Hard to Kill - Debt Collector 4 (A Jack Winchester Thriller)

by Jon Mills

  Tex took the phone and stepped out of the sunshine. He stood at the window watching his child play. A constant reminder to him about what life was really about.

  “Hello?”

  “Tex. It’s Matt Randall.”

  “Matt. How are things going with production?”

  “Yeah, about that. Mike is dead.”

  “What?”

  Tex walked away from the window. He squinted trying to comprehend what this would mean to his bottom line.

  “The product? Have you retrieved it?”

  “It’s gone.”

  “What do you mean it’s gone?”

  “The boys and I went around there earlier today. The place had been cleaned out. That’s when we found Mike. He’d been shot in the back of the head.”

  “Who did this?”

  “We’re not sure but we found a cell phone on the table. Get this. It belongs to Billy Dixon.”

  Tex nodded his head and gritted his teeth. It was beginning to make sense.

  “What do you want us to do?”

  “Besides bringing me his fucking head?” Tex paused to breathe in deeply. He was seething with anger. Even though Mike wasn’t aware that Tex was his supplier, Mike had become one of his best dealers. It wasn’t like he couldn’t cook up more batches but out of all the dealers he worked with, Mike had distributed a large percentage. Whoever took the meth would pay for this. “Keep your eye out for him.”

  “Will do.”

  “And Matt. Thanks.”

  “Sure thing, Tex.”

  He hung up and stood there squeezing the phone tightly. He tossed it across the room and it shattered on the wall just as Kalen came in.

  “Whoa, Pops. What’s going on?”

  “Billy Dixon.”

  He brought him up to speed on what had taken place.

  “I told you, you should have killed him.”

  Tex eyed his son with contempt. He didn’t like having anyone tell him what do, especially if they were right. He inwardly cursed his decision to give him more time. In all the times he’d ever been lenient with people, they had double-crossed him or tried to run. Kalen was learning fast. Tex knew business would continue to flourish in his hands. Perhaps it was time to step down and let his son take the reins. He walked back to the window and looked at his six-year-old playing.

  “Find him. Bring him to me.”

  “But doesn’t he have until the end of the day?”

  “No. His time’s up. And get his bitch and daughter too.”

  With that he ventured back outside with a smile on his face as though nothing had unsettled him. It was all about keeping his family happy.

  Chapter 24

  He had contemplated shooting her but when the woman told him that it was Jack’s daughter he thought he had hit the jackpot. He was growing tired of chasing him. The incident at the hospital had been unavoidable but it meant the police might discover what he looked like. He had no time to find the security cameras. Right now he needed to stay off the streets at least until it got dark in a few hours. Giovanni had holed up in a seedy motel on the outskirts of Covington called the Sunrise Motel.

  The room was cramped, dirty and still stuck in the sixties by the looks of the place. He had pushed a twenty-five cent piece into the machine beside the bed and it started vibrating. Since arriving the kid hadn’t moved from the corner. Crouched down with her arms wrapped around her knees, she cowered every time he got close. He had no qualms about killing her. He’d done it before. He didn’t like it but if it came down to him being taken in by the police he would do whatever was necessary.

  He pointed to the bed hoping to keep her occupied with its shaking. But she just looked away. He flicked the TV on and put it on some kids channel but she ignored it.

  “You hungry?”

  There was no response. She wasn’t mute as she was wailing up a storm after he had killed that bitch back in the trailer. Now that was one crazy tweaker. She had tried to stab him. Had she played it cool and told him where Jack was, maybe he wouldn’t of beaten her to a pulp.

  “What about a drink? You like Coke?”

  She nodded. He scanned the room looking for something to tie her to while he stepped out. He went over to her and grabbed her by the arm. She started crying as he brought her into the bathroom. He pulled his belt off and she must have thought she was going to get a licking. Instead he used it to bind her wrists and then attach her to the towel rack.

  “Stay still. Be quiet. I will be back soon.”

  He stepped out and looked back at her. She didn’t look like a runner. Tears streaked her face and for a brief moment he thought of his own daughter. The memory stung. He left the room and wandered down to a vending machine he’d seen near the registration office. As he pushed a dollar into the machine he looked through the window and saw the guy in the office looking up at the TV. A picture of the girl’s face, along with Jack Winchester and someone else, came on the screen. The cops were looking for her. He pushed a button and the can clunked as it fell down into the slot at the bottom. He took it out. It was warm. What the hell? Giovanni went over to the office and stuck his head inside.

  “Your soda machine isn’t working. Damn thing is warm.”

  “Been like that for months,” the guy replied.

  He sighed and returned to the room. When he came inside he glanced towards the bathroom but she was gone. He dropped the can and his eyes darted around the room. He heard her before he saw her. The little brat had managed to get out of her binds and had hidden. He turned to grab her but she was like a little jackrabbit. She shot out the door yelling. He bolted out after her. She was running across the gravel in bare feet. She hadn’t made it twenty feet when he scooped her up and tossed her over his shoulder.

  “Shut the hell up.”

  “Let me go.”

