by B. B. Hamel
Drago grinned at me. His teeth were bloody. “Good. I hope he pulls it off.”
I stepped closer to Drago and dragged him to his feet. He stared in my eyes and I saw the fear there. He knew what I was capable of.
Roy made his move then. He barreled forward, shoulder dropped, hands at his hip. Probably going for a knife I missed.
I barely moved. I aimed and fired two rounds, hit him once in the neck and once in the head.
He stumbled and crashed through a table.
Drago flinched as blood splattered on our shoes.
I looked at Roy and sighed. He pissed himself down on the floor, the poor bastard.
“That was a shame,” I said then looked at Drago. “Do the right thing.”
I turned and ran.
Drago’s crew spilled out from the back. I sprinted ahead and slammed into the door just as they started shooting. A few rounds almost hit me, slammed into the wood next to my face. I got splinters across the cheeks and mouth, bad enough to draw blood. I threw open the outside door and stumbled into the daylight.
I sprinted away. I heard the guys come out behind me, but Drago shouted them down. I ran like hell, saw the Lexus ahead, dove in the driver’s side.
“Tanner?” Elise looked terrified, her face pale. “Did I hear gunshots?”
“Yep.” I started the car and pulled out. I turned around in the street and drove fast away from the club.
“Are you okay?”
I touched my face. “Just cut a little.”
“Did you kill someone?”
“Sure did.”
“My dad?”
“He’s okay,” I said. “And I think I was convincing enough.”
She stared at me, ghostly pale, and just nodded.
“Okay,” she said. “That’s good.”
I smiled at her in the rearview mirror and drove us back to my apartment.
29
Elise
Tanner is on and off the phone for the next three days. And I’m constantly in his bed.
When we’re not losing ourselves in each other, Tanner’s talking to the Leone family, or people associated with them. Or he’s cajoling my father, pushing him into promises and deals. Tanner acted as a go-between, slowly hammering out the details of a potential truce.
I could tell it drove him crazy. He wasn’t built for that kind of work and more than once I had to talk him out of killing someone. He wanted to force a solution on everyone to make things go faster, but I knew that wouldn’t stick.
They all had to agree, or else it wouldn’t ever work.
So he played the politician. He pretended to care and spent hours on the phone. He met with my father in a public park and they went over details of his proposed plan.
After three days, it all began to come together. And on the morning of the fourth, he found me sitting out on the balcony with coffee again.
“They’re sitting down today,” he said.
I sat up straight. “Are you serious?”
“I’m serious.” He turned his face toward the sun and the light bounced off his lovely skin. “I just got the call from your father. I was waiting on him to agree.”
“So you’re telling me it’s going to be over?”
“I’m telling you they’re meeting, and we have a framework for peace in place,” he said. “One that seems to make everyone happy. I don’t know if it’ll last. I don’t know if they’ll try to kill each other. But shit, it might work.”
“You’ll be there,” I said. “They won’t do anything stupid with you there.”
He snorted. “Hell, yeah, they will. They’re dumb motherfuckers. But we’ll both be there.”
My eyebrows went up. “You’ll let me come?”
“I want you to come,” he said. “I want them to see you. I want them to understand.”
I tilted my head and shifted in my seat. “Understand what?”
“That all of this was over you,” he said. “Just an innocent girl. You didn’t deserve any of it. And now there are a few dead bodies because they couldn’t just leave you alone.”
I sipped my coffee and nodded. “Okay. If you think it’ll help.”
He grinned and crouched next to me. He kissed my cheek and cupped my chin. “I have no fuckin’ clue if it’ll help,” he said. “But hey, let’s go for it anyway.”
I smiled, kissed him, bit his lip, then leaned back in my chair. He lingered there and we didn’t speak as the sun rose up over the city, glinted off the windows across the street, and illuminated the people down below as they went about their lives, isolated from all the violence, all the hate, all the death that had followed me around for the past month.
