the glass counter and tapped his knuckles twice on it. “We need underwear,” he announced, like he was the king of f*cking Scotland.
The girl raised her perfectly manicured eyebrows and flicked her fake blonde hair away from her eyes. “For your mom?” she asked him.
I cleared my throat before Tiny could respond.
Her eyes darted to mine, a slight smile forming on her bright pink lips. She said, “Maybe you should try Target?”
“You’re a bitch,” Tiny mumbled.
She gasped.
I pulled out my money clip and dropped it on the counter. “Just give us whatever that will buy.”
The girl’s eyes widened when she saw the wad of cash. She hesitated to pick it up like she somehow knew it was drug money. Her scowl turned to a smirk as she started to count it. “There’s almost three grand here,” she whispered. Her gaze lifted, her smile had become huge. “Size?”
“I don’t know. Small?”
She rolled her eyes.
Tiny spoke up. “Size four in underwear—” He looked over at me. “What bra size?”