by Sara Hubbard
Vik puts the old plate on a workbench and then drops his screwdriver on top of it with a loud clank. “All set?” he says. He’s all smiles. He could do this shit on a daily basis and not lose sleep. Mom has a moral compass and I inherited it, to a point. I know there’s right and wrong and I try to be good more than bad. Not Vik, though. He missed out on that gene completely.
“Ah, come on. Don’t give me that face. He’s nothing to you.”
I sigh and hop up on part of the worktable that isn’t cluttered. I pick up a hammer and feel the weight of it in my hand, move it slowly through the air as I think. “He stole some equipment, Vik. He made a mistake. Does he really have to fucking die for it?”
Vik lights up a smoke and holds out the pack for me. I haven’t had one in days and I was set on quitting, but I can’t refuse one right now. My nerves are shot. One wrong move and Vik and I get sent up the creek to probably the same jail as my father. Fuck, we could all be roommates. Wouldn’t that be awesome?
I snatch the pack and light one up, closing my eyes and exhaling slowing as the nicotine works its way through my lungs and body. “Your cop friend is a real douchebag, you know that?”
“What’d you expect? He’s a pig and a traitor. The kind of guys that help us aren’t going to be heroes.”
“Yeah, I know that. He said this Brent kid sang like a canary. And he didn’t just put all the blame on Ivy’s brother for the drugs the cops found on him, but he was talking to the DA about some other stuff too.”
“Like what?”
I shrug and take another drag. Blow it out. “Don’t know. He ever work for Yuri or the cousins?”
Vik leans back to rest against the hood of his truck. After a beat, he says, “He very well could have. And if that’s the case, then there’s no feeling this guy out tonight and coming back later. He dies tonight.”
I slump my shoulders and let out a heavy sigh. “Yep.”
“Otherwise, Yuri will be looking for someone else to blame. You got me?”
Unfortunately, I do. He’s talking about me, which puts Ivy at risk. And I can’t have that.
Vik loads up on weapons and I do the same: a gun in a holster at my side, a knife in my boot and a backup gun in my other boot. Vik’s probably packing twice what I have and he’s got a semi-automatic in the back.
“You think you need all that?” I say dryly.
He shrugs. “It’s possible.”
I give my head a shake.
We pull out of the garage and roll down his gravel driveway before turning onto Hemworth Drive. It should take twenty minutes to get to that old farmhouse without traffic. Vik rattles on about stuff as he drives, but I tune a lot of it out. When I killed that guy in jail, I didn’t have a choice and I still felt a little torn up about it. I didn’t even know the guy. I had nothing against him and as far as I could tell, he had nothing against me. But because he had to flex his muscles and show his cock, he had to die. All because of jail politics and the both of us trying to make prison time a little easier.
“You listening to me?” he says, slapping my shoulder.
“Yeah, of course.”
“Bullshit. Don’t overthink this. We walk in, we shoot him in the head, and we torch the place. Done. You’ll be back at the cabin and asleep within the hour. Maybe an hour and a half.”
“Don’t bother you at all, does it?”
He shrugs before glancing at me and releasing a heavy sigh. “I used to wish I had a conscience. I thought not having one meant there was something wrong with me. In fact, I was sure of it, because that’s what Mom used to tell me, but…after Claire…I don’t know. I never felt pain like I felt when I saw her in the hospital that night. Her fighting for her life. And it got me thinking. Why would I want to question the things I do or say? Why would I want to feel anything at all? I’m kind of glad I’m not like you, man. I can be who I want to be and I don’t have to feel bad about it, you know?”
“We never talk about her.”
He grips the wheel a little harder as he turns a corner. The corners of his jaw flex as he grits his teeth. “She was good. She cared about other people and animals and she wanted to make a difference. And look what happened to her? She hooked up with a guy like me. And he killed her.”
“That guy wasn’t you. I don’t give a shit what you say. You might not think you have a conscience, but you have principles and limits. Ain’t no way you would ever pour kerosene over a girl and set her on fire because she dared to break up with you.”
