LEO
I wait at her place. She’s left the door unlocked. No cameras. No alarm.
She needs a lesson in security. It’s no wonder Bobby ran this town. It’s as lazy as him.
No one takes care of themselves. Those guys just waltzed into the vet’s place. I walked straight into the animal shelter.
I’m in her lounge waiting for her to get back. I look around the room. Sofa facing a TV that looks about thirty years old. No flat screen for her. Shelves filled with Reader’s Digest books. Knitting magazines.
I work it out in another couple of seconds. It’s not her place. It’s her parents, maybe even her grandparents. She’s staying here, but where are they? I’m guessing dead, but maybe just away and she’s house-sitting.
She’s not got much money. Works at the shelter. Her boss keeps spending money in the casino. Gets into debt with Bobby. Bobby lays off some of the bigger bets with us. That means Cam owes our family.
He’s in debt to us, and the money he cleared tonight won’t even touch it. That means she’s part of his debt to us. He signed the paperwork. I saw it when he cowered in front of me outside, begged me not to kill him for fucking up so badly.
We’re about to take over. I like the idea. She’s no idea she’s in debt to us. I know just how she can pay it back. She can take care of the chip until I come back and take care of her.
Is this a good idea? I look down at Rex. He’s fast asleep on the rug by the fire. I toss another log on and watch it start to spit. Suddenly I’m thinking of me and Amelia laid on the rug, Rex relegated to another room.
We’re both naked, and the heat from the flames is enough to get us sweating. She’s on all fours and looking back at me, begging me not to spank her.
My hand slaps down on that tight ass of hers. Where did that thought come from?
I’m not doing that. I’m not staying here. I’m just going to leave Rex for a while. That’ll help pay off her debt. Keep the chip safe and keep my dog safe. Just until I get all this sorted out.
He can rest and recover and I can come back and get him once we’ve dealt with everything. I need to get back to the city and report to the Don. He’s going to want to know everything that happened tonight.
I look up. She’s got pictures in frames on the mantel. One of her as a kid with her parents, looking miserable. Looking like a family. Just an unhappy one. That better or worse than not having one at all?
Another photo, older now. Hair not too far from how it looks now. Red, long, framing her face perfectly. It was tied back when I saw her at the shelter, loose when she appeared at the top of the stairs with the gun in her hand. Did she know it wasn’t loaded? Was she bluffing or not gun smart?
I get a call. I dig out my cellphone and answer. “Gimme news,” the Don says. He was never one for small talk. “Got the chip,” I tell him.
“Good. Did you hide it?”
“Yeah.” I don’t add where. He’d tell me I’m going soft. He’s probably right.
“Then why the fuck aren’t you on your way back here?”
“Complications,” I say, thinking of the look on the first guy’s face when I snapped his neck.
“Anything serious?”
“Nothing I can’t handle.”
“That’s funny because Bobby just called me.”
“What did he have to say about it?”
“Little birdie told him we had someone coming to town tonight. Asked me if I knew anything about it.”
“And what did you tell him?”
“I did not know what he was talking about. Listen, Leo. I need you back here. We got planning to do. We’re going to war.”
“What about the chip?”
“Leave it. We’ll come back for it when we’re done.”
“Got it.” I look down at Rex. His paw is twitching, and it’s good to see he seems all right. I want to go bring the two of them back to life so I can kill them again for hurting him. No matter. They’re pond scum.
Eventually I’ll get their boss. That’ll feel good. I can take my time. Listen to his pain. See if it’s true what Franco says, that you can get break two arm bones with one rope if you bind it tight enough.
“You tidied everything up?” the Don is asking me.
“Yep.”
“What about Rex? He good?”
“Shot,” I say, looking down at him. “Got to leave him behind.”
“Get yourself back here and we’ll get revenge soon enough, my boy. Might even make enough for you to get that boat of yours.”
I hang up and lean down, stroke Rex’s head just once. Then I head into the kitchen and leave her a note.
I know I’m fucking up. The vet’s seen my face. She’s seen my face. I’m leaving a note with my handwriting on her counter. I’m leaving my fucking dog here.
Still, it should only be for a couple of days. After that, I can come back, pick him up, and maybe fuck her while I’m in town. Make her scream my name for a few blissful hours.
Once I’ve written the note, I give Rex a last nod before heading out. I make sure I shut her door and then I get in my car, driving straight out of town, past the lights of the casino on the clifftop. It stands out a fucking mile in a town so small.
Anyone asking the right questions might wonder how it got permission to be built in the first place, but anyone asking those questions is likely to be tossed off the cliff by Bobby’s men.
He pays the town a decent cut of what he takes and they keep their mouths shut. Rumor has it he’s got a piece of the action down at the dock too. The town gets a good return. The place looks good, not a pothole on the roads.
That’s why the Don wants in.
