by Simon Wood
“He does.”
“Then what makes you think that he’ll bring friends along now?”
“Wouldn’t you?”
Given the choice, Todd would. “It’s a bit late now. We’re gonna have play this as it comes.”
“Do you think you can handle this?”
“What choice do I have?” He returned to his hiding place and checked the chambers for shells again.
***
A fist pounded on the rollup door and a gruff voice called Charlie’s name. Traffic must have been kind. He was five minutes early according to Todd’s watch. The fist pounded on the door a second time. The door shook on its track and sounded like thunder. Todd eased the hammer back on the .357.
Charlie’s spiked heels clicked on the concrete floor. He peered through the gap between the tool chests and watched her approach the door. She pressed a button and the door retracted. Before it had a chance to open fully, Fox ducked under it. He was tall, easily six-feet, and in his early forties with an athletic build. None of that bothered Todd. The guy’s smell did. Fox reeked of crime. Todd saw it in the way he entered the shop and systematically scanned the room. He moved with a predator’s pace. Oh yeah, this guy was obviously a career criminal. He drove the point home with the automatic he held.
“Where is he?” Fox growled.
“He’s not here,” Charlie said and pressed the button to close the door.
“You said he was.”
Fox stopped in the middle of the shop. He was facing in Todd’s direction, cutting off any chance of a surprise attack.
“Turn him around, Charlie,” Todd murmured under his breath.
“I know, but after I hung up, he said he wanted something to eat.”
Fox cursed. “Where’s the Lexus?”
“He drove off in it.”
Fox cursed again.
“He should be back in a minute.” Charlie circled Fox, which forced him to turn his back towards Todd.
“Good girl,” Todd murmured.
“That gives us time to prepare,” Fox said.
“Prepare for what?”
“What do you think?” he spat.
Nice. At least I know now, Todd thought. The small man still held his grudge. This wasn’t going to end unless he or the small man ended it.
“I can’t have you kill him here,” Charlie said.
“I don’t think you’ve got a choice, darlin’.” Fox tucked the automatic into the back of his jeans.
Todd knew the guy would never be so close to being unarmed again. He charged out from behind the tool chests. “DEA. Hold it right there.”
Claiming he was a representative of the DEA was a last second thought. Gun against gun, Todd guessed Fox had more than an edge on him, but that might be canceled out if Fox believed Todd was a government agent. Killing a nobody might not faze him, but killing a federal agent might quell his murderous tendencies.
It didn’t.
Fox shot Charlie a venomous look of hatred, then spun around and reached for his weapon. Charlie backed away as Todd closed in on Fox. Every foot closer Todd got to Fox improved his chances of hitting him.
“Don’t even think about it,” Todd warned.
Fox ignored Todd and jerked out his weapon.
Todd had him. It would have been so easy to shoot, to put a hole in one of the problems and make it go away, but he couldn’t. He needed the guy alive. He needed him to talk. As Fox aimed, Todd dropped his aim and his shoulder, and plowed into the man.
Fox read Todd’s move all too well. He stepped outside of Todd’s collision course, caught his charging body and hurled him across the floor. Knowing he was going down, Todd grabbed Fox’s waistband and brought both of them crashing to the ground. Todd cracked his head on the concrete floor and a starburst went off behind his eyes. It dazed him for a second, but only a second. He couldn’t afford more than that. Fox was recovering from his fall. Todd tried to tighten his grip on the .357, but found he’d lost the gun in the melee.
“You piece of shit,” Fox barked and kicked Todd in the stomach. The kick rolled Todd onto his back. Fox stepped on Todd’s neck and lazily aimed his automatic at Todd’s face. “DEA, my ass.”
Todd tried to speak, but Fox pressed down with his foot, turning Todd’s words into a gurgle. Starlight filled his vision. He flailed at Fox’s pant leg in an attempt to get the man’s foot off his throat.
