by M. Stratton
Actually, they’d been lucky. It was just a couple of teenage kids out for a joyride who had slammed into them. Lucky also they hadn’t been in the neighborhood. While he couldn’t be sure of the cops in surrounding neighborhoods, the ones who had helped them didn’t appear to pay any unusual interest to the two of them. If they had been in the old neighborhood Mick and Nutter would have been notified.
Because of Bender’s connections, he’d been able to get them in the same room when they were taken to the emergency room, and in and out in record time. Murdoch had also provided another SUV and made sure he had the keys before they were discharged. He had also left them a note to come to his place, which surprised him because they were trying hard not to give anyone the impression they were connected.
If there was anywhere Bender would be able to relax, knowing Stormy would be safe, it would be at Murdoch’s, and the old coot knew that. He hoped Stormy would be able to as well. He saw how she moved, how she kept stretching her back out. “Did you take anything?”
Stormy waved him away and turned from him. He grabbed her arm and kept her from leaving. “Did you take something for your pain?”
“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”
“Stormy.”
“Bender.”
“Please, take something. Give me one less thing to worry about.”
The tight lines around her eyes softened and she ran her hand along the side of his face. “Yes, of course. You’re right. I should take something.”
She walked over, shook two pills out, and took them. Closing her eyes, she sat down heavily in the chair and shook. “I was so scared. I thought for sure it was Mick and Nutter. I know now it was just my imagination, but at the time, I didn’t. There was nothing I could do. I couldn’t keep my eyes open. My last thought was they were going to kill me.”
“Come here.” He patted the side of the bed.
She got up and settled in beside him, sighing when he wrapped his arms around her.
“I was scared too. Scared something was going to happen to you; that I wouldn’t be able to protect you. That I’d let you down. I don’t think I could live with myself if I allowed anything to harm you.”
The air whooshed out of her lungs. “Me too.”
Murdoch knocked on the door before poking his head in. “You got everything you need?”
“Sure do.” He briefly looked at Stormy. “Hey, man, thanks for everything.”
“That’s what I’m here for. You feel up to talking?”
“I don’t think we can put it off any longer.”
“Nope. I’ll put some coffee on. You both have to stay up all night anyway, might as well spend some time together like civilized people.”
After Murdoch left, they sat together for a few more moments before Bender pulled away and sat up. “I need to warn you there are going to be some things, which will be hard to hear. Part of me hopes it scares you so bad, you’ll allow us to put you in hiding, lock you up somewhere so we can guarantee your safety for however long it takes us to get them. The other part doesn’t want to be away from you; and lord knows I don’t trust anyone as much as I do Murdoch or me to protect you.”
“I’m a big girl.”
He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, gently caressing down her neck and resting his hand on her shoulder. “I know you are. But there is a big difference between reading about monsters and knowing you’ve met two of them. Knowing they are looking for you.”
“I know monsters exist. The human monster is scarier than any other creature you can image.”
They sat around an old table in an older kitchen drinking coffee and filling Stormy in on everything they knew. She wondered if they really told her everything or if they were leaving certain parts out. There were times when they seemed to dodge questions, like when she asked how they knew Nutter had painted her portrait; it was something she couldn’t wrap her head around. Why would he do that? She knew he wasn’t right in the head; humping her counter so hard he moved it was one of the first clues. But why did they think it was such a big deal he’d painted her?
“What am I missing here? What aren’t you telling me?”
When they looked at each other, she knew there was more.
“Tell me.”
“When we learned both you were trying to buy up property in the neighborhood along with us, we thought that would help; having Mick and Nutter run in two different directions. The more confusion and misdirection we can create for those two the better.”
“Wait? Why do you want to buy the property? And why wasn’t my company approached about selling?”
“It was just another way to force them out. We tried to buy individually, but they weren’t having it. Then we went in with one large offer to buy all their properties.” Murdoch frowned. “But it would appear they didn’t like that offer either. As for you, well, you weren’t trying to ruin the neighborhood.”
“So now they are running around trying to find out who is behind the two different companies attempting to buy their properties? What happens if they find out?”
“There are only two names it can come down to. You know one of them is your name, and the other is Bender’s.”
“You? Why your name?”
“Because this old coot seems to think my name would scare them.”
“Or maybe this old coot knows you better than you know yourself. This place stills means something to you,” Murdoch said and scowled at Bender.
“This place lost all its meaning long ago.” He got up and went to pour some more coffee.
Stormy looked down at her hands folded in her lap. She tried not to read more into it, but how could she not? She was here now, and if here held no meaning to him, then what was the point?
Leaning over, Murdoch patted her arm. “Don’t mind him, dear; he tends to be a bit grumpy about certain things. All bark no bite though, good to know, eh?”
Bender growled from where he was leaning against the counter looking at them.
“See, barking, growling, it’s what he does best.” Murdoch laughed when Bender flipped him off.
