Page 146 of The Company

“You dumbfuck.” He puts his hands up and starts waving the gun around like an idiot. “Don’t shoot me, bro! Don’t shoot me, bro!”

I walk over and grab the gun from his hands. “It’s don’t taze me, you idiot. Not shoot me.”

“Whatever,” he says, taking out a smoke and handing me one. “Same shit.” He pulls out a light and offers it to me. I suck on the cancer stick and let the nic run through my veins. Jesus. Never has a cigarette felt so good.

Merc lights his up too and then takes his own drag of relief. “So, what the fuck?” He’s laughing and puffing at the same time. “You still have this runt with you? Jesus. You have more patience than me.”

Sasha kicks him in the shin. “Asshole.”

Merc bends over and rubs his leg like it hurts and then grabs Sasha by the waist, hoists her over his head, and he’s about to body-slam her on a stack of boxes when I start to freak out.

“Dude!” I yell. “Do not fuck with my Smurf.”

He flips her over, ignoring her screams, and then plops her down on the ground feet first.

“I’m kidding, you assholes. Jesus Christ. Lighten up. I’m the only one with a sense of humor here.”

“OK, what’s the plan?” I’m ready to get this show on the road.

“We’re still waiting. Shouldn’t be too long though.”

“Then what?”

“Then”—he shrugs—“we play it by ear, I guess.”

“Do you have the file or what?” Sasha barks from a safe distance.

“What file?” I ask, looking at her, then back to Merc. They stare each other down. “What. Fucking. File?”

Merc points his cigarette at Sasha. “I told you to keep your fucking mouth shut about that file.”

“I have,” she sneers back. “But I’m with him now,” she says, pointing to me. “And I want him to know about it. So my silence is over.” She pauses for a beat. “Do you have a problem with that?”

Damn. Assassin Smurf is back. I love Assassin Smurf. “What fucking file?” I ask again while Merc decides if he has a problem with that. Because of course, even if he did, it’s too late now. Sasha has let me in.

Finally. After carting her midget ass all over the Wild West, I’m in.

Merc lets out a long breath and then does the little this-is-only-between-you-and-me gesture with his pointer finger. “We got the fucking file.”

“Have had it the whole time, actually.”

I look over at Sasha. “You had the file?”

She smiles. “No. I gave it to Ford and he gave it to Merc.”

I look at Merc. “You had the fucking file? And you let me chase after Harper trying to get it? Does Nick know this shit?”

“Is he here?” Sasha asks.

I look over at Sasha again. I’m getting a bad feeling now.

“This is not the file you’re looking for,” Merc says, waving his hand like he’s Obi-Wan Kenobi. But then his laugh stops and his smile fades. “This is something else. Something…” He looks over at Sasha. “Bigger. It’s much bigger. There’s two files, James. Ford and I got it open after Sasha gave it to him last year. And it’s all money, brother. Accounts, man. Hundreds, maybe even thousands, of secret money accounts.”

“Company money?”

Merc takes a long drag on his smoke and then blows out rings. “Yeah. Your precious Company has holdings everywhere, man.”

“Where the hell did it come from?”