“DEA or no DEA, you don’t leave here tonight.” Fox trained his weapon on Todd’s face. “Pick an eye. Grunt for left. Gurgle for right.” He pointed the gun at Todd’s left eye, then his right, then back to his left.
A strangled noise Todd hadn’t intended made it past his constricted windpipe.
“Was that a gurgle? Sure sounded like it.” Fox grinned. “Right eye it is then.”
A gunshot roared in the shop, bouncing off the walls and the parked vehicles. A red blossom opened up on Fox’s chest. Confusion and pain stained the man’s expression. He staggered back, taking his foot off Todd’s throat.
Todd sucked in a much-needed breath. Fox wasn’t going down and Todd wasn’t about to give the son of a bitch a second chance. He snapped to his feet and drove an unforgiving punch into Fox’s wound. Fox’s scream filled Todd with satisfaction and he followed up his first punch with a right hook to the guy’s jaw that sent a crackle of electricity through the bones of his fist and all the way into his shoulder. The legs went out from under Fox and he collapsed in a heap. Todd tore the automatic from Fox’s grasp and aimed it at him.
Charlie’s heels beat a tattoo on the concrete. She jammed Todd’s .357 in Fox’s face and pulled back on the trigger. Todd slapped her arm out of the way as the gun went off. The bullet struck the ground, ricocheting off the concrete to embed itself in a wall.
“I need him alive,” Todd shouted. He left out that he didn’t want to bury a second body.
Charlie looked at him like he’d slapped her. “He would have killed you.”
“It’s okay. He can’t hurt us now.” He reached over and took the .357 from her trembling hands.
“That’s what you think,” Fox laughed.
“Shut it or else,” Todd snarled.
“Or what? You just said you couldn’t kill me. You’re not very good at this.”
“I said I needed you alive. I didn’t say anything about being nice about it.” Todd ground his heel into Fox’s wound. Fox squirmed and did his best to keep in a yell that burst out of him in a rush. Todd took some small pleasure from inflicting this pain but not much. He had to put up a front though. This guy had to believe that he was capable of anything. “Charlie, find something to tie this bastard up with.”
Charlie returned with a lifting sling. Todd jerked Fox’s arms behind him and looped it around his wrists to produce makeshift handcuffs. He hooked the slack on the hook of an overhead winch and hoisted Fox’s wrists up behind his back and jerked him forward, but kept it just low enough to keep Fox’s feet on the ground. It looked damned uncomfortable, which was just the effect Todd was hoping to achieve. The answers should come quick.
“See that?” Todd spun Fox to face the untidy puddle of blood spoiling the otherwise spotless floor. “You’re bleeding bad.”
“You ain’t no DEA,” he said scornfully.
“I don’t think it matters what you think.” Todd pressed his thumb into Fox’s bullet wound. His thumb touched something hard that wasn’t bone. His stomach lurched. This was a road he didn’t want to venture down, but he had no choice. This was the only language Fox understood. He’d respond to it. Todd had to believe that.
Fox screamed out and Charlie winced and looked away.
“All you need to know is that you’re in a no win situation,” Todd said.
“And how do you figure that, tough guy?”
“Do I need to hold up a mirror, moron?”
“This is nothing. They’ll give me a pat on the back for this.”
“They’ll put a bullet in the back of your fucking head when they
see you.”
Fox snorted derisively.
“They won’t let you keep on breathing after you compromised their operation.”
“Oh yeah?”
Todd reached inside Fox’s back pocket, jerked out his wallet and pulled out his driver’s license. “Yes, Wade Mears of Plano. They can’t afford errors and you can’t stop making them.”
“That’s not me.”
“I think it is. It took you less than thirty minutes to get here. How far is Plano from here, Charlie?”
“Less than thirty minutes away.”
“Christ, don’t you have any brains? You don’t bring ID with you.”
Mears cursed under his breath.
“Did you let anyone know you were coming here tonight?” Todd asked.
“Worried about the cavalry?”
Todd slammed a fist in Mears’ wound. “Did you talk to anyone?”
Mears breathed hard from the punch. “No.”
