by N Kuhn
“Do we have a deal Sal?”
“Young lady, you have my word, that your life and that of your young FBI friend will be safe. I’ll handle this.” He disconnects and I sit at the table.
As I’m trying to decide how I’ll get there, the door to the room implodes. Wood flies into the room. Ducking, I try to roll out of the way. In comes Paulie and Rico. Rico tosses the blonde wig at me, laughing as I struggle to back away. The nasty bed in my way.
“Damn Candy, you looked good as a blonde. Hell, it was almost like a completely different woman. You’re good. Real good. You should know that, before I kill you. You sure had me fooled, with your clingy girlfriend ways. You were a great dancer too. They teach you that in the Academy? Or you learn that all on your own?” Paulie sounds angry. Very angry. Preferring not to answer, I just stare at the floor, trying to calm my breathing. “Well, Miss Candy. Soon, you’ll get to meet my business partner and find out where all the girls before you went. We’ll see how my father likes the way things go tonight. I’m taking over the Sirocco family business. I’m in charge now. Paulie’s in charge. Got it? Go grab her Rico, toss her ass in the trunk.” He waves me off like I’m inconsequential to him. More like you’re too big for your own pants, but I’ll let daddy handle that with you asshole.
Rico stomps towards me, leering. He limps slightly and I smile.
“How are those ribs Rico? I can’t believe you’re still standing.”
“Takes a lot more than a dumb bitch to take me down sweet thing. It feels great to be out on bail already though. Thought your Fed friends were gonna keep me? Nobody locks up Rico.” Talking in the third person must be a requirement for these assholes. Rico closes the gap between us and reaches for me. Swinging my leg high, I catch him in the ribs again. He falls to his knees, crying like a little bitch. Paulie spins, facing us, dropping his cell phone back in his pocket. He raises his gun, pointing it at me.
“Candace, don’t make me do it. I’d rather make some money off of you than kill you. But either way, it doesn’t bother me.” Spitting on the floor, I glare at him. “Rico, get your lazy ass up.” Slowly, breathing hard, Rico stands. He grabs my hair, causing me to scream. He pulls at it hard, my scalp feels like it’s peeling off. Crying out, I stumble to keep my footing as he drags me outside the room. Paulie has the trunk of his Beamer open, helping Rico stuff me inside. I kick out at them, trying like hell to stop them. I see Paulie lean down, pulling his arm back. There’s a flash of pain in my face, then blackness.
As I come to, I look around. I’m inside what looks like an empty warehouse. Great. Struggling, I look up. My arms are tied together at the wrist and hung from a chain hooked to the ceiling. Shit. This isn’t good. Paulie paces the floor across the room and Rico is nowhere in sight.
“You know, your father isn’t going to be too happy when he finds out what you’re doing,” I croak. My voice is hoarse, my face throbs with pain. It hurts to speak, my jaw sending pain shooting throughout my head and neck. His face contorts into a wicked grin. His perfectly white teeth that I would love to knock out of his head. He steps towards me as Rico enters through a door to my left. The smell of diesel fuel and fish waft in on the breeze behind him. I shiver, full of fear. What’s going to happen to me? Is he going to sell me to this Mexican? I didn’t even get a chance to find out who he is. What if Geek Boy, Dominic, if that’s even his real name, can’t find me? What if he has the wrong place? All these thoughts filling my head and the tears come. Flowing down my cheek, the salt burning a scrape on my face. Most likely from getting punched by Paulie.
“Aw, look boss, the tough bitch is a crier. Bet she’s real scared now, huh?”
“She should be. She should be real scared about what The Mexican is going to do to her. What he does to the women I give him.”
He steps closer and I can smell the sickening cologne he wears. It turns my stomach.
“You know what he does Candy?” The way he says my name causes my heart to skip a beat. I can only imagine.
“He uses them, until they are hollow empty shells, just holes to fuck. Then he sells them to someone else to fuck and use. These women keep getting sold and used until they die or are too beaten and broken to be attractive anymore.” He laughs, an evil cackling laugh that would make any man shiver with fear of what deeds he has planned. The tears keep coming. As angry as I am with Dominic at his betrayal, I pray that he makes it here in time.