  He muffled her cries with his hand and brought her back into the room. As he was stepping inside, he saw the man in the office glance out. Shit!

  He didn’t have time to bind her. He tossed her inside the room and locked the door behind her. He heard her banging on the door as he moved towards the office. As he walked inside, the guy was already on the phone. Giovanni held a gun up and the guy slowly placed the phone down. He gestured for him to go into the back.

  “Take a seat.”

  The guy was in his late fifties. He sat down with his hands up. Terror was written across his face.

  “You the only one who works here?”

  “No. There are a few of us that take shifts. This is mine. I’m here until ten.”

  “I really wish you hadn’t made that phone call.”

  “I didn’t even get through to them. I promise, I won’t say anything.”

  Giovanni reached into his pocket, took out a suppressor and proceeded to screw it on the end.

  “Please. I won’t tell.”

  “You promise?” he asked sarcastically. It was always the same with those who were about to die. They would tell you anything. Anything to get out of their situation. If you let them go, the same people would face you in court saying how strong they were. It was all bullshit. They weren’t strong. If anyone got away, it was because of luck.

  “Yeah.” The guy nodded with a look of hope in his eyes. That quickly changed when Giovanni leveled the gun at his head and a bullet lodged itself in his skull. Blood hit the back of the wall and brain matter dripped down. Killing was a lot like anything else. At first he was horrified at the sight of blood. He felt an immense amount of guilt. That soon subsided and pulling the trigger was as easy as breathing. No remorse. No guilt. Nothing prevented him from sleeping at night. He had no preference on who died. It all came down to risk. He left no one behind alive. He sat there thinking of what it would be like to put a bullet in Jack Winchester. He felt nothing for the man. It wasn’t like he had done him any harm. Giovanni’s connection to him was purely motivated by a desire to repay Salvatore for what he had done for his mother. He didn’t care about Salvatore. He didn�
��t see him as a father, even though he was his biological one. This was all business. A means to an end. Once it was completed he wouldn’t have to think that his mother owed anything.

  Giovanni took a few seconds to breathe in deeply before he placed the gun back inside his jacket and went to the main door to check if anyone was looking. In frustration he slammed his fist against the side of the drywall leaving a large dent. Outside there was a large ice box. For a moment he considered placing him in it but then decided otherwise. For all he knew the guy had got through to the police and alerted them to the girl.

  He closed the door behind him and returned to the room.

  “Get your stuff.”

  “Are you taking me home?”

  “Just do as you’re told.”

  The kid rushed over to the corner where she had laid her jacket. He took a firm grip on her hand and led her out to his car. He put her in the back and secured her in. He didn’t wait or linger a second longer. He drove out of there and into Goodbee, one town over. There he found another motel and paid for the night. He wasn’t going to risk the chance of police showing up at the different motels in Covington. Once he got the key he unlocked the door to his room and grabbed up the girl. This time he was careful not to take her out of the car until he was sure that no one was looking. He returned to the car and from the back he pulled out some old zip ties from his bag. He secured her wrists to the foot of the bed, shut the curtains and tried to settle in for the night. Nothing about what he was doing felt rushed. He had all the time in the world to finish the job. Right now he was holding the winning lottery ticket. If Jack didn’t know already about his little girl, by tomorrow he would. Either way, Jack wasn’t going anywhere.

  Giovanni turned on the TV and flipped through until he saw warnings about the hurricane. He snorted. Hurricane? He hadn’t felt anything but some light rain and wind. Then the camera flipped to shots of Lake Pontchartrain, Lake Borgne and other areas that viewers had taken video of. Waves were wild and what looked like a terrible storm was beginning to brew on the horizon.

  “What’s your name, kid?”

  She hesitated before she replied. “Ruby.”

  On the screen came another Amber warning. “Do you recognize this other man?”

  “Jack is a friend of my mother’s.”

  Giovanni frowned then clued in. “The other one is your father?”

  She nodded. Why had Carla said that Jack Winchester was her father? Unless of course Theresa had got knocked up before arriving in Louisiana.

  “How old are you, kid?”

  “Eight.”

  “And how long have you been living here?”

  “For as long as I remember.”

  He stared at her and thought of his own daughter. Would Jack hand himself over if he knew his daughter’s life was hanging in the balance? He thought back to the men who had taken his wife and daughter. The pain of the past ached in his heart. He saw their faces before him. He heard their tears and listened to the demands of the men he eventually killed.

  The memories were too painful. Outside the wind picked up and lightning flashed. A sudden crack of thunder and he was no longer thinking about all that he’d lost.

  Chapter 25

  It was late. A little after eleven at night when Billy made the phone call. They were initially going to return home but when they saw the cruiser lights in the distance, Billy took Jack to a bar on the west side called Murphy’s Hole. There was hardly anyone inside. Just a couple of old guys sitting on bar stools shooting the breeze. One booth was taken by a young couple who looked like they were about to start having sex by the way they were groping each other.

  Jack slid in across from Billy and ordered a double bourbon while Billy tried to get in contact with Ronny. He kept the phone on speakerphone.

  “Ronny?”

  “Yeah.”