That was good. It meant no loose ends. This could be explained away if no one beyond the three of them knew about this.
The color was draining from Mears’ face. Todd guessed it had less to do with his shock and more to do with his blood loss. Mears wasn’t losing a lethal amount, but he had to be going lightheaded. Todd had to hurry this up.
“I can crucify you, Wade, but I can save you too.”
“Blow me.”
Todd thumbed Mears’ bullet again with the desired effect. “I demand a little respect, Wade. Especially considering the position you’re in right now.”
“And what position is that?”
“Fucked.” Todd paused to let the enormity sink in. “You’re shot and unless you’re a premed student, I don’t see how you can avoid a hospital and a hospital means cops. I’m sure you have friends, but that means word getting back and that means questions. Questions you’ll have a hard time answering. Questions that lead to answers that are punctuated with a bullet.” Todd showed Mears his own gun. “I can compound those problems by putting a kilo of uncut coke in your lovely home detailed on this driver’s license. No matter how you slice it, someone will come gunning for you.”
“You two will have to explain this mess too.”
Todd turned to Charlie. “Not really. I could be a bastard and say it’s not my problem. This isn’t my dealership.”
Charlie frowned. Todd smiled.
“But it’s not even an issue. Who’s going to believe that Charlie runs a drug mule business out of here, Wade?”
Mears didn’t answer.
“Yeah, I didn’t think so,” Todd remarked. “So Wade, what’s it to be—the cops, them or me?”
Mears pondered his options. Surprisingly, not as long as Todd imagined.
“What do you want?”
“You mentioned they. Who are they?”
“You think I’m going to tell you that?”
“Don’t make me state the obvious again,” Todd said impatiently.
“What do I get out of this?”
“Tell me something useful and I might just tell you.”
“I work for the Carlsons.”
“And where would I find the Carlsons?”
Todd prayed for the answer to be in California, but it wasn’t to be. Just like Charlie, Mears’ orders came from Seattle. Questions about the small man’s role in this scheme filled Todd’s head again, but he had no answers to make them go away.
“How about San Francisco—deal with anyone there?”
“No.”
“Sure? This is important, Wade.”
“Yes.”
Todd pressured Mears for more. He pressed at the bullet wound a couple of times just to make sure Mears wasn’t holding out, but he knew nothing about the small man. He knew the Carlsons and that was it. He spilled contact numbers, meeting places and names. It surprised Todd that Mears knew that much. At the end of the day, he was a satellite on the outskirts of the organization, just a drone doing their bidding.
When he’d given up all he was going to give, Mears asked, “Can I get some water?”
“Sure,” Todd said. “You’ve earned it.”
Charlie filled a paper cup from the cooler and held it to Mears’ mouth for him to drink.
“I think he’s had enough. Lower him,” Charlie said.
She fixed Todd with a disgusted look. Todd nodded and lowered the hoist until Mears rested on his knees. Mears let out a groan of relief.
Before Todd unhooked Mears and cleaned him up, he bound his wrists and ankles with duct tape. Mears seemed docile enough, but Todd wasn’t taking any chances. He wouldn’t put it past him to fight back. Todd sure as hell would if he were in his bloodied shoes.
After they’d patched Mears as best as they could, Todd washed the blood off him in the restroom. Charlie followed him in. She looked haggard. Her hair hung limp around her face and her sun kissed complexion had bled away to a ghostly white. Todd imagined this whole business had aged her. She would have grown up a lot more than she liked when daddy’s gambling problems brought mobsters to her door.
“What are you going to do with him?” she asked.
“Let him run.”
“Can we trust him?”
Todd exhaled. “We don’t have much of a choice, but I think so. He’s got just as much to lose as we have. I’ll reinforce the fact when I cut him loose.”
Fear filled her expression. He’d seen it several times while he questioned—no, interrogated—Mears. It wasn’t time to get squeamish over what he’d done.
“You scared me out there,” she said.