“Was there something you needed Rico? Because I make take one more time to play with my toy here before I share.” He runs a finger along the neckline of my shirt. I squirm in disgust, but I’m unable to go far. He grips the material, pulling harshly. The back of it digs into my neck as the front rips open, exposing my chest to them. Paulie leans in, licking the top of my breast.
“Always did like your tits Candy,” Paulie says, as Rico clears his throat.
“Yea boss, I came to tell you that The Mexican was almost here. Should be here now that we’ve wasted a few minutes.” Paulie growls, grabbing my chin as he forces me to look at him.
“Guess it’s your lucky day Candy. Well, not really, but at least you get to escape me. You get to live, for a little while longer. Come on Rico, let’s go make this deal and tonight will go down in history. I’ll be the one that got rid of the cop, who got the Feds off our backs by buying that agent off and make enough money that I’ll be able to buy the soldiers to take my father down.” He turns and follows Rico outside. They bought an agent. Damn it Dominic. He turned on me, on his agency, on everyone. I guess the lure of money was too much to pass up.
A door to the right opens and Sal slips in quietly.
“Girlie, I didn’t want to believe it, but you’re right. That son of mine is a real piece of shit. I always known it, just didn’t want to believe it. Let’s finish this.” He pulls a chair into the middle of the room, gun trained on the door that Paulie and Rico left through. A few minutes of silence go by and the door creaks open. Without waiting, Sal starts shooting. Please, oh please, let that be Paulie and not Dom. I want to be the one to kill Dominic myself.
Chapter 8
“Bartel, they took a body in there with them. Think it was alive? Do we have a hostage situation on our hands?” Damn it! This is not good. Candace isn’t answering her cell phone or the hotel room. Please, don’t let that be her. My heart skips a beat as I think of what she must be going through. The pain, the fear. I would do anything to erase that from her, which is shocking to me. That thought alone scares me. Am I really developing feelings for this crazy chick that I just met? I raise the binoculars again, keying the mic around my neck.
“Jefferson, not sure. It may be the local UC. I can’t reach her. How the hell did Rico get out on bail already?”
“Good lawyers Bartel. Good lawyers. We’re ready to get in on your go.”
“Just wait a moment,” I scan the area. A speedboat was docking. Paulie and Rico walk towards it shaking hands with the men that disembark from the craft. I’m positioned outside the parking lot, behind a dumpster for easy access to the door they are using. I have Jefferson on a back entrance and Jamirez on the roof ready to propel down in. We’re all going at once. It’s the most men that Jefferson could get together in such a short time. But we want to keep it small anyways. Once they are secured, we’ll call in the locals and let them have the bust. We need to flash bang this and get in there before anyone gets hurt.
“You all know what you need to do. Let’s do this quick and no one gets hurt. Got it?” I listen as they both give me affirmatives. Paulie, Rico, The Mexican and his two bodyguards head inside. “Go,” I shout into the mic just as gun shots ring out. Screaming. I hear Candace screaming. “Roofer, get in there now, get in, get in, we have a civvie in there.”
Running at top speed, I make it to my door in seconds. Guns at the ready, I shout, “FBI, hands up, guns down,” as I throw myself in the door. I almost trip over a body as I rush in. One of the men from the boat. Paulie is laying on the floor near him, hol
ding his leg, grimacing in pain. Rico, bullet to the head, is not too far off from him. The Mexican and his other guy are standing against a wall, their arms in the arm. Swinging my attention around the room, I see Sal Sirocco, leaned back in a chair, one leg crossed over the other, his ankle atop his knee. His gun is laying in his lap, hands in the air. The smile on his face seems almost happy. Then I see her. Candace, blood on her face, blood dripping down her leg, hanging from her wrists.
“Take care of these guys, figure out what’s going on,” I order Jamirez. Holstering my gun, I run towards Candace. Carefully, I pull her down from the chain as she just glares at me silently. If only looks could kill. I’d gladly take that bullet right now. For the first time in my life, it pains me to know that I’ve hurt a woman. A woman I think that I may be falling in love with. It’s only been a few days, but it’s been a dramatic few days.