I stared at a sliding glass door. Inside was a conference room with a long wooden table, mismatched modernist chairs, and a wall covered in inspirational slogans like “Teamwork Rules!” and “Together We’re Better!”
“Where did you find this place?” I asked.
Tanner shrugged. “Google.”
“Seriously?”
A guy with a manbun, tight brown pants, and a shirt that looked like it came straight out of a 1920’s gangster movie walked past balancing a white coffee cup on a plain white plate. He smiled and nodded as he turned the corner.
“It’s one of those workspace sharing places,” Tanner said. “WorkWith or something like that.”
“I saw the sign out front, but what made you think this was a good idea?”
He shrugged again like he didn’t understand the problem. “I needed neutral space,” he said. “Somewhere public enough that the idiots wouldn’t try to kill each other, but private enough that we could talk. Somewhere safe and secure.”
“So you went with a hipster coworking space?”
He grabbed the sliding door and pulled it open. “Come on, look at this. It’s inspirational.”
I groaned and followed him into the room. He pulled out a chair and sat down. I lingered near the door watching the hallway. A girl wearing a pink pant suit sauntered past with her nose buried in a tablet.
“These people are all going to die,” I said. “You realize that, right?”
“Oh, come on. You’re exaggerating. Anyway I’ll protect them if I have to.”
“Great. You’re the hipster hero.”
He laughed and stretched. “They’ll be here soon. Go grab some coffee if you’re worried.”
I hesitated then craned my neck. A guy in a Sum 41 tank top with spiky hair frowned at me from behind a MacBook.
“That’s okay,” I said. “I’ll just stay here and, uh, pace around, I guess.”
Tanner gestured then took out his phone and started scrolling around on it.
I paced along the far wall, my mind a mess of worry. The Leone family was supposed to show up soon, and my father promised he’d come, but I was starting to think this would all fall apart. Maybe they’d start killing each other, or maybe they’d try to kill me. Or maybe Tanner would get frustrated with everyone and start murdering. I ground my teeth and felt like my head might explode.
Tanner cleared his throat and I turned. My father stood at the glass door and scowled in at us. He pulled it open and stepped through. A large man in a black suit followed him inside and shut the door.
“Dad,” I said.
He nodded to me, but he didn’t smile or take his eyes off Tanner.
“I’m here,” he said. “Where’s the Don?”
“He’s coming,” Tanner said. “I set up separate arrival times. I figured it’d be easier that way. Avoid some awkward small talk.”
Dad grunted, looked at me, then took a seat at the table. The big guy shifted from foot to foot then stood behind my father, hands clasped in front of him, face studiously neutral.
Tanner squinted at the guy. “Do I know you?” he asked. “Were you one of the idiots that shot at me the other day?”
I flinched. The guy looked at Tanner. “I was the one that almost killed you,” he said.
Tanner laughed. “Horseshoe
s and hand grenades.”
“What?” Bigman frowned at him.
“Horseshoes and hand grenades,” Tanner said again.
“It’s a saying,” Dad said, sounding annoyed. “Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.”
“Listen, motherfuckers—” Bigman said, but Dad held up a hand.
“Shut up,” he said. “When’s the Don gonna show?”
Tanner gestured for calm. “Soon,” he said. “Why not enjoy some complimentary coffee? I hear it’s pretty good. All the guys with piercings seem to like it, anyway.”
Dad made a face and just grunted before crossing his arms over his chest.
I drifted over to Tanner and took the chair next to him. An awkward, heavy silence fell over the table. I wanted to ask my dad what happened between him and Tanner, but I already knew I didn’t want to hear any more details. Bigman kept glaring at Tanner every few seconds and I got the feeling that he was intensely uncomfortable.
Whatever Tanner did must’ve left an impression.
There were footsteps in the hall and I half stood as several men appeared outside the glass door. I recognized Dante from the cafe, but I didn’t know the others. Behind Dante stood a bald man and an old man wearing a sweater vest like he was a grade school teacher.
