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He nods, seemingly satisfied. “We’ll get her back.”
“I know we will, I just can’t seehowright now. We can’t get close without being seen.”
“I think I might have a solution,” Konrad says as he steps into my peripheral vision.
We all turn to look up at him.
“What the fuck happened to you? Did you take a shit big enough to punch you in the noggin?” Beast says with a laugh. “Where’s Leon? Getting rid of the evidence?”
“Funny,” he retorts, swiping at the split in his brow. “I think you might want to follow me.”
“Ah fuck,” Beast exclaims, understanding instantly that shit’s about to go down. “I ain’t gonna get to come back and eat the rest of this, am I?”
Konrad shakes his head. “The sooner we get out of here the better,” he says, unfurling the fingers of his right hand. We all stare at the severed thumb sitting on his palm, tattooed into the flesh is a thumb bone. “Leon and I had just had a chat with a very interesting waiter.”
“Is that so? Where’s the rest of him?” I ask, chucking him a napkin so he can get rid of the fucking thumb.
Konrad’s lip twitches. I'm not sure if it's the start of a smile or a scowl. Either way, I don't much care. “He’s stuffed into a dumpster out back. Leon's waiting for us. We need to move. Now," he replies, wrapping the thumb up in the napkin and tucking it into his pocket.
Jakub stands up and grabs his bag from underneath the table. “Let’s go then,” he says firmly as he slides his chair back under the table.
I drain my beer and get up too. “Lead on.” I motion to Konrad before throwing a few notes down on the table for our lunch. It was a good meal, and considering it might be our last I figure it’s only right we should pay for it.
* * *
It’s nearing midnight when the seven of us are seated in a booth in the corner of a traditional shisha cafe in the less touristy part of the city. The air is filled with clouds of smoke, and the chatter of a group of locals congregating at a table on the other side of the cafe. It has dark red brick walls, and small arched windows to maintain a level of privacy not granted by other cafes. Outside the streets are quiet, most of the tourists have headed back to their hotels and only a few locals are still out and about.
“So,” I say, to break the oppressive silence between us all. “What time are the buyers expected to arrive?”
Konrad checks his watch. “According to the waiter, shortly."
"So we wait for the buyers who are due to collect diamonds from Soren, jump them and then take their place? Is that how this is going down?" Beast asks, dragging in a deep lungful from the shisha pipe before blowing the scented smoke up into the air.
"That's about the gist of it," Arden replies, his knee bouncing up and down as he casts an assessing look around the space. “Unless you have a better idea?”
Beast shrugs. “I’m easy, man. So long as we don’t get arrested by the Gendarmerie.”
“Karim is waiting for us out back. Once we find out where the buyers’ rendezvous is with the driver, he’ll take us there at the designated time so we can pick up their transportation to Soren’s stronghold,” I explain.
“And can we trust this waiter guy? He could’ve lied and sent us into a trap. He’s working for the Skull Brotherhood after all,” Beast remarks.
“Wasworking for the Skull Brotherhood,” Leon points out, taking a sip of mint tea as he eyes us all. “He wasn’t lying, and he didn’t have the opportunity to send us into a trap.”
“Leon’s right, he got verbal diarrhoea when Leon threatened to chop off his dick,” Konrad says with a shrug.
Beast chuckles. “And there’s me thinking you were the ones with the shits.”
“You really don’t give it a rest, do you?” Arden asks, pinching the bridge of his nose.
“Mate, we all need a little comedic relief. Just think of me as your injection of joy and lightheartedness,” Beast replies, puffing on the shisha and sending more clouds of blue smoke up into the air before turning to Carrick. “You know, you could learn something about torture from those two. The dick trick gets most men. No one wants to be a eunuch.”
Carrick rolls his eyes. “Yeah, great tip.”
“What they fail to realise is,” Beast continues, without any encouragement, “Is that spilling the beans to save their todger ain’t gonna do shit when their throats are cut and they’re bleeding out on the floor. Or in this case, in a dumpster.”
“Indeed,” Leon agrees with a smirk.
“Can you trust Karim? I mean he seems like a sound fella, but you can never be too sure,” Beast asks, almost as an afterthought.
