Page 18 of Insidious Heart
His lip twitches as he shakes his head. “That, and I just can’t seem to get rid of your twisted ass.”
“You could bounce quarters off my ass.”
“Victor.”
“Johnathon.”
“Look.” He slumps into the chair next to me, looking a little more like the sixty-three-year-old man he is. “This one… it’s a little different and a lot complicated.”
Interesting.
Not only is it complicated, but I’m guessing it’s also slightly personal—again—judging by the exhaustion that is now evident on my mentor’s face.
The ones that hit home are the hardest, or so I’m told.
“I’m listening…” My brow lifts as I stab out my smoke on the table then light another.
“A friend of mine, an old friend that I cut ties with a long time ago, came to me recently and shared some heavy shit. Serious concerns he’s having.”
“A problem he needs solved?”
John nods. “Once you read things over you’ll see why it’s going to be tricky, and why it’s important that you figure out this rookie killer and get him handled first. If he really is going to egg you on and follow you around…”
“I’ll take care of junior.” And I will. That fuckstick is trying to sully my pristine reputation by adding a messy disaster of a kill to it. I take pride in my work and I would rather have someone killmethe way I kill other people than have a monstrosity like that added to my portfolio. “Tell yourold friendI’ll do what he needs as soon as I handle mynew friend.”
“Same fee?”
I shrug as I lean back in my chair, lift my hands and link my fingers behind my head while puffing on my cigarette. “To be determined. All the work you keep throