AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He turns to lead the way, tucking the file folder into his jacket. But I grab his arm. The look he gives is curious. “What is it?”
My mouth is dry, and my head spins. It’s hard to say the words because I never thought I’d need to say them. “I’m not killing anyone.”
He grins. “It is as I say. You watch. That is all.”
Feels like an elephant is sitting on my chest. “I won’t … I won’t be a party to murder, Moss.”
“Is that what you worry about?” He speaks to me like I am an overwhelmed child. “No, no, Anderson. We are only here to make sure someone will pay their debt. That is all.”
“Then why the guns?”
“Insurance that they are intimidated.”
“Brandishing is a crime?—"
He laughs heartily. “If that is the only crime we commit today, it is a good day. Come, come. We go have a, eh, conversation. That is all.”
“No guns?”
“Only if they are necessary. Your father is a bastardo, but he does not like the violence.”
Cold comfort. But likely the only comfort I would get today. I huff. “Let’s go, I guess.”
He grins again, then leads the way. The ground crunches underfoot, a mix of dirty snow and gravel on top of worn-out pavement. If the breeze didn’t chill me, the happy jaunt in Moss’ step would have. The man is practically giddy at the thought of intimidating people.
Am I that different?
I like to intimidate people, too, but in a professional setting where there are rules to play by. This is not the same thing. But come to think of it, is it all that unfamiliar? They owe us something. We are here to collect. That’s just a simple transaction, like any other time I’ve had to ensure a witness’ cooperation or tried to get an injunction. I want something, and I work to get it.
Trying to couch this in terms I prefer is not helping my stress level. Not when I feel the weight of the Glock in my pocket. This is a fucking nightmare. Except I can’t wake up.
We’re heading for a warehouse. I’m not sure which one. There are several lined up next to each other. Must be a slow day for the rest of the businesses around because there’s no one outside. I don’t know if that’s good or bad. Or maybe, that’s why Moss picked now for this. No witnesses.
Perfect.
Moss leads me to the warehouse on the far end, the one closest to the actual docks themselves. The water carries the fresh scent of dead seals or something equally horrid, and I fight back a wave of retching. My nerves are already frayed. I don’t need that, too. He smirks as he holds the door open behind him. “Here we go.”
The warehouse looks like every warehouse I’ve seen on television. Crates and boxes line the walls, and a few stand haphazardly in the middle. A forklift sits idle. The rear of the warehouse is a gaping open wall that overlooks the harbor. Three men in heavy coats stand around looking at a phone, and by the sounds of the video on it, they’re watching porn together. They haven’t noticed us.
One of them grunts, “See, I told you she could take it?—"
“Ah, but Bobby, can you?” Moss taunts.
The three men jump so fast at the sound of his voice that it scares me. Not their jump but the fact two of them reached for their pockets the moment they were spooked. They’re carrying, too.
Better and better.
“Moss, uh, hey,” Bobby says, stuffing his phone in his pocket. He looks like every other white guy in his thirties who works manual labor. A little scruffy, a little dirty, built by hard work with a layer of fat on him. “What are you doing here?”
“Come now. Are we to play that game?”
Bobby slowly takes a step backward. “I ain’t playin’ no games, Moss. Honest.”
“Then you have the two-hundred-and-fifty g’s my boss is waiting on?”
We’re here to intimidate a guy for a quarter of a million dollars? That’s what my father thinks risking my life is worth? It’s beyond insulting.
“I, uh, I don’t have it, but I can get it,” Bobby stammers. It doesn’t go unnoticed that he’s backing away while the two who grabbed for their pockets stand firm. Concerned but firm.