“I don’t want to talk about this anymore,” he says. He pulls his ball cap down a little lower over his eyes, so low I wonder if he can see. His voice is choked and I can tell he’s on the verge of losing it, because I’m not far off myself. So we aim our gazes straight ahead and we drive the rest of the way in silence. Maybe one day we might be able to have more of a conversation about her. Maybe one day, when it doesn’t sting so bad.
When we finally reach the farmhouse, Vik pulls off onto the side of the road and kills the lights. We pull out our guns and rack them, putting them back in our shoulder holsters. We really are doing this. It makes me feel sad, like there is a heaviness in my chest. But I push through it because I don’t have a choice. I’ll do anything for Ivy and that includes selling my soul. Anything to keep her happy after all the pain I’ve caused her.
“If this goes bad…” I begin.
He laughs. “Have you met this kid? He’s scrawny. And he ain’t all that bright, either. The only thing that might go wrong is you get a good shot in and he dies quickly. Yuri wants him to suffer. And I wouldn’t mind taking out some frustration on this asshole either.”
“Why?”
He shrugs. “Because I can?” he shakes his head at me before getting out of the car.
I don’t even know what to say to that. Because I can? If I didn’t love him, I’d have to hate him. “You’re a straight up sociopath.”
His door is open and he bends down to meet my eyes. Then he winks at me before backing away and shutting the door. I take a breath and get out, resolved but determined. Brent has to die. There’s no way around it.
13
NIKO: From the road, I squint through the semi-darkness to see all the farmhouse lights are off except for one. We parked at the end of the driveway, so we don’t warn Brent. Keeping to the edge of the trees, we walk in a crouch forward. We tread lightly, hyper aware of the noises around us. A crow caws in the distance, the grass ruffles beneath my feet and a cat screeches near the rotting barn. Vik takes point, and I’m on his heels until we reach the two-story structure. Vik jerks his head to the right as we stand with our backs against the south-facing wall. I nod; that means I go left.
We creep away while I close my eyes and remind myself what’s at stake. I can see her smiling face in my head. Fuck. I crouch again and move to the only window with a light on. It’s in the kitchen and when I peek over the sill, I see no one inside. I’m not even convinced this guy is home. There isn’t a single car in the yard and this place is out of the way. Unless he likes long walks or is one hell of a biker, he’s stuck here.
I make my way to the back door. A screen door hangs in front of it and I carefully pull it open, wincing at the creaking hinges. I might as well just fire a warning shot. I pause and wait to see if any other lights go on or if I can hear signs of life inside, but I see nothing. Then I wiggle the door handle and find it locked. I pull out some tools and start to pick it. I haven’t done this in a while, not since junior high, when I broke into some houses with Vik to plant bugs for Yuri. That was back when Yuri didn’t have the mayor in his pocket.
I fiddle with the lock, but it won’t release. I want to take off my gloves, but that’s not smart so I let out a quiet curse and keep trying, moving my tools on more of an angle. Vik pops into the window and makes a ghoulish face and I jump back. Fucking prick. He opens the door slowly and I walk inside, punching him in the shoulder with a bit more force than I would if we were playing around. He silently lau
ghs at me before leaning in.
“Kid’s got to be upstairs. The other rooms are clean.”
I hesitate as he slinks to the foyer. As if he can sense me wavering, he glances back at me over his shoulder. He gives me a stern look and waves me forward, but I slump my shoulders. I just need a minute. Just one. He stalks back to me and leans in to whisper in my ear. “It’s like a Band-aid. Tear it off or you’ll lose your nerves.” He clutches my shoulder and holds my eyes. I give him a slight nod.
He leads me to the foyer and up the stairs. They’re old and wood, probably original, and they’re the noisiest set of stairs I’ve ever climbed in my life, but still, no one stirs. I’m amazed when we find him in one of the bedrooms, sleeping soundly. I’m also bothered. Part of me hoped he wasn’t around, that maybe he took off. If I were him, I would have taken off.
