AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“They’re coming with you, regardless. Monaghan’s been busy lately.”
Of course he knows that. Corporate espionage isn’t solely for legitimate corporations. If it were only Gino, I could manage. But my cousin, Teague, is good at his job and takes it too seriously. He’s elevated brown-nosing my father to an artform. “I’ll take Gino. Teague should stay here and do math. He needs the practice.” I stick my tongue out at him.
He laughs mirthlessly. “We didn’t all inherit your intelligence, my smarty-pants little cousin.”
“It certainly missed you, my shit-for-brains big cousin.”
My father’s face is stony as he says, “I said Gino and Teague are both coming with you.”
I won’t waste my breath arguing. I’d lose. Anyway, there’s still a chance I could ditch them if I play my cards right. “Okay.”
Dad nods. “Very good.”
Neither Teague nor Gino seem to be in a hurry to get their asses off the couch. I’m not worried about being late. I just… I can’t wait to see her. I tap my foot. My heels make an unpleasant click-clacking against the marble floor. Teague looks at me like he’s dense.
“Well, can we go? God, Teague, it’s like you only have two speeds: Slow and reverse.”
That makes my father chuckle. “Best not keep the lady waiting.”
At my father’s behest, Teague practically jumps off the sofa. Gino, while the stoic type, lets slip a hint of annoyance at his overeagerness; I’m glad not to be the only one it bothers.
TWO
ROWAN
I check my watch for the time and notice the teal faux-leather wristband is starting to peel. Have to replace it soon. “Let’s hurry this up, I’m supposed to get Elisa in half an hour,” I call across the hood of the Jeep to Ben.
“Hold up, you’re picking up El and meeting Juliet? That’s cold.”
“Did I ask for your input, Benjamin?”
Merrick snorts. He always does when I break out “Benjamin.” I don’t know what’s funny about it, but he’s a pretty simple guy. “You sound like his mom.”
As I come around the car, I knock my shoulder into his. “My child would be much more handsome than this ugly motherfucker.”
“Douchebag!” Ben says, but it’s with a smile.
“Hey, Gallagher’s right there.” Merrick hitches his chin at a tall, gangly man in a Red Sox cap, standing at the top of an alleyway between two dilapidated brick buildings. Fucking Dorchester. What a cesspool.
“Stay here,” I tell him. This could get messy and it’s not his job to clean it up. Ben’s the one on my payroll. I yell out, “Yo, Gallagher! Just the man I was coming to find.” The instant he clocks me, he takes off running down the alley. He’s really going to make me do cardio right now? Fine. I kick it into high gear. Ben takes his cue from me and overtakes me almost instantly.
“Where you think you’re going?” he asks. He reaches out, grabs a fistful of Gallagher’s t-shirt, and yanks him backward—hard. I catch up to them in time to hear Gallagher making a choking sound, then move around him so I can look him in the eye.
I flick the brim of his grimy-ass cap and it rides up his forehead. “I’m only going to ask this once: Where’s my money?” He doesn’t have it. I know because he’s terrified. I know he’s terrified because his pupils are dilated to the size of quarters; he’s a smackhead, his pupils are pinpricks most of the time.
“I have some but not all of it.”
That’s fair. Five grand is a lot to ask for from a middleman who uses more dope than he sells. “How much do you have?”
“Fif—fifteen hundred, maybe.”
“Oh, Gallagher. My dad isn’t going to be happy about this. You’ve owed him for too long.” I take a glance around the alley. Propped against the building beside me, I find a rusty pipe with an elbow socket threaded to its end. I pick it up, give it a solid swing. It splits the air, sounding like a breath blown across the mouth of a glass bottle. “You like your kneecaps, right?”
The fear in his eyes spreads to the rest of his features. “Yeah.”
“That’s what I thought. So, here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to give me fifteen hundred dollars right now, and I’m going to give you until next week to come up with the other thirty-five hundred. If you don’t, this pipe is going to become very well acquainted with the kneecaps you like so much. Do you understand me?”
If he were to piss his pants, I wouldn’t be surprised. “Yes, I understand.”
