by Ellle Parker
We were turning to head back, when I caught the sound of voices. I paused and listened, trying to get a fix on where they were coming from. Seth stopped next to me. I could see his face in the faint light, and he looked concerned.
Then the beam of a flashlight flickered along the row of cars at the opposite end from us. It was pale and diffuse. They were still near the entrance. Seth and I glanced at each other.
“Shit,” he whispered. “Now what?”
“Stick to the shadows and keep still. When they get close, we slip around the end here and make for the gate while they’re searching the back of the lot. Fool them into thinking whoever was here is long gone.”
Seth nodded, and we both pressed up hard against the side of a wrecked sedan.
The voices grew louder, and I thought I could make out three or four. One of them said, “What makes you so sure this is the right place?”
“Because, you moron, the gate’s hanging open.”
“Oh, right…” There was a pause where you could almost hear the guy’s brain cells firing. “Well, what if they’re gone already? I didn’t see no car.”
A different voice said, “They’ve been locking up after themselves. They’re still here. Now shut the fuck up.”
I crouched down and peered through the racks of cars. There were a couple of guys within two rows of us, including the one with the flashlight. A third guy hung back a little ways, trying to squint down the rows, and a fourth guy stood squarely in the front gate. Damn.
Seth look plain old pissed now. “How in the fuck did they find us? This is unreal.”
“I don’t know, but we need to get the hell out of here.”
He leaned over my shoulder. “We’re gonna have a bitch of a time getting past the one up front.”
“I know.”
“I might have an idea.”
“Yeah?”
“The street we parked on runs down the other side of the yard.” He pointed to the wall opposite us. “We might be able to bust through the fence. It’s a piece of shit. I could probably do it with about three good kicks.”
“We’d have to be quick about it, because they’ll know right where we are. And we still have to get there.”
The guy with the flashlight was just one row away now, and we inched down to the end of the rack, slipping through one of the gaps as he passed us. I gave Seth a nudge, and we kept going through to the next row. Then we started to make our way across, hoping to sneak behind them and reach the fence on the other side.
We almost made it, but the thug at the tail end of the group happened to turn around just as we were disappearing between two racks. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw his hand come up and heard the blast of a gun. The window of a truck shattered right behind me. I pulled my own gun and ducked into the shadows. More gunfire. Ahead of me, Seth did the same, minus a gun.
There was shouting and a lot of commotion as the thugs figured out what was going on and got themselves organized. By that time, Seth and I had put several rows of cars between us and them and were crouching quietly in the dark trying to get our bearings.
Seth leaned over to whisper. “This is what they mean when they say don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched, isn’t it?”
“This is what they mean when they say we’re fucked.”
The beam of a flashlight played around the ground at the edge of our row, and we started to move toward the other end. Seth stopped short and I bumped into him. I was about to say something rude when I realized there were voices coming from that direction and we were trapped.
I raised my gun to take a pot shot at them, hoping to drive them away long enough to move. Before I could squeeze the trigger, Seth grabbed my arm and pulled me through a gap in the cars. It was a tight fit and we had to crawl over the framework of the center shelving, but in a minute we were standing in the next row over and had a clear path in either direction.
We walked silently toward the end of the row, still trying to go in the general direction of the far wall. The shouts of the thugs were mostly behind and to the left of us again, and I heard a couple more gunshots that weren’t even close. That was good. They were confused and didn’t have any idea where we were. If we could keep it that way, we’d have a clean path out of there.
Somewhere in the center of the lot, I heard another sound that sent a chill down my spine. I grabbed Seth and whispered in his ear, “You hear that?”
“Sirens. Son of a bitch. When we’re fucked, we really do it up right.”
“Figures we’d find the only neighborhood in Miami where they don’t ignore random gunfire.”
Seth said, “No shit. Now we really have to haul ass if we want to get out of here. They’re fucking close.”
“There’s more than one squad car from the sound of it. We’re gonna get penned in even if we make it to the fence. We need to keep these thugs occupied long enough so we can slip away. If they stop us, we’re screwed.”
“What have you got in mind?” Seth asked.
I knelt down and used the pry bar to bust open the lock box we’d picked up and stuffed as much of the cash and drugs into my pockets as I could carry. I handed everything else over to Seth. “Something that’ll take them out of the running altogether and let us get out of Miami without them on our tail. Think you can make it to the fence on your own?”
“Sure,” Seth said, pulling out the stun gun. “Where are you gonna be?”
“I’ll be behind you. Just be ready to take off when I get there. We’re gonna want to be quiet about it. No door slamming or squealing tires. They can’t know we were here.”
“Okay. Just make sure you come back to me. If I’m not allowed to kill you, neither are you.” He punched my arm and took off.
The thugs were still chasing around in the dark, hollering to each other and shooting for the fun of it. I wasn’t sure they’d heard the sirens yet, which was good news for me. I ducked back through the hole we’d escaped from and eased down toward the center aisle. Glancing around the end, I could see one guy trotting to the back of the lot and another disappearing into one of the rows on the other side.