Moonlight streams in through the window and illuminates his sleeping face. He’s younger than I pictured him. He looks like a fucking kid. I pull out my gun and roll on my silencer while my senses are assaulted by the smell of cigarette smoke. It’s so strong I’d wager he bathes in the fucking stuff.
I side step around the bed, my gun aimed at his head. Vik goes to the other side of the room. He keeps his gun on Brent while I lift one of my feet and kick they guy’s leg with my boot. He doesn’t stir. I kick him again, harder.
Yuri wanted this guy to suffer. ‘Don’t just kill him. I want people to be horrified by what happens to him. It’s the only way to keep people in fear. People in fear don’t fight back. They cower. It makes life so much easier when people know their place in the food chain.’ Yuri’s words replay in my head. He’ll never know if the guy dies before or after I cut him up, but then, the coroner will know and I don’t put it past Yuri to get access to his report.
Brent groans and rubs his eyes. Then he jolts up in bed and hits his head on the wall. Bang! I hold up a finger to my lips. The guy holds up his hands, his chest heaves up and down. He’s not interested in a fight, even though he has to know what’s coming.
“What do you want?” he asks.
I keep my voice even, trying to play the role I was born into but never had the heart for. “You stole from Yuri. Did you think he’d just let it go?”
I turn on the lamp by his bed so it’s easier to see. His eyes are reddened and his cheeks are flushed, but the rest of him is snowy white.
“Oh, fuck,” he says between blubbering. His gaze pans back and forth between me and Vik, unsure who is the bigger threat.
“Let’s go,” I say, gesturing to the door with my gun. He stumbles out of bed, nearly falls on his face, but he rights himself quickly, returning to stand tall with his hands up so high they nearly touch the ceiling. He does as he’s told, maneuvering around Vik with his hands way up.
“Please. Don’t do this. I’ll make it up to him. I’m useful. He knows I’m useful. I’ve worked for him before.”
“Kitchen,” I say.
The kid moves slowly, probably working out a plan, like I would be. Vik keeps shoving him from behind to force him to pick up the pace. As he descends the stairs, he keeps glancing over his shoulder until he misses a step and tumbles to the floor below. Vik groans and jogs down after him, yanking him up.
In the kitchen, I pull a chair out from the table and slide it over to the middle of the room; its heels screeching along the linoleum. I tap the back and when he doesn’t sit, I grip his shoulder and push him down. His hands come together, in front of his chest, in steeple-like fashion. He’s almost in tears when I take each of his hands and tie them to the chair. There is no fight in this kid. He’s just rolling over and taking it. It makes this harder. At least if there was fight in him I could try and evoke some sort of anger toward him…maybe if he hit my brother… But he’s got nothing. It’s like torturing a beaten dog. I sigh heavily as I crouch down to eye level. The last thing I want right now is to think of Ivy, but she’s in my ear. I can just imagine what she’d say if she were here now. ‘Don’t do this. Find another way.’ But there isn’t another way. Not one I can live with. You can’t make rational decisions when you work for an irrational man.
“You’re going to kill me,” he says, sniffing through his tears.
I stare at his sad face. Maybe I should put a bag over it. Fuck. Let’s get this over with.
“You knew it was Yuri’s equipment you stole, yes?”
“No, I didn’t.” His words spew quickly, practically falling out of his mouth. “I swear I didn’t.”
“You’re one of the best thieves in this town and you want me to believe you didn’t know who you were stealing from? Or did you think you wouldn’t get caught?”
“Okay, I did. I did, but you gotta believe me; I didn’t know the site was Yuri’s until we actually got there. It was all Jack’s idea. He was looking for a big score so we could get out of the shithole we were living in.”
My pity wanes as he throws Jack under the bus. I might be conflicted about what I’m about to do but I have no respect for snitches or disloyal friends. So I focus on this when I raise my hand and slap him hard across his face. He lets out a wail before hanging his head, his chin meeting his chest.
“I’m so sorry. I’ll do anything to make it right. Anything, I swear.” His lower lip trembles and his hands are shaking against the wooden arms of his chair.
