Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 81245 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 81245 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 406(@200wpm)___ 325(@250wpm)___ 271(@300wpm)
Hellfire nods. “Do it. Don’t go in guns blazing, but see if you think there’s anything there. And keep the sister close for now. Encourage her to stay inside the walls until we know she’s not going to get used against us.”
24
STIFF
Well, didn’t think we’d be back here so soon. At least not without Dakota.
In front of us is the pawnshop, looking dreary and gray in the rain. I’m not looking forward to this, but if Sergei’s causing trouble for us? That’s gonna mean trouble for him.
“So what do we do?” Lash shades his eyes with a hand to keep the rain off. “Kick the door in? Draw iron? I feel like making a grand entrance.”
“Easy.” Jackal puts his bike up on its pegs. “This is just an informational chat.”
I squeeze the water out of my beard. “Unless we find out he’s playing outside his league.”
The bell over the door rings as we come in. Sergei is behind the counter with a rangy guy that must be the new hired help. There’s an open briefcase in front of him and a couple of guys in suits who don’t look happy to see us walk in.
“Good afternoon, gentlemen,” Lash says with a heavy undertone of ‘don’t fucking move so we don’t have to shoot you’.
The briefcase slams shut and Sergei puts on a forced smile. “What can I help you with? Is there a problem with the apartment?”
“No. Not today. This is an official visit.” Jackal leans his elbow on the glass sales counter, idly looking at the shabby watches inside. “Wanna do it in private, or out here?”
Sergei’s eyes flit between the three of us. “Let me finish up business here and I’ll be right with you.”
“Sure, sure. We’re in no hurry.” Lash’s voice is dangerously casual as he finds a corner where he can see the whole room. He flicks his cut open, making the grip of his gun sticking out of his belt painfully obvious. “Take your time.”
The new kid looks about to crap his pants. Good. If you’re going to work for someone like Sergei, you should know what you’re getting into. I don’t know how much Georgia knew about her employer, but I hope for his sake, he wasn’t the one that caused her death.
Sergei hands a bulging envelope to one of the suits, who slips it into the pocket on the inside of his jacket. They take their leave, giving all three of us a wide berth on the way out.
“Bye bye!” Lash says mockingly with a wave.
Sergei tells the younger man to lock up, and when he turns to us, his throat bobs visibly as he swallows. “Now, what can I do for you?”
“Seen Jay lately?” Jackal stands right in front of Sergei, hands deceptively loose at his sides.
“What? No, not since the last time you were here.” His response is a little too rushed.
“Why don’t I believe you?”
I move to block one side of the counter, while Lash goes to the other end.
“I don’t know what to tell you. It’s the truth.”
“We’ve been hearing rumors that someone has been whispering to the cops about our little visit. I know you’re a smart businessman, so that doesn’t seem like the sort of thing you’d put yourself in the middle of, but it’s awfully suspicious, don’t you think? And if we find out you’re covering for him we’re gonna start wondering what else you’re covering up. So how about starting with a simple question. Does he work for you?”
Jackal shifts closer, causing Sergei to back up.
“Off and on, yeah, sure. He was always hanging around anyway since Georgia was here, and he was good for small shit. But I swear on my mother’s grave, he hasn’t been around lately. Probably scared to run into you again, and hoping I don’t start coming after him for rent.”
Interestingly, the new guy is looking more and more jumpy as time goes on. I get the feeling he’d go through the ceiling if I made a sudden move. Leaving Sergei to Jackal and Lash, I walk his way. He suddenly finds something really interesting on the floor, ducking down and pretending to give a shit about someone’s old crap. “You got something you wanna add to the conversation?”
He shakes his head so fast it’s a wonder it doesn’t pop right off. “No, no! I don’t know anything.”
“It’s fine, you can tell us. Right Sergei? We’re really very reasonable men.”
Sergei finds at least one of his balls again. “Come on, Tony doesn’t know anything.”
“You sure about that?” Jackal turns his attention to our new buddy. “You friends with Jay, Tony?”
I nudge him with my foot. “Up on your feet.”
When he stands, he’s almost as tall as I am, and stronger than I thought coming in. His straight hair comes down to between his shoulder blades and he’s wearing a black concert T-shirt. He might put up a fight, but I’ll still kick his ass if I have to. “I know him, sure, but I haven’t seen him since—”