The car I was standing next to had no windows left, and I saw the rearview mirror lying loose on the front seat, shining in the dark. I reached in and grabbed it. After looking around to make sure no one was going to notice the movement or the reflection, I flung it into the back corner of the lot where it made a fantastic racket, bouncing off the hood of a car and hitting the fence.
Even better was the racket made by the thugs as they fell for it. They all went tearing for the source of the noise, bellowing threats and shooting anything in their path. With all of them distracted, I was able to move from row to row without attracting attention. I hoped the same was true for Seth, and I wished I’d brought a second gun for him. That stun gun wouldn’t do him a hell of a lot of good.
It took me a minute to reach the front gate, and I stopped there in the shadows to check the scene. The Mercedes was parked at a careless angle just outside. All the windows were down, which was ideal for my plan. The thug leaning on the front fender wasn’t so great, but he was easily dealt with the same way his buddies were, using a rock. While he went to investigate, I crept up to the car and dumped the drugs and cash into the back seat, spreading them out to make it nice and obvious. I made damn sure I got every last little baggie out of my pockets.
Just as I was giving myself a final pat down, a squad car, its lights flashing, came screaming around the corner at the end of the street. The volume of the siren seemed to double. That got the attention of the thugs, both those inside the yard and the one I’d sent down the sidewalk. I had about five seconds to dive for the shadows and get lost before they all converged on the car. If they were hoping to make a fast get away, they were too late. The squad car pulled in, blocking their exit, and two cops jumped out, guns drawn, hollering for everyone to get down.
I ignored that request. If they couldn’t see me, they didn’t know t
hey were talking to me. I crouched low and raced along the inside perimeter of the yard, until I found the hole Seth had kicked in the fence. I climbed through and found him waiting there for me with the BMW running, passenger door ajar. I got in and held it closed. Seth eased down the street, leaving the headlights off until we got to the corner. My hope was the cops were too tied up with the thugs to notice anything else. At least long enough for us to get out of there.
“Everything okay?” Seth asked.
“I think so. A drug bust will keep them nice and busy for a while, and there’s no chance of these guys talking their way out of it.”
“The fact that they were shooting up a salvage yard isn’t enough?”
“Probably would be, but this’ll put a real wrench in the works for The Shark Pond and could gain us a few points with McCann. He might be more inclined to stick to his word if we’ve just done him a favor.”
Seth’s hands were tense on the steering wheel, and it looked as if he was having a hell of a time driving like we had no place better to be. “You don’t think he might get a little testy that you used his money to do it?”
I’d considered that, but I shrugged and said, “You gotta’ spend money to make money. He’s a business man, he knows that. And if some of his competition gets knocked out and no one can pin it on him, he’s ahead of the game.”
Seth turned another corner, and I got a peek down the street at the salvage yard. Another squad car had joined them, and the cops had someone down on the ground in handcuffs already. It looked like they had things under control.
“Okay,” I said, “just take it nice and easy back to the storage locker, and we’ll pick up Matilda.”
He nodded and settled back in the seat.
It took twenty minutes to get there, and they were a damned long twenty minutes. It was work to keep my calm, but I managed, and when Seth stopped outside Serrano’s unit, I handed him the keys for the lock and my car.
“What gives?” he asked.
“I want you to drive Matilda, and I’ll drive this one. We’re not completely out of the woods, and I’d rather be the one in the hot seat if something happens.”
“I’m fine,” he said with a shrug.
“And you’ll be finer in my car, so go. I’m not gonna argue about this.”
He sighed and took the keys, and we both got out. I waited until he had the garage door open and said, “Go back to the hotel, we’ll meet up with him there. Got a map?”
“Yep. But I’ll stay behind you. That way if something does happen, I’ll know right away.”
“That works,” I said.
Instead of going inside, Seth came around the front of the car and grabbed my shirt, pulling me close. He gave me a hard kiss, and I could feel both stress and relief mixed up in it. I wrapped my arms around him and held him tight. For all the witty banter, we both knew we’d just had a pretty close call.
“Waiting for you to come out of that lot was the worst thing I think I’ve ever had to do,” he said.
“Now you know how I felt this morning. We’re even.”
He snorted and shook his head. “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”
Chapter 31
The drive back to the hotel was uneventful, and if I wasn’t sitting on a fortune in drugs and life in prison, I might have enjoyed it. Seth was right, it was a nice car.
I pulled into the parking lot and noticed an upswing in the number of black SUVs around. McCann had arrived and was probably in our room waiting. I made it easy for him and parked next to one of his vehicles. By the time I shut off the car and got out, Seth was pulling in. He parked near the edge of the lot, well away from the thug fleet. I was half tempted to climb in the car with him and call McCann from the freeway, but that wasn’t the way it worked.
