The Hard Bounce - страница 22
I guess we were on the job.
I guess I didn’t have much of a choice.
If I could find Cassandra, he could find Emily.
This wasn’t about money. This wasn’t about my particular style of brawn. It was about information. He knew he could use that information to make me do the job.
He knew he could use me.
He could find Emily.
The possibility terrified me.
I was pissed at him for pulling that card. I was pissed at myself for not being able to tell him to shove that card up his ass. I should have. Why wasn’t I able to?
I lifted myself off the floor and walked out. The sedan that delivered me was still idling. Kelly stood by the open car door. She stormed over when she saw me, fury still burning in her eyes. “How dare you!” she yelled.
“Back off,” I croaked, my self-control thinner than a piece of floss.
She stepped up, right in my face. “I am not some piece of… of… ass!” She was so enraged, I wasn’t sure whether she was finishing her sentence or calling me an ass.
The floss snapped.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I yelled right back in her face. “You were used, babe. Face it. You’re a tool, just like I am, to be exploited by these fuckers as they see fit.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Of all the people who work for Donnelly, you think you were sent into the lion’s den because of your people skills?”
“No… What? What do you mean, you’re about to be used?”
I though of the carrot Donnelly had dangled in front of my nose. “Until your boss decides to share that tidbit with you, sweetheart, file it under ‘none of your fucking business.’”
She took a step back from me, stunned at the venom I was spitting. “Whatever you think about this… you have no right to… I have to-”
“No. The only thing you have to do is wiggle your tight ass back into that car. I’ll call you when I’m good and goddamn ready. You got that?”
She pursed her lips, retreating back into Ice Queen mode. “That will be just fine.” She turned briskly and walked back to her waiting car. The car pulled away, leaving me without a target for my fury. When the taillights disappeared around the corner, I swung wild punches into the air, wanting something, someone to beat on.
Then I realized I’d just fucked-off my ride back.
I caught a little luck and was able to hop on one of the last inbound trains of the night. I got back to the bar close to midnight. Junior stood at the door, arms still crossed and attitude intact.
“Everything go okay?” I asked.
“Peachy. You?” He lifted his chin toward Commonwealth Avenue. “I see you didn’t get chauffeured back.”
“How did you know?”
“Bout a half-hour ago, Barnes rolled up and handed me an envelope. Said, ‘Give it to Malone when he gets here.’” Junior gruffed his voice and did a shuffling waddle. Not a bad impersonation. “I don’t think he’s too taken by your charms.”
“I’m an acquired taste. You look in the envelope?”
He shook his head. “Not yet. I was going to, but a little brouhaha broke out in the bar and I had to regulate.” Junior absently sucked on a scraped and red knuckle. “I left it on the desk.” Junior checked the IDs of two girls and let them pass. “So what happened?”
I reached in my pocket and found some gum and smokes. I went with the cigarette, of course. “For starters, I called that Reese chick a piece of ass. She didn’t like it too much.”
Junior barked a laugh. “Most girls would take that as a compliment.”
“Most girls we know, anyway.”
“So what’s up? Who’s the boss-man on this cluster fuck?”
I could see Junior was champing the bit, waiting for me to get back with some answers. I took another long drag, toying with his patience for my own enjoyment. “You’re not going to believe this.”
“In a good way, or a bad way?”
“Both. Jack Donnelly.”
He waited for more. “What about him?”
“That’s who’s doing the hiring.”
He stared at me blankly, waiting to see if I was fucking with him. “Great googly moogly! Big Jack Donnelly?”
“Shhh!” I waved at him to keep his voice down. “DL, stupid. DL. The whole reason we’re being asked is because we’re supposed to be able to keep a lid on things.”
“This is big, man.