Dante slid open the door and held it. The bald man came in first, glaring around like he wanted to start shooting. The old man came in next, limping heavily on a cane. His face was pale and drawn, and he had bags under his eyes. He nodded to my dad and paused at the other end of the table.
“Drago Borghi,” he said.
“Luciano Leone.” Dad stood. “I’m happy you came in person.”
“Can’t send an underling to deal with something this important,” he said. “You understand.”
“Of course.” Dad gestured. “Please, sit.”
Dante gave Tanner a look then closed the door as the Don took a seat. I stared at Don Leone and tried to see him as the ruthless killer I knew he was, but I couldn’t get past the grandfatherly look in his eye. If the man really was a shark, he hid it very well.
“I’m glad you could all make it,” Tanner said. “I know this is a little cramped. Best I could do on short notice.”
“Never been in one of these before,” Dante said. “Lots of hipsters love this shit, right?”
“It’s nice,” Don Leone said. “Young people working hard. Can’t fault them for it.”
“Let’s get to business,” my dad said. He leaned forward on the table. “Tanner’s been playing lawyer for the last few days, and he says our most recent conversation is the best we’ll do. Is that true, Don Leone?”
“It’s true, Don Borghi.” Don Leone tilted his head and steepled his fingers. “I must say, though, you couldn’t have expected more.”
Dad grunted and leaned back. He crossed his arms and stared at Don Leone. Bigman’s face didn’t change. Baldy kept glaring around at everyone. Dante lingered near the door, looking uncomfortable and like he wanted to get the hell out of there.
Tanner beamed like he was in heaven.
“You’re giving me Eastwick,” Dad said. “Beyond that, I’m limited to a few blocks here, a few blocks there. Nothing big, nothing powerful.”
“That’s the idea,” Don Leone said.
“I wonder how you think I’m going to make money that way.” Dad glanced at Tanner. “Or maybe our go-between hasn’t been entirely honest.”
“I’m a Boy Scout,” Tanner said.
“He’s been honest,” Don Leone said. “But I held something back. I wanted to be sure you’d come to the table first before making a real offer.”
Dad raised an eyebrow. I saw a glimmer of surprise. “I’m listening then,” he said.
“We’ve been working closely with a cartel. They bring in the drugs, we sell, we do a nice little revenue split, we all profit. It’s a good business, one I’d like to expand, and so here is my offer. You come into the business with me, you take the same split I offer to everyone, you do your business here in the city. But you also do business in New York with your distribution lines there. In New York, you take a bigger cut, I get a much smaller percentage, we do business like that. On your home turf, you get more. On my home turf, I get more.”
Dad grunted once and shook his head. “I can’t see how that’d be fair,” he said.
“And why not?” Don Leone smiled like a patient old man.
“My business in New York is twice what you do here,” Dad said. “I’d get a pittance of the Philly cut, and even on a small percentage, you’d get a nice, big haul with zero of the risk from my crew in the big city. I want the same percentage on your overall Philly sales that you’d get on my New York work.”
Don Leone laughed. “I’m glad you noticed that,” he said. “Otherwise, I would’ve thought you were stupid.”
Dad’s smile is thin and menacing. “What do you say?”
Don Leone looked up at Baldy, who only shrugged. He looked back down at Dad and spread out his hands. “I think we can work with that,” he said.
“Good.” Dad seemed to relax a fraction of an inch. “Then we need to discuss my daughter.”
Don Leone looked at me for the first time, and I saw it, buried deep within his eyes.
There was the shark.
“Yes, the girl,” he said. “You’ve been very difficult to kill, you know. Lucky you, finding Tanner.”
“She’s very fortunate,” Tanner said.
“At least he has some small semblance of a conscience,” I said. “I didn’t know you were in the business of murdering innocent people.”