“Babe, are you hurt?” I whisper, pulling her close to me. I wrap her in my arms.
“I liked you better with the glasses, when I thought you were a geek,” she mumbles into my chest.
“I’m sorry, I wanted to tell you.”
“Yea, well I figured it out when I saw you leave in a Kevlar.” She pushes away from me, her hands on my chest. “Hey, don’t cuff him, leave him alone,” she screams, limping towards Sal.
“Candace, you’re shot, come on, let’s get you some help, we can sort through this shit later.”
“No,” she spins on me, pointing her finger at me. “No we won’t figure it out later. Sal is only here because I called him. He came to save me. He promised me that there would be no repercussions on you or me as government officials if I gave him info on what Paulie was planning. I made a deal and I plan to stick with it. He didn’t nothing wrong. From what I saw, it was self-defense. He saved my life.” Stepping back, I assessed the situation. We all know it’s not self-defense.
“What happened to your leg? Come clean with me. Did he do that?”
“No, Paulie did, when he was trying to shoot his dad. Sal shot him, and Paulie’s bullet went wide and hit me. It just grazed my leg, no big deal. Sal saved me and I’ll testify to that. You, you should be ashamed though. Dirty cops, what about dirty feds? I can’t trust anyone now. Yea, I called Sal. He’s the only one I could trust. And if you want to talk about coming clean, maybe you should take your own advice. Shouldn’t you have come clean with me at the beginning?”
Her stubborn attitude will be the death of me. What the hell does she mean dirty feds? Does she mean because I lied to her?
“Let him go,” Jefferson yells from behind me. Jamirez let’s Sal go and heads to cuff the Mexican and his living guard. Paulie is already cuffed and crying about being shot in the leg.
“Shut up,” Jefferson shouts. His gun still trained on Sal, he heads closer to Paulie. “I said I’d clear it up and get you out of here. Shit, I didn’t know your dad was going to show up and fuck up our plans.” Wait, what? Candace shifts her body back closer to me. I wrap an arm around her, ready to twist her behind me, to save her. She shrugs my arm off of her.
“Jefferson, what are you doing buddy?”
“Bartel, I’m making more money tonight than I do in a year. That’s what I’m doing. I’m sick of this desk jockey bullshit. I don’t need it, don’t want it. I’m taking this money and retiring. And no one will be around to turn on me. He pulls the trigger, Sal’s body rocks backwards, the chair toppling over as his dead body falls to the ground. Candace screams, turning her face into my chest. She clings to my vest and I wrap her in my arms.
“Jefferson, don’t do something you’ll regret. Come on buddy.”
“You know what Bartel? I’m not your buddy. I’m sick of going for drinks and being your wing man. I’m sick of women flocking to you like a god damn magnet. I’m sick of being the jerk at the desk while you get to go out guns blazing. I’m done. This is my time. I’ll have enough money that the women will want me now. I’ll have enough to throw around that it won’t matter. I can buy what I want and who I want. Toss your gun down. Now,” he shouts. I let it clatter to the floor. Candace slides her left leg out in front of her. Her Ruko. God damn, she’s got it on her.
“You really think you can trust someone like Paulie?” I try to draw Jefferson’s attention away from things and back onto me. Jamirez positions himself behind Jefferson, ready to strike.
“Oh he’ll pay me, or he’ll die. But right now, let’s worry about you,” he turns as if just remembering Jamirez is there. Jamirez throws a punch, hitting Jefferson in the face just as the trigger squeezes again. The bullet must have hit Jamirez. Both men fall to the ground, Jamirez out cold, Jefferson struggling to get out from under him.