  Billy glanced at Jack. “I heard you have some new product that’s come in.”

  “Who is this?”

  “It’s Doug Jenkins. A friend of Mike’s.”

  There was silence. Billy put his hand over the receiver and muttered something along the lines of this wasn’t going to work. He was convinced that if Ronny was the one that had taken the drugs, he would be expecting a call.

  “How much do you need?”

  “How much you got?”

  “Didn’t Mike tell you?”

  “No. He just said it was good and worth the money.”

  “Listen, you tell me how much you want and I’ll tell you if I have enough.”

  “Forty grand.”

  “You distributing?”

  “Here and there.”

  “That’s a lot. I’ll phone you back.”

  “No—”

  The phone went dead and Billy sighed. “I told you it would spook him.”

  “He’ll call back.”

  “The fuck he will. He’s probably getting rid of it while we speak.”

  Jack shook his head. There was one thing you could count on with a dealer. Greed. It didn’t matter how much risk was involved. They couldn’t pass up a chance to make some nice green. Billy asked for the barman to bring over a beer. He lit a cigarette and Jack frowned.

  “You know you can’t smoke in here.”

  He took a portion of the packet from his cigarettes and tore the cardboard and used it as an ashtray. Faint jazz music played in the background. Jack saw the young couple get up and leave. Billy glanced at them before looking back at Jack.

  “So how long have you known Theresa?” Billy asked.

  Jack was taking a sip of his drink. He swallowed. “Since she was eighteen. And you? How did you meet her?”

  He chuckled a little and tapped his cigarette. A chunk of ash broke off.

  “I worked behind the desk at the hotel.”

  “You worked in a hotel?” Jack acted surprised.

  “I was trying to do the right thing.” He paused. “My mother, she’s a religious woman. Has always been going on at me about leading a righteous life.” He snorted. “Like what does that even mean?”

  The barman came over and placed his beer on a coaster in front of him. “Thanks, Henry.” He slipped him some cash and the barman walked away without even asking him to put out the cigarette.

  “Anyway, she was working there. One thing led to another and we started seeing one another.”

  “How old was Ruby?”

  “Three.”

  “So she’s only ever known you.”

  He studied Jack, and squinted a little as smoke stung his eyes. “If you’re wondering does she think I’m her father. Yeah. She does.”

  “And Theresa never told you who the real father is?”

  He snorted. “Let’s not beat around the bush here. I know she’s yours.”

  “How long have you known that?”

  “Since she told Carla. Yeah, I guess she still thinks I don’t know. But I do.”

  “That doesn’t bother you?”

  He shrugged taking another hard pull on his cigarette. The end glowed a bright orange in the darkness before he exhaled.

  “What about you? What do you do?”

  “I haven’t decided yet.”

  He frowned finding Jack’s reply confusing. But it was true, Jack really hadn’t given much thought to what he wanted to do with his life and now with the FBI on his ass any chance of him being able to hold down a regular job was pretty slim. He could have got out of town but it would have been no different than now. He’d always be looking over his shoulder. At least here he could try and make sure Theresa and Ruby were safe before he moved on.

  “What did you do to end up inside?” Billy asked.

  Jack downed the remainder of his drink and asked the bartender for another.

  “What makes you think that?”

  “The look in your eye. Everyone inside gets it. It’s a look of distrust. You know when I was inside, I was never afraid of what the other inmates would do to me. It was the guards I was worried about. Any
one of them could have been paid a hundred bucks to kill me in my cell. I’m surprised Tex didn’t do it that way.”

  “No, by the sounds of it, he likes to see those he kills squirm.”

  Billy nodded.

  “You only did a year?” Jack asked.

  “And the rest.”

  “How many times?”

  “Twice. The last time I got out, well, you know before going back in, I was really trying to go straight. I moved back from Texas to here and started all over again, but you know how things are.”

  “No.” Jack knew but he wanted to hear it from him.

  “How am I supposed to give Theresa or Ruby a good life on minimum wage? I was working forty hours a week for chump change,” Billy said.

  “That’s called going straight.”

  He knew what was coming. He’d heard it countless times from buddies who did time inside and got out. They all justified why they had to return to crime. It was like they couldn’t see their way to doing what everyone else did in the world. So strong was the pull of crime it would keep a person in a cycle of doing the same bad things. Since he’d got out, Jack had felt it. It was like an addiction. It wasn’t the thrill of doing wrong but the payday that came after. You could earn in one day what took others two months. It was the reason why so many found their way back into prison. Some didn’t even try. For him it was meant to be different. Jack took a swig of his drink and the phone rang.

  Billy glanced down. “It’s Ronny.”

  “Told you.”

  It was a given that he would call back. They always did.

  Billy tapped accept and Ronny was the first to speak. “Tomorrow morning, first thing at ten. You come alone. Bring the cash and head north on Lee Road. You are going to pass over the Bogue Falaya. The first turn on the left will lead you up to a house. Meet me there.”

  With that he hung up.

  Billy put out his cigarette and Jack’s eyebrow went up.

  “Now how do you suppose we do this?” Billy asked.