“Where’s Danny? I’d love to give him a piece of my mind.”
“Don’t worry about Danny. He’s not involved with this one. It’s you and Tommy. You two go out there for me. I’m asking you, for me. Set this thing up, help out my family, and we’ll go from there. You walked away from a fight that wasn’t called the right way. I’m not sure who to blame on it. I’m getting heat, Wes. A lot of money was spread around and wasted. Purposely breaking a man’s ankle and shattering his knees is one thing… but letting him quit? We don’t quit in fights, Wes.”
Aton nodded and backed away. He retrieved his gun and then pointed to the front door. He and his guys left.
I stood there for a few seconds before I turned and heaved into the kitchen sink again.
I had gone from blowing up my own life to now having to blow up someone else’s.
~
I sat in the passenger seat, Tommy next to me in all black. No suit for the guy tonight. His eyes were intense as he stared at the little blue car parked next to a garage.
“See, they tried to fucking hide it,” Tommy said. “It was supposed to be in the restaurant parking lot. That would have been much better because it would cause a lot more damage. Sending a bigger message. I swear, there’s rats all around us.”
“Good to know,” I said.
Rats.
That shit came from friends and from trusting people. That’s why I didn’t trust anyone. I had no business trusting anyone. It was better for me to stand and walk alone. To have the appearance of being invincible.
A two hour nap and two hours at the gym-slash-boxing ring gave me all the energy I needed for the night. The old man who ran the gym - Jack - told me that life wasn’t made to be easy, fun, fair, or pretty. Life was meant to make death look enjoyable. Jack believed in heaven, hell, demons, and angels.
I faced all that in the mirror and in the circle where I fought. I didn’t need to believe a thing when I lived it.
“Okay, we’re good now,” Tommy said and opened the car door.
He climbed out and I followed him. I kept my eyes open, watching, not sure what the hell to look for.
Tommy walked across the lot like it was nothing. I figured for a couple of guys about to blow up a car, we should be laying a little low. Moving a little quicker. Trying to blend in with the night.
When we got to the car, Tommy took out a long rod from somewhere. He leaned against the door of the car and stuck the rod between the window and door. With a few wiggles and a grunt, the door popped open.
“Pop the hood,” he said to me. “I’m going to get set up.”
I reached into the car and pulled the lever for the hood.
A smell overtook me – a flowery, fruity smell. I looked around the car, realizing it was a woman’s car. There was no way a guy drove this tiny little thing and smelled like this. The smell was almost familiar. That wasn’t a shock though since there was a good chance women used the same sprays or lotions or whatever.
Tommy opened the hood and went right to work.
I reached across the car and opened the glovebox. I had absolutely no reason to find out who owned the car. It was a terrible idea.
When I opened the glovebox, a picture fell out onto the floor. I stuck my hand into the glovebox and then retreated. I shut the glovebox and shook my head. The less I knew the better. Christ, if this went wrong and I got pulled in for questioning, it was better to know nothing.
I saw the picture on the floor and reached for it. I was going to put it back where it had been. But when I saw the woman in the picture, I froze.
She was fucking stunning.
It was a five-by-seven of a woman in a leather jacket. The jacket was down off her left shoulder. She stood sideways, head turned at the camera, her blonde hair covering half her face. She had blood red lips, big blue eyes, and a beauty about her that caught me off guard. Where the leather jacket opened, she wasn’t wearing anything under it. Not to mention the leather jacket was long enough to go just beyond her ass, leaving the eyes to wonder if she was fully nude under the jacket.
Was this the woman we were going to kill? What the hell did she do to deserve this kind of fate?
My mind then started to play it all out.
This woman climbing into her car. The key going in the ignition. Turning the key to start the car and then…
Boom!
The hood slammed shut and I jumped.
I moved from the car, quickly folding the picture and sticking it in my back pocket.
“Done,” Tommy announced.
I stood and looked at him. “That quick, huh?”
“When you know your shit, it’s easy. Trust me, this car ain’t going anywhere but the junkyard as a charred piece of metal. Probably some skin and bone stuck to the metal frame forever.”