Nightmare in Red (Nick McCarty #5)

“Well Poky… I ain’t got all day. Let’s get to it, Horse-face.”


With a short scream of rage, Rita launched. A few things happened a split second later. Rachel jabbed the hand she had at her side forward to meet Rita with an arc from the most powerful stun-gun Nick could acquire. Rita voiced a short shriek and collapsed in a loose jointed, vibrating pile. Jean leg whipped Jess to the floor, a seven inch razor sharp blade at his throat. Blood trickled down from the blade. Quinn caught two Norte?os up and slammed them together on their backs to the floor as if they were small sacks of sand. The other three, caught completely by surprise were suddenly staring at Sonny from a foot away. Benny sent Sam snarling to his side with a hand gesture.

“Down on your knees, boys, hands clasped behind your heads,” Sonny directed. They didn’t move. Sonny’s roundhouse kick struck the foremost Norte?o with thunderclap suddenness. He catapulted unconscious to the floor.

The one behind him dropped to his knees, hands clasped behind his head. The third grabbed for a weapon at his back. Sam engulfed his wrist. Each time the man moved in the slightest, Sam’s jaws tightened until the Norte?o was kneeling. Nick and Gus went around then, frisking the downed Norte?os, collecting weapons ID’s, and money. It was all done in silence.

“Quite a haul,” Nick said. “Thanks for coming by, kids. We’ll keep all your stuff. I left you your keys so you can get into your Mommy’s basement. Call a meeting and take the Monte off your list.”

“We… we own this city!” Jess was careful how he talked around Jean’s knife.

“We’ll see.” Nick grinned at Rita who was sobbing her way into a shuddering sitting position. He noticed Rachel was waiting with a big smile, not having paid the slightest attention to what happened around her.

Rachel knelt down and slapped Rita across the face with attitude. Rita fell sideways, crying and gripping her face. “Want to call me anymore names, bitch?”

Rita shook her head in a terrified negative motion.

“Poser!” Rachel stood and kicked Rita in her side, eliciting a scream of pain. “Get the hell out of my restaurant you cheap punks.”

Jean allowed Jess to get on his feet, smiling and keeping pressure on his throat. “You’re in charge Jess. Take your crew out of here. If anyone does anything but leave, I’ll kill you first. Understand?”

“Yes. This ain’t over.”

“We know,” Jean replied. “Run along now.”

While the sullen and sobbing crew stumbled out, John, Cala, and Tina approached the entrance. One of the guys Quinn had slammed to the floor reached out to push John out of the way. John threw him to the sidewalk and popped his shoulder out of joint. Tina and Cala fired off arcs from their stun-guns while John kicked and prodded his downed opponent yelping to his feet. The rest wanted nothing to do with any more confrontations. Their disjointed retreat from the restaurant caused much amusement amongst the audience at the Monte Café window. The three newcomers traded greetings with their comrades inside.

“Did they come by to see if the attack worked?”

“Yeah, Uncle John,” Jean answered. “Then the woman with them called ‘Trailer Trash Momma’ an old skank. It was so on then. She was the one still crying and hiding her face on the way out.”

“We missed all the fun,” Tina said. “I knew I should have come along with Gus instead of waiting until Gomez finished his bloody business. Then John and the ‘Cleaner’ show up at the door smelling like the horror lab. So… Momma got her groove on, huh?”

Rachel put an arm around her long time friend’s shoulders. “I should have put it on video for you, T. I lured the young bitch into attacking my stun-gun. She dropped with the new stunner Muerto bought me like she was hit with an elephant gun. Then the kids schooled the rest of them. It was fun times for a moment. Mr. Villa here has the same problem we have at the Monte – the Norte?os. What was that about smell?”

“Nothin’,” Tina answered. “I took care of it.”

Cala’s hands went to her hips. “She Fabreezed us!”

“You’re April Fresh now, Cleaner,” Tina replied. “Don’t be hatin’. Did you stay out of trouble, Gus?”

“Yes dear,” Gus answered. “Muerto and I merely observed. Say something, Kabong.”

“I do not like being April Fresh.”

Gus chuckled. “We have a name – Cornelio Morado. We also have our next informant’s address. You are planning to see Jess aren’t you, Muerto?”