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“I thought you were unemployed,” said Luka. “Lying again.”
“It’s not official,” he said nervously, realizing his mistake.
“Unofficially, who sent you?”
The man clammed up. Luka snapped his fingers and one of the trainees delivered a swift kick to his stomach. Doubled over in pain, the man croaked out, “An old coworker.”
“From where?”
“A shitty restaurant called Lenny’s Lunchbox. I was a dishwasher there, but I lost my job when the place closed down a few months ago. I needed money, so I said yes when my former employer asked me to do some work for him.”
“Unofficially?” Luka mocked.
The captive nodded, his face smeared with blood.
“What was the job? And what is this guy’s name?”
“His name’s Rurik. I don’t know his last name. He wanted me to go to that casino and chat up women, get them to give up their contact info. I was just going to flirt with them. I wasn’t going to hurt anybody,” the captive insisted.
“What the hell would be the point of that? What does this ‘Rurik’ want?”
“I don’t exactly know, okay! He said he’s recruiting for a new business venture. I assume he’s opening up another restaurant or something,” the man admitted.
“Why can’t he find his own employees? Why would he need to poach them from the casino?” Luka demanded.
“I wish I knew. God, I wish I’d never even said yes to his stupid offer now.” He sniffled.
“Hindsight is twenty-twenty,” Luka replied coolly. “Now, tell me everything you know about this Rurik character and there’s a chance you’ll survive the night.”
“I don’t know much. I only met him a couple times when I worked at Lenny’s. I think he’s got some kind of paranoia disorder or something.”
“Why is that?” Luka questioned.
“He’s just weird. Secretive. Always wore some kinda getup… you know, like a disguise. I thought he was just insecure, but maybe he’s on the run from the cops or whatever,” the man said, spitting out blood. “Are you going to turn me in, too?”
Luka smiled grimly. He could almost hear his father’s voice superimposed over his own when he answered, “The police can’t help you now. Boys, show him howwehandle things.”
CHAPTER16
KIRA
“Good evening.How are we feeling tonight?” Kira cheerily greeted a couple of men who came slouching into the diner.
Like many of her customers, these men were dressed in typical blue-collar attire. They wore faded blue jumpsuits unzipped down the front to reveal oil-stained white T-shirts underneath. They stomped into Cal’s Corner in their dirty work boots, smelling of grease and sweat, but they politely doffed their hardhats as soon as they walked in.
“Tired,” said one of them, a bristly mustache covering his upper lip.
“Hungry enough to eat a horse,” said the other, a younger man with a receded hairline.
“Well, I’ve got just the thing for you boys,” Kira said, gesturing broadly for them to follow her to an open table by the front window. “You just sit down and relax, take a load off. I’ll have your menus and a couple of ice-cold waters out to you in just a minute.”
“Oh, I don’t need a menu, miss,” said the man with a mustache. “I’ve been coming here since before you were born, I bet.”
“Yeah, this guy walked with the dinosaurs,” joked his younger coworker. “I’d like a menu, though. I like to look at the pictures.”
“Why? Can’t you read?” his buddy teased.
Kira giggled and seated them at the window-side table. “I’ll be right back,” she said.