“You’re in the game, girl,” Don Leone said. “Not innocent. Not off limits.”
“I left the city to get away from my father, and now you sucked me back into all this.” I leaned toward Don Leone and stared into his eyes. “You’re getting off easy.”
“Careful,” Baldy said.
Don Leone just laughed. “I like you,” he said. “I understand why Tanner does, too.”
“She’s right though,” Tanner said. “You’re profiting in all this, and you don’t deserve it.”
“Tanner, I don’t want to hear you speak again,” Don Leone said. “You’ve been nothing but a pain in my ass and I’m very tired of you.”
Tanner laughed and spread out his hands. “I’m a delight. What can I say? I live to please, Don Leone.”
“We had a good relationship, once. Then you betrayed me, killed a contractor, and started a lot of shit. I can promise I’ll leave the girl alone, but you? I can’t promise you’ll be okay.”
Tanner kept smiling. “I understand, Don. But you might want to talk to good old Roberto before you start making threats.”
Baldy grimaced and absently touched his shoulder then glared death at Tanner.
“Enough dick measuring,” Dad said. “Do we have a deal? We can work out specifics, but I’ll say ten percent for both ends, plus I still get Eastwick. You put me in touch with your cartel guys and make sure they’re selling at a discount.”
“All of that seems reasonable.”
“Good.” Dad banged his hands on the table.
Dante jumped and rubbed his eyes.
“We will speak again then,” Don Leone said and stood. “This was a productive meeting. Thank you for arranging it, Tanner. But please, never show your face again.”
Tanner leaned back and put his hands behind his head. “Lovely seeing you too, Don.”
Don Leone turned and walked to the door. Dante opened it, glared at Tanner, shook his head, and let the old man out. Baldy followed, but not before giving Tanner a death stare.
“Whatever you did, they hate your guts now,” Dad said.
Tanner laughed and waved.
Dante lingered in the room then looked back. “We’ll be in touch,” he said, then left without another word.
Tanner sighed and stretched his legs. “All right,” he said. “Short and sweet. That was easy.”
“Easy?” My dad glared at
him. “You crazy bastard. That was far from easy. Do you have any clue—”
“Dad,” I said. “Enough, okay? Enough. You got what you wanted. Can you just leave?”
He looked at me and for a second, I thought he might be my father again. There was a strange, longing look in his eye.
But he stood, nodded, and walked to the door. Bigman followed. Tanner waved.
I rolled my eyes. These men couldn’t help themselves. They all had to act like the biggest, toughest bastard in the world.
Dad left the room, followed by Bigman, and left the glass door open. The girl in her pink pant suit walked past again, this time staring at a laptop, her nose inches from the screen.
I shifted in my seat and turned to face Tanner. “I have no clue what just happened,” I said.
“Peace happened,” he said. “All it needed was a chance.”
“Was that real? My dad’s giving Don Leone a cut of drug sales?”
“And Don Leone’s giving him a cut too. In the long run, I think Don Leone made out better, but your dad’s pretty shrewd. I’m sure he’ll turn Eastwick into something bigger and badder down the line. At least I’m pretty sure that’s his plan.”
“I hate this.” I stood up and pushed my chair back. It toppled over and hit the carpet with a soft thud. “I feel like nothing’s over. Like they’re just going to keep fighting, no matter what we do.”
“It’ll hold for a while,” Tanner said. “It’s all about money in the end. Right now they see how working together will benefit them both. New markets, new revenue streams, all that shit.”
“Sooner or later they’ll turn on each other.”
Tanner’s face got serious for a moment. He leaned forward then stood. I could see his body tense as he came around the table and walked toward me. I backed up against the glass and he reached over to slide the door shut. I stared into his eyes and wondered what he’d do to me in this room with all those people out there watching.
“I need you to know something,” he said.
“What?”
“I want you, Elise.”
“I know that already.” I bite my lip unable to help myself. “You’ve made it pretty obvious.”