Besides, I wanted to get a read on McCann’s character when this was all said and done, and make damn sure he had a read on mine. If I was right about him, he was a man of honor, however twisted his version might be. Even so, I wouldn’t mind leaving him with reasons other than honor to avoid pissing me off.
I got my tools out of the trunk of the Z4 and carried them over to Matilda, where Seth was waiting. I left everything else right where it was. I had no intention of touching it again.
We headed inside, ignoring the thug waiting for us by the stairs, and went straight to the hotel room. We didn’t even have to knock. Another thug was ready at the door and let us in. McCann sat in his original spot at the table, sipping a scotch and looking mildly bored with the whole situation.
“I’m sorry I didn’t wait for your call,” he said. “But it was getting to be about the right time, and I assumed you’d be along shortly. And here you are.” He smiled at me in his oily way, and I wanted to deck him.
“Yep. Here we are, and your drugs are out in the parking lot, and we’re going home.” I tossed the key to the BMW in his lap. “You’ll find them in the trunk of Serrano’s little toy. I imagine your money probably bought that.”
McCann held the key out to the guy standing just behind his right shoulder. “You won’t mind if we have a look before you go, will you?”
“Of course not. You’re going to find it a little short, though.”
“And why is that?”
I had to play it right so I came out doing McCann a favor instead of pissing him off. “We had a little trouble at the end. You were right about who was following us.”
He raised an eyebrow and nodded at me, looking expectant.
“The guys from The Shark Pond caught up with us, and we had to find a way to dodge them. Someone had already called the cops, but I wanted to make sure they stayed plenty busy while we took off, and I figured I could maybe give you a leg up at the same time.”
“Really? How did you manage that?”
“Well, I had to spend some of your stash to do it.” I paused to let that sink in, watching the calculation in McCann’s eyes. He showed no sign of his feelings on the matter. “I set them up by dumping some of the drugs and money into their car. Most, if not all of them, have already been hauled off to jail on drug dealing charges.”
McCann nodded slowly, musing. “Well, I can see how that would disable The Shark Pond for a short time, but men of that caliber are easy to replace…”
“I thought of that,” I said. “I also threw in a book of matches with the club’s logo, so the cops would know right where to follow up.”
The tiniest hint of a smile touched the corners of McCann’s mouth, and I knew that got him. With evidence like that in the car, the cops would be stupid not to investigate, which would seriously throw a wrench in the works for his competitors.
I slipped my hands into my pockets. “I try to always keep a book of matches on me. You never know when they’re going to come in handy.”
“Dude,” said Seth, who hadn’t heard this detail before. “Is this where you’re like Archie What’s His Face?”
“Goodwin,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Remind me to get you some books for your birthday, would ya?”
McCann’s thug slipped in while we were talking and gave a terse little shake of his head.
“I gather you found it a bit short,” McCann said to him.
“There’s about a quarter of it missing, maybe more.”
McCann nodded. “That would seem to corroborate your story, Mr. Martini. Especially if we take Serrano’s taste in cars into account. I believe you’re free to go.”
I took a couple steps closer so I could tower over him. “Before I do, I want your word that you’re gonna forget those little old ladies even exist, and you’re gonna leave me and my friend alone from now on.”
“I told you in the beginning that was the deal. You’ve kept up your end, now I’ll keep mine.”
“That’s good,” I said. “Because if you don’t—if any one of them, including Seth, gets hurt in any way—I’m going to hunt you down like the dog you are and make sure you regret it for the rest of your short, short life. And you can have my wo
rd on that, got it?”
“Don’t give me a reason to hurt any of them.”
“I don’t plan on it.”
McCann smiled placidly, but his eyes were dead serious, and I was pretty sure we understood each other perfectly. “Then you have nothing to worry about. I’m a reasonable man, Mr. Martini, but I suggest you go before I change my mind.”
“Fine.” I turned to Seth and said, “Let’s get the hell out of here.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice.”
Chapter 32
We wasted no time getting out of there, and only paused to put Matilda’s top up. Even that was so I could speed on the freeway without the wind choking us both. I was anxious to get back and make sure everything was okay. I considered calling Ruth or Adele, but it was two o’clock in the morning and I didn’t think they’d appreciate that very much. Not without explaining the situation, at any rate, and I figured they’d like that even less.
During the first part of the drive, Seth read the map and gave me directions, but once we cleared the city and it was a straight shot home, he stuffed everything in the glove box and shifted so he could study me. He had a seductive expression, and I knew what was coming.
“So,” he said, slipping into his extremely gay South Beach tone, “I still owe you from earlier. We could pull over somewhere, and I’ll make good on my debt…”
“No, we could not.” It came out sharper than I’d intended, and Seth looked taken aback. I sighed and explained, “I want to get home and make sure the ladies are all right. I still don’t feel like we’re out of the woods.”