When Bender’s phone dinged, he pulled it out of his pocket, looked at it, and frowned. “I’ve got to go out for a bit.”
“Wait, you can’t. Your concussion.”
“I’ll be fine.” He pulled his keys out of his pocket and walked to the front door.
“But—”
Stopping, he turned toward her. “Stormy, this is what I do. This is my last job. I’m doing whatever I can for Murdoch because it means so much to him, and then I’m done. I’ve been doing this for too many years, but the years have shown me what I can and need to do. This is one of those things. We’re running out of time. We have to take them out sooner rather than later. Every day we are gathering more information that will put them away forever. That’s the key. If they were ‘normal’ criminals, we would have been able to send them off before now. But they have money, connections; more than you can ever imagine. They are smart, but not smarter than we are. I have to go.” He cupped her cheek. “For you, for Donnie, for Murdoch, for all of you, I have to go.”
“I worry.” Her eyes glanced downward.
“I know you do.” He gathered her up in his arms. “I’ll come back to you.”
Then he was gone.
“Come on back, sit down. Standing there staring at the door isn’t going to make him come back any quicker.”
Sighing, she turned, walked back, and sat down picking up her coffee cup, absently swirling it around. “What doesn’t he want me to know?”
“Do you think I’m going to tell you?”
“Yes.” She finally looked up and met his eyes. “Because he thinks he’s protecting me by keeping things from me. But you worry that if I don’t know everything, I could end up walking into a situation that would be worse.”
“You read people well.”
“I read. I observe. I learn.”
“You know I would have been married for
forty-five years next month. Penny’s been gone for twenty of them. She was my everything. I’d do anything to keep her safe. Even now, all these years later, she is still the first thing I think of every morning and the last thing I think of every night.”
“What happened?”
“Robbery gone wrong. The typical wrong place at the wrong time. I was away on a job, working with Bender ironically. She loved that hardnosed, stubborn kid. We couldn’t have kids of our own. She more or less adopted him. He was an adult, but she always sent care packages to him. Anyway, you know this neighborhood’s never been the best. She ran out of milk.”
He stared off into the distance for a bit. Stormy didn’t want to interrupt his thoughts.
“Anyway, she walked into the convenience store and startled the guy who was robbing the place. He just turned and shot. I couldn’t get back to her in time. I’ve spent many years blaming myself. I shouldn’t have been away on a job. I should have been home with her. I should have made sure she had everything she needed before I left for those few days. I should have warned her about how many times that store had been held up in the past few weeks. Any one of those and she might still be with me today.” He shook his head. “But it wasn’t up to me.”
“I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine what you went through.”
“Thanks, honey. She would have liked you, thought you’d be good for Bender. And I think she’d be right.”
“I’m not sure about that.”
“I am. Now, Mick and Nutter. They have every cop here in their pocket, not to mention city workers, councilmen, and the mayor. This is just their first step in taking over more and more. They’ve moved around from neighborhood to neighborhood, making their connections and money. They ended up here and it looks like this is where they want to stay. They are buying up more and more property, spreading further out. We don’t think it’s going to end here. The more they have, the more they want.”
“So basically, trust no one.”
“Basically. But also, you need to be scared of them, and anyone who works for them. They aren’t just using money to get what they want. They are sick, Stormy, seriously sick. They will do whatever it takes. Don’t forget that part.”
Since she had a small taste of how sick Nutter could be, she worried what could be worse. Exactly what he was capable of. “How bad?”
“That I won’t tell you, dear. A lady shouldn’t have to hear some things. I’m trying to warn you not to take anything for granted, always make sure you are safe.” He slowly got up, his bones creaking. “Here, I’ve got something for you.” He walked out of the room and came back a minute later holding a small gun.
“No, I don’t like guns.”
“You need to know. This one is easy, point and shoot, pull the trigger.” When she didn’t take the gun, he placed it on the table. “Stormy, if it comes down to them or you, you need to make sure you come out on top. If it comes down to someone you love or them, they have to be taken out. Don’t lose someone you love because of them. Now, we’ve got some time, and you’re going to learn all about gun safety.”
Stormy hated the fact she even had to learn about guns. However, when she thought how helpless she felt when Nutter was around, it might be good to know. She’d wished for a weapon then, something to protect herself. She knew Nutter wasn’t all there. Just because she was going to learn about guns didn’t necessarily mean she was going to have to use it.
“Okay. Let’s do this.”
“I’m here. What do you want?” Bender’s first thought was this had to be a set up, but he couldn’t ignore it.
“Is that any way to talk to the person who’s going to help you bring them down?” the person in the shadow said.
“What’s in it for you, Sporto?”
“My life back. It might not mean much to you Bender, but it’s everything to me. I don’t want to have to worry about my wife and kids getting cut into little pieces and fed to the neighborhood cats, or worse.”
“I’m listening.”