I take a step towards him as he shoots again. The bullet grazes my arm, knocking me to the ground. I grab Candace, rolling her beneath me. She shrieks. Jefferson on his feet now, lumbers over towards us, kicking my gun away from me. I now have no hope of reaching it and other than an extra clip, I didn’t bring another one with me. I hadn’t planned for this and that’s my fault. All those weapons in the trunk of the car and I only brought one. I feel Candace shift her body beneath me and she tries to push me off her. I won’t let her. Jefferson is right on top of us, grabbing the neck of my vest, he grunts as he pulls me off of her. In a blur of movement, her arm swings out, plunging her knife into Jefferson’s Achilles. He drops immediately, the gun flying across the floor. His screams are bone curdling. She smiles at me, sitting up. I put my hand out to help her as she struggles to stand. I let go long enough to upright the chair Sal had been in, leading her to sit there. The door bursts open and I squat, ready for what, I don’t know. I have no more weapons. Meathead one from the apartment comes in. His hands are in the air.
“DEA,” he shouts, flashing a badge in one hand. What the hell. I guess we were all on these guys and no one knew. Talk about lack of interagency communication.
Candace starts laughing so hard her whole body shakes.
“I have EMT on the way, and a cleanup crew. I really wish you guys had thought this out a little more. Amateurs.” He laughs, moving towards us. He sticks his hand out, shaking mine. “Martin. Nice to meet you Bartel, Banchetti. Oh, and don’t worry Banchetti, we’ve already spoken with your new commander. I’m sorry for the loss of Hanson, but just know that we’ve already cleaned up the dirty cops in your house and Jefferson was our last loose end.” He nods over at the bleeding squirming body of my former best friend. I couldn’t believe it. This is almost too much. I would have never thought Jefferson would be dirty. I try to pull Candace close to me, but she shrugs my touch off.
“Don’t touch me. You’re a liar and I don’t trust you anymore.” My chest constricts, I can barely breathe. The next few hours are a mess. EMT’s take Candace to the hospital and DEA agents are all over, picking up bodies, arresting people, taking care of the wounded prisoners. I’m sent back to my base office for paperwork, which in the middle of the night sucks. My head is a mess.
By the time I get home and sleep, the sun is already up. I sleep in until noon. Getting up, I look outside and the sun is actually shining. The fields and peaceful view look the same. I turn around and go back to bed. I doubt things with Candace can be fixed. She was pretty upset with me and I don’t blame her. The next day, I wake up early, finally feeling rested. I throw on some running shoes and pants and head out for a run. As I start down the road, a black Lincoln Town Car pulls up next to me. As the passenger window rolls down, Candace’s face peeks out, glaring at me.
“Want a ride Geek Boy?” I can’t help but laugh.
“Nah, I’m good, I need to run. You aren’t going to keep calling me Geek Boy are you?”
“Yea, I kind of like it. I think it suits you.” Hell, at least she’s speaking to me.
“Bartel, get in,” Martin shouts from the driver’s seat.
“The hell is this? A reunion? Aren’t you supposed to wait until like a year after the tragic event to celebrate?”
“Shut up smart ass and get i
n the car.” Candace, my little stubborn Candy, though her voice held a hint of humor. There may be hope for us after all.
I climb into the back of the car and Martin drives back towards my house. I invite them in and make some coffee.
“So, I wanted to ask you two some questions, but I wanted to do it when you were in the same room,” Martin starts. Candace won’t even look at me.
“And since you never came to see me in the hospital, we had to track you down,” she says, sounding a little hurt.
“I didn’t think you wanted to see me.” She shakes her head, her eyes saying, ‘Another time’. I can’t help but appreciate the beautiful white strappy sundress covering her lean tan body.
“Well, you two do some pretty good work together. We have a few Sex Trade cases in the area that we need UC’s for. We’re working joint with Homeland Security because they involve drugs too. You two work pretty well together. Interested in partnering up?”
“What? I’m not stripping again.” Candace sounds adamant. But her eyes look excited at the prospect of working with the DEA and Homeland.
“But you’re so good at it dear,” I joke, placing a hand over hers. She turns to me, a smile hinting at her lips.
“Only if you keep your Geek Boy persona.”
“Anything for you Candy, as long as you keep taking your clothes off for me,” I whisper, leaning closer. She crushes my mouth beneath hers. Her hands running through my hair, fingernails scraping my scalp.
“Break it up you two. Accept the damn job offer and you can go play suck face, I’ll leave you alone for a week.” He tosses folders onto the table in front of us, standing. The man stands about three inches taller than me. He looks much better in street clothes than his Mafioso costume.