“We’re beyond that.” My free hand clenches hard in my glove. If my hands weren’t covered I would draw blood from my short nails, they’re balled so tightly. “Where is Jack?” I ask, just to see if he’ll betray him again.
He gives me the wrong answer.
“He’s staying with my sister. On Connelly Street on the North Side. I can take you there. Show you where. I swear,” he says between cries. “I will help you, just please, don’t kill me.”
I turn to my brother who is practically foaming at the mouth. If my sympathy is waning for this guy, I can’t imagine what Vik’s feeling right now. “He gave up his friend and his sister.”
“Piece of shit,” Vik says, spitting in the guy’s face. “Say the word, Niko. I’ll fucking rip this guy apart. Nail by nail, finger by finger, tooth by tooth.”
The guy starts to sob. Tears stream down his face.
I tap the gun on my knee and shake my head. “I didn’t want to do this. It would have been difficult for me to pull the trigger. I want you to know that. But I also want you to know that Jack’s sister is someone I care a great deal for and I can’t let you sell out her brother or get him killed. I just can’t.”
He sniffs away his tears and tries to regain his composure. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry,” the guy blubbers. “I just don’t want to die. Please don’t kill me.”
“Weak! Pathetic! You could at least go out like a man. Have some fucking pride!” Vik says as he paces to my right.
This guy is so keen to cooperate; I could get anything I want from him right now. So I need to get all I can from him, considering what the cop told me earlier. A nagging feeling in my gut tells me there is more to it than what’s on the surface. And I’m mighty curious what this guy might know about the family. Maybe I can use that to placate Yuri and have him leave me alone once and for all.
“I heard you’re talking to the DA,” I say. “Care to tell me what that’s about?”
“You’re going to kill me, regardless.”
I nod. “I already told you I don’t have a choice. But if you give me some information, I promise it’ll be me killing you. Otherwise it’ll be my brother and I’m a hell of a lot nicer.”
Vik air kisses Brent. I almost see a flash of my father in him now when I look into his menacing eyes. It’s a good thing he’s on my side.
Without missing a beat, Brent chokes out, “All right, I’ll tell you everything.”
I frown at him. I had no doubt he would. That’s just the kind of guy he is.
“I’ve been stealing from construction sites for months and selling the goods to the same guy. He’s been paying top dollar and he picks the sites.
I started off taking little things that no one noticed. Then for the last job, he said he wanted me to take copper and he wanted all of it.”
Vik curses before kicking the cupboards. “The guys on site said we were short a few times and I thought someone was pocketing shit, but I never thought these two idiots were behind the other thefts.”
“Just me. The others were just me. I let Jack come on the last one because it was supposed to be a big score.”
“So this wasn’t all Jack?”
He shakes his head. “Don’t tell him I sold him out. Or my sister. You won’t tell them, will you?”
“Keep talking and I’ll consider it. Who’s the guy you were stealing for?”
“Reed Kosh.”
Hammer? I glance at my brother to see the puzzled look on his face that matches my own. That doesn’t make any sense. He could be lying. But why?
“You gave his name to the DA?” I calmly ask.
He nods. “Yeah. I’ve been doing jobs for that guy for months and the DA was really happy to have his name thrown around.”
“I’ll bet. So Reed wanted you to steal from his father? He say why?”
He coughs and then he clears his throat, like it’s full of phlegm, before he continues, “No, and why would I question him? I thought maybe he was doing it for his dad so he could get insurance or something.”
Vik’s pacing increases. He’s tapping his gun against his leg, mumbling shit under his breath. He’s about to become unhinged and I can’t let that happen. Because we don’t have proof about Reed stealing from Yuri and this guy and his word don’t mean all that much. This is just another reason why I must kill him. If Vik lets him live and takes him to Yuri, I’m going to be standing in the weeds with Vik and I know what the outcome of that scenario will be. Me and Vik warring with Reed and more blood on my hands. And that’s if Yuri believes us. If he doesn’t, we’re looking at Yuri’s wrath for spreading shit about his son.