“Here,” he came out of the shadow and gave him a zip drive before walking to a different hiding place. “This is what I’ve come up with in the past couple of days. Everyone in a position of power in a twenty-mile radius who is on the take. I’ve been able to find out a little bit on each of them, not much. I don’t want to bring too much attention to myself. I’ve also got some files on there that have gone ‘missing’ or have been doctored.”
“What do you need?”
“I need you to get my family out of here, now. Put them somewhere until you can lock those guys up and everything goes back to the way it was.”
To Bender’s way of thinking there was no way he could deny him, he was going to have to help him. Even if it was a set up, he couldn’t take the chance, because if he wasn’t lying and something happened to Sporto’s wife and kids, he wouldn’t be able to live with himself.
“When can they be ready?”
“They’re ready now.”
“Now?” The hair on the back of his neck stood up. He couldn’t be that predictable. “What if I said no?”
“I was going to take my chance and leave tonight with them. I’m not sure how far we’d get. They’ve set up shop in a lot of places over the years, and even if they didn’t, they know so many people I’m not sure if there are many safe places around.”
“And I’ve cleaned up a lot of those places. There’s a lot less now than there was. We’ve been drawing the net tighter and tighter over the past few months. Picking more and more of their contacts up off the streets. You’d make it further than you think, but you’re right in coming to me. I’ll be able to keep them safer.”
Sporto’s head dropped and his shoulders slumped. “You think I don’t know that? You think it doesn’t burn my ass you can keep them safe, and I can’t? Do you have any idea how hard it is for me to ask for your help?”
“Oh, I know. I’m the criminal. Remember? I’m the one who doesn’t matter, would never matter. I could disappear and no one would care. Well, I did that, for twenty years I did that. Did anyone care? No, they didn’t, but now that I’m back, at least one person cares, and that is just for how much I can help them. Some things never change.” He held his hand up before the other man could speak. “Don’t worry, I’ll still help you; it’s for your wife and kids. Don’t forget, it’s because of them I’m doing this.”
“They’ve been driving around. We have specific places for them to be at specific times. If we aren’t there to meet them, they are to leave and drive to the next meeting spot until you are there.”
“Fine. Let’s go.” He turned to leave.
“Bender . . .”
He stopped but didn’t turn around.
“Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it.” There were times when the wounds of a teenager were still so close to the surface. You’d think they were long dead and buried and then something, or someone would come along and pick at that scar, and it’d open up exposing all the rot that was still there.
Bender couldn’t help but feel something was wrong. He kept tapping out information on his phone, knowing it was going to his people, hoping he wasn’t walking into a trap. Based on what he knew of Mick and Nutter, they would either play with him for a while before they killed him or they’d take him out quick, worried about what would be coming right behind him.
Finally, at one of the last gas stations you come to before heading into farm country, they caught up with them. The plan was for Bender to drive them where they needed to be. Before he’d just hop in a vehicle, he needed to know what was going on in the back. He strode to the door on the mini-van, his senses on high alert. He knew Sporto had already driven away, so he was left here, at the mercy of whoever was in the vehicle. With one hand resting on his gun, he opened the door while drawing his gun out, knowing they had a perfect view of him as he had walked across the parking lot.
He slid the door open and quickly glanced at the kids back there before he laid e
yes on the driver. She couldn’t meet his eyes. “Well, I’ll be a son of a bit—”
“Make the old lady stop. Seriously, Nutter, we’ve been here for five minutes and all she’s done is whine and whimper. I know you like to play with your food, but we both know there is no way she’s going to be on our menu.”
“That is true.” Nutter looked her up and down. “I wouldn’t even feed you to the cats. Very well.” He cut her away from the chair, threw her over his shoulder, and walked into the bathroom. “You know, the good thing about these old buildings, old pipes. Good, strong pipes. The new plastic pipes wouldn’t be able to hold you up.” He bounced her on his shoulder. “You’re what? About ninety-three pounds? You know you really should eat more. One good sickness and you’re skin and bone.”
Mick leaned up against the doorjamb. “Is everything in place?”
“Oh, yes. In fact, phase one already started tonight.” Nutter talked as he hung her upside down from the showerhead. “Up next is one of those brats who are always running in and out of her store; one of them is going to get Stormy back here.” He went down on one knee and took out a knife, then poked it in the side of the old bat’s neck. A small line of blood started flowing. “Once Stormy’s in her apartment, we can start to have our fun.” He continued to poke at the old skin on her neck, cocking his head to the side to see where he was. “Even if Stormy brings someone, let’s say Bender, we’ll be ready for that, too.” A few more pokes to her skin and her face was almost all red with blood. “Ahhh . . . there we go. Time to connect the dots.” With one final swipe of hand, he slashed her neck; the rest of the blood left in her body flowed out and down her face.
They waited until she stopped moving before Nutter stood up and shook her a little bit to get the rest of the blood out of her body before taking her down and using a saw cut her into large pieces. Moving back to the living room, he worked quickly to arrange her on the bookcase, an arm here, a leg there, rearranging her knickknacks to fit with his vision.
