I take the phone. It’s a burner, so it’s accessible. I skim the one number in there and the messages, and I sigh loudly.
“I’m just…tired, y’know, of all this bullshit, Dean.” This isn’t a lie. I am. I pull out my gun, check the magazine, and put it back. “Why does this have to be a fight? Why take my shit and sell out to Finnegan?”
“The bounty.” The man’s voice is high and thin.
“Saw that in the messages, and if you had brains, you’d have come to me and proved yourself and made a shit ton more money. I just don’t fucking get why you lot always make things messier.”
I point the gun and shoot him, once in the chest, and once in the head.
Blood and brains splatter, and he falls forward, dead.
I didn’t know about the bounty, but it’s not shocking. Finnegan’s testing the waters, testing the ties to me, loyalties and…He needs to be gone.
Approaching footsteps announce the arrival of the real suppliers, and I turn. The woman, Glori, glances at Dean in disgust but with zero surprise; the first man, Jiminez is stone, and the third of them, Ranier, gives a nervous glance at the body. It could be something, could be nothing. I don’t usually leave dead bodies in their house.
“He was stealing,” I shrug. “From you and from me.”
“I won,” Glori says to Jiminez. “You owe me a grand.”
“Fuck.” Jiminez pulls out a wallet and hands her crisp hundreds, which she tucks away in her bra.
She’s older, hard, beautiful, and if we didn’t have a working relationship, I’d have been up in that like she’s always wanted me to be long ago. Unfortunately, I don’t cross and muddy those lines, and while I’ve been tempted in the past, I never gave in.
Now? Not even a flicker of interest.
I watch Ranier, who doesn’t look at the gore anymore. I guess this isn’t his usual. Apart from the occasional field trip like this, most of our dealings are in exclusive clubs and bars and restaurants, or at someone’s estate. He’s more the numbers man, the one who moves shit around, so raw-edged field trips aren’t in his wheelhouse. That’s probably all there is behind the slight wobble.
“There’s a bounty on you,” Jiminez says to me like he’s discussing the weather as he slides a hand into his pocket, not interested in the dead guy. “Just found out.” I glance at my man. “Tony?”
“Yes, boss?”
“Take Rush and have this cleaned up.”
When they go to get the clean-up crew, I stare at each of the suppliers. They have power and reach, and I know Finnegan would have tried to get them on his side. It’s what I’d do if roles were reversed. Finnegan would strip their assets, screw them sideways up the ass, and laugh. He doesn’t understand that power comes with sharing it out. He’s more into making future enemies.
“This shit is the start,” I say and gesture to Dean. “It’s all Finnegan can do, get the weak. If you hear of anything, I need to know.”
“You could,” Jiminez mutters, “take up the fucking gauntlet and declare war. No one will blame you. That attack on your territory…”
I narrow my eyes and study them, one after the other. “I could play right into his hands, give him the reason to retaliate and escalate, to target people we all need.”
Ranier glances away. “There are others.”
“Who’ll possibly choose to align with Finnegan.” Glori crosses her arms. “The man’s a bully, a coward, and he’ll get the weakest link in the melee and use them.” Her gaze comes to me. “That’s what you’re thinking, isn’t it, Nikolai?”
Smart woman. “Yes. Exactly that. He did it years ago, divided and pitted people against each other. It’s easier than finesse. Less stable, but easier. He blackmails. Murders families. No one is safe.” I wait a beat.
Then I continue. “He wants me to lose my shit, so I’m not going to.”
“Really?” Jiminez presses. “Because that’s not what I heard. There’s been a lot of chatter about you storming into Vitale’s wedding, guns blazing. Over a girl.”
I grit my teeth. “I have a plan and now I have the leverage, the key. If he goes underground, he’ll rule from there for years, causing havoc.”
“The same old?” Jiminez asks.
“The same old is him moving, yes, and continuing to undermine our profit margins. Your profit margins. Mainly yours.” They all still. I got their attention, and now I go in for the kill. “He has ways of strangling supply chains. I can open them up.” “How?” Gori asks.
“Eliminating him,” I say. “But not with war. I want precision, him dead and gone and the balance returned.”
She smiles. “As in you having everything.”
“As in me taking over and making sure the plentiful pie is shared as it used to be. So, I need your help.”
“The bounty, Nikolai?” she asks.
I shrug. “Part of the life. Are you going to help?”
“That’s very dangerous if Finnegan’s wanting all of yours and you want all of his. War is usually the answer, and we stay clear of war. We do our jobs. If he takes everything…” She doesn’t finish.
If he does, then they’ll either need to move on or dance with the kind of devil Finnegan is, and that’s not a dance. It’s a bloodbath.
“I’ve taken things before, which is why we have this balance,” I say. “Why you work here like you do. I need your help if I go on.”
“No, you don’t. You want our help, but we work low and invisible. Most don’t know which family or gang we work with. You know because you’re that smart, Nikolai, but intelligence isn’t a shield. Not for you or for us. Invisibility is. So, if we do this for you…” Glori doesn’t even look at the other two. “What do we get?”
“Glori, I like your style.” I give her a cold smile. Her smile back holds old heat. “Territory, and I’ll set up a laundering operation for you.” “We have those.” She looks me up and down.
“Not like mine.”
“Okay, Nikolai, we’re in.” Again, she doesn’t look at the others.
“Good.” I smile once more. “Listen up. Once Finnegan’s dead, I plan to take all his toys. His assets, money, power and territory.” I look each of them in the eye. “His suppliers. I’m going to unblock the chokeholds. And you…for your loyalty over the years, you will have the added bonus of all of Queenstown you can’t get to and beyond. If you want to branch out, so be it. You run a fair and good operation. I reward.”
Ranier clears his throat. “We have been loyal, but Finnegan’s slippery, and while we want your offer…” He glances at Glori, then back to me. “How can you guarantee this will happen? There’s war coming. He started it, but how can you guarantee if we publicly throw in with you that we won’t lose?”
My smile broadens into something sharp and vicious. “You’ll have to trust me. This time, I have a little bargaining chip. One Finnegan wants back and won’t be able to resist.” My Rose.