Truth be known, he’d scared himself too. He was changing. Some of it for the better and some of it not. “You know the position I’m in. Yours isn’t a lot different. Tonight was never about negotiation. I had to get what I wanted without it coming back to bite me.”
“And did you get what you wanted?”
“Some. Not enough, but enough to be getting on with.”
“Hey,” Mears bellowed. “Cut me loose.”
Charlie shook her head slowly.
“Sounds like our guest is getting restless,” Charlie said.
They returned to their noisy captive, Todd drying his hands on a long ream of paper towel.
“Here come the executioners,” Mears taunted. He wriggled slug-like across the floor, and just like a slug, his bloody shoulder left a trail behind him. Todd knocked him onto his back with his foot, ending his escape.
“So you think we’re going to kill you?” Charlie asked in a neutral tone.
“Let’s not play games. We all know the rules. You’re gonna tell me I’m free to go then you’re going to put a bullet in the back of my head.”
“Wade, I don’t have to get my hands dirty with you.” Todd dropped to one knee. “When word gets out—and it will, I’ll make sure of it—the Carlsons will do the job for me. But I realize you’re just a foot soldier doing your job, so I’m going to cut you some slack. You split. Tonight. I’ll promise to forget all about you.”
“It’s the best offer life is ever going to throw you,” Charlie added.
Mears looked from Todd to Charlie and back. Skepticism claimed his expression.
“Got any cash?” Todd asked.
“About a grand.”
It was more than Todd had on him when he’d skipped out on the small man. “That should get you a long way if you spend it wisely.”
Something melted in Mears’ expression. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”
“Do I have to poke you in the shoulder to prove it?” Todd asked.
Mears cracked a smile. “You ain’t no DEA agent.”
“Does it matter?”
“No.”
“We got a deal then?”
“If you cut me loose, we can shake on it.”
The fable of the scorpion and the toad flashed through Todd’s head. “I’ll take your word on it. Got a car?”
“Green Caddy parked on the street. Keys are in my pants.”
Todd fished for
the keys and tossed them to Charlie. She backed the Cadillac into the garage and helped Todd load Mears into the Cadillac’s trunk. They struggled against his buckling and bitching.
“I should have known you’d fucking lie.”
Todd pinned Mears’ head to the trunk’s carpeted interior and looked him directly in the eyes. “Wade, I’m not lying. I’m not going to kill you, but I’m also not just going to let you walk out of here. I’m taking you to neutral ground. Okay?”
“You’d better be.”
“Or what, Wade? You aren’t in a position to make threats.”
Todd slammed the trunk lid down before Mears could bitch further.
“What do we do now?” Charlie asked.
“Know anywhere remote?”
“You’re not going to kill him, are you?”
Todd shook his head. “No, I just want to get him out of the way for a while.”
She nodded. “I know somewhere.”
Charlie led the convoy in her Audi. Todd followed in Mears’ Cadillac. They drove out to Bynum. It was quiet, remote and a good hour from the city. They freed Mears from the trunk and perched him on the rear bumper. He looked ghastly. The blood loss was taking its toll.
“Know someone who can take care of the bullet?” Todd asked.
Mears nodded.
“Are they connected to the Carlsons?”
He shook his head.
“Good.”
Todd went through the Caddy. He wanted to make damn sure the son of a bitch didn’t have a spare weapon or anything that he could use on them. The car was clean.
Todd pulled out Mears’ automatic and handed it to Charlie. “Keep that on him.”
She did exactly as she was told.
Todd pulled out a box cutter he’d snagged from the workshop and cut the tape around Mears’ ankles. “Remember who is giving you this wonderful opportunity to live.”
“Some opportunity,” Mears grumbled. When he realized that Todd wasn’t going to cut the rest of the tape until he got a satisfactory response, he said, “I’ll remember you until my dying day. Good enough?”
Todd sliced open the remaining tape. “Move over there.”
Mears stood, but tottered. He stopped when he was about twenty feet away from the Cadillac. He wavered for a moment before falling to the ground in a heap.
