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Liam glared at me with light blue eyes. His lip curled, his square jaw tense, his bulbous nose bent like he smelled something ugly. But he put his hands up and moved down to his knees.
I checked him first. I reached into his waistband and found a gun. I grabbed it, pulled it out, put it in my own waistband. I checked the skinny guy who was face down on the floor next and found nothing. The fat guy was last and as I approached, he nodded at the table in front of him.
“My piece is there,” he said.
I noticed a silver revolver next to a cigarette that was still burning in the ash tray. I picked it up and tossed it aside, letting it bump across the rug and come to a stop against the far wall. The fat guy flinched every time it hit the ground, and I guessed it was loaded.
I reached forward and checked the rest of him, and sure enough, he had nothing else.
“All right,” I said, holding my gun out. “Gentlemen. Let’s make this easy. Where are the drugs?”
The fat guy’s jaw dropped. “Drugs?” he asked.
“Don’t make this hard,” Luca said, gesturing at the bleeding man on the ground. “We’ll do unto you, too.”
The fat guy grimaced and stared at his bloody friend.
“Don’t you fucking tell,” Liam said from the floor. “Don’t you open your mouth, Percy.”
“Why the fuck not?” Percy asked. “They got the drop on us. What’s the point?”
“You die for your Club,” Liam said.
“No need for dying,” I said. “No need for hurting, either. Just say where the drugs are.”
Percy stared at me, then his eyes moved over to the kitchen. They lingered then came back to mine.
I bowed my head. “Well done, Percy.” I walked past him, over to Liam, and smashed the butt of my gun across his face. He grunted and fell to the side, blood splashing from his broken lips and teeth. I kicked him hard in the face then again in the gut and the chest. He curled into a ball and groaned.
“What the fuck?” Percy said. “What the fuck, man? What the fuck?”
“He was going to be trouble,” I said and turned away from where Liam lay bleeding into the carpet. “Now, I’m going into the kitchen to take your stash. If things go sideways from here, someone’s going to die, and I can promise you that it won’t be me or my men.” I walked past Percy again and looked to Luca. “Stay here and cover them.”
“All right, boss.”
I walked down the hallway and stepped into the galley kitchen. Dirty dishes were piled in the sink and crumbs littered the stove top. There was a tea kettle, covered in grease stains and dented, and a coffee machine that looked like it’d never been cleaned. I ripped open cabinets and found most of them empty except for a few glasses, some chipped and yellowing mugs, and some old mismatched thrift store plates and bowls. The refrigerator smelled like feet and had ketchup, eight Miller Lites, old Chinese food takeout containers, and a moldy loaf of bread.
I slammed the door shut then checked the cabinet under the sink. Shoved in the very back was a black trash bag. I grabbed it, pulled it out, and opened it up.
Little vials covered the bottom like snowflakes.
I smiled to myself and threw the bag over my shoulder. I stepped out of the kitchen and looked half way down the hall. “Luca,” I said. “Come on.”
He came walking backwards, gun still out. As I headed to the door, I heard commotion from upstairs. I gave Luca a look and he nodded, still watching the guys in the living room from the hallway. I hurried upstairs toward the noise and walked down a dark hallway. No pictures hung on the walls, just bare white paint with black marks from where people bumped and scuffed it. I found Simon and Davide in the back bedroom ripping open a mattress with a long, serrated military style knife. Old dirty clothes were piled in a corner along with empty cigarette packs, old beer cans, and crumpled chip bags reflecting the bright overhead light.
“Look at this,” Simon said and gestured down.
I tilted my head as Davide held up a fist full of cash. “It’s stuffed inside,” he said, stabbing the mattress again and slicing downward. The knife caught on the metal springs so he pulled back, stabbed again, cut some more.
Once it was open enough, they pulled out more bundles of cash. I guessed at least fifty thousand dollars was shoved in there. I held out the trash bag full of little vials, and they dumped the cash bundles in on top. When it was cleared out, Davide and Simon left first, their guns out, and I followed.