I leave the town behind me, and as I do, I give her a final thought. I tell myself I won’t think about her again. Won’t think about how lush her lips looked.
How I wanted to stare into her eyes while I kiss her, wrap my hand around her back and draw her closer, press her body to mine.
I’m not stupid. I know it can’t work. I can’t get myself a girl in a town like that without someone noticing. Even if I could, look at my line of work.
She’d get used as leverage against me someday or turn up dead because someone thought it was the best way to get to me.
I drive through the night and I’m back in the city by dawn. I walk into Gianni’s restaurant and I’m getting tired, so I take the offered coffee for once. Sitting in the booth in the corner,
I look out at the street. The place is buzzing already. Weird after Gordon’s Cove. So quiet there. It was unnerving. Who could live in a place that quiet?
The Don appears before I’ve even started drinking. He’s in a pale blue shirt under a suit, crisp and sharp like a second skin. He sits opposite me with a beer. “Six in the morning and you’re drinking,” I say. “Don’t start celebrating yet.”
He laughs, slapping me on the shoulder. “You should play chess sometime, Leo. We just made the first move. Only so many moves Bobby can make and I’m ready for them all.”
“He knew something was up. Someone’s leaking. I got out all right, but there were a bunch of them tailing me from the minute I left. Boxed me in.
Shot my fucking dog.”
“You dealt with them, right? Nothing to link you to the job?”
“Hid it like you said.”
“Good boy. Listen, we got to prepare. Eventually Bobby’s going to notice it’s gone. We got to be ready. You ready?”
“I’m always ready.”
“Then you better get some sleep. You did good, Leo. I’m proud of you.
How old were you when you started running bets for me?”
“Twelve.”
“Twelve years old. Fuck, it’s been a long time. From running bets to collecting the Belucci chip. That’s the big time, my boy. Always knew you’d make something of yourself.”
I think about the lie I told. That all the loose ends have been tied up. I drink my coffee and say nothing. “Vinnie runs the casino when this is over,” he says as Tony walks in carrying a set of car keys. “Says he can double our cut. We’ll see how much he’s bullshitting.”
He goes over to Tony and they start talking. I drain my mug and then head out.
I get back to my place and I look down at Rex’s blanket. I pick it up and fold it away. Won’t be needing it for a couple of days. I climb into bed and it’s too quiet without his snoring on the floor in the hallway.
I close my eyes and try to decide if I did the right thing. I could have brought him back here, but the next couple of days have got a hell of a lot of traveling.
We need to move on all Bobby’s operations at once. Lots of preparation to do. Only then can we move against Bobby. Make sure we castrate his army before they can fight back. Leave them crippled before the commission meets.
What if he notices she’s got Rex?
I doubt it. She runs a shelter. Got to have a lot of dogs coming and going from there. Besides, I’ll be back before he has time to get suspicious and once I’m done with him, he won’t be thinking about anything.
Rex is better off with her for now. She’ll get home, read the note, and take care of him. Then I’ll go back and pick him up. I get the plan straight in my head. Watch the place. Wait until she’s out. Then go in, get my dog and get out. Tell her that’s the debt paid off. Burn the contract.
I sleep. Wake up the next morning aching in the shoulder. Took a hit from a tire iron that’s going to bruise but shouldn’t stop me from working. Made the guy pay for it, though. I remember he’s still in the trunk. I’ll get Vinnie to dump him.
I get up and get myself together. The Don’s expecting me at the restaurant at nine. We’ll be moving out at ten. Heading across the country. I haven’t got time to think about her for long.
In the shower, she comes back to my mind. Can’t help it. Those lips. The fire in her eyes when she was yelling at me. The way she moved. I wish I could make it work. I want to see her again.
No.
That would be dumb. She’s too innocent. Beautiful, sure. But too innocent. Even a hint of bringing her into my world and she’ll get fucked up by it. I won’t do it to her. I got swallowed up a long time ago. No need to do it to her.
Or she’d do what all women do. Fuck me over. I remember Carla and I grimace. I’ll never let that happen again.
I turn the water ice cold. It helps. A little.
The Don and the rest of them are all in the back at the restaurant. The air is thick with smoke. Signs of last night’s card game are still on the table.
The chips are there. Soon there’ll be a 10k one on top.
“We’re really doing this,” Luigi is saying. “We’re going to war. Where’s the chip, Leo? I want to see it.”
“In a safe place,” I reply. “Until this is over.”
It’s been too long. I’m comfortable fighting. It’s what I’m built for. This fight has been building like pressure behind a dam and it’s about to burst.
The Don gives us all our instructions and we head out. Soon cars are heading out of the city in every direction. Got to focus.
I’m heading south. Warmer climes. Florida awaits. By the time I get back, I’ll be able to go get Rex and the chip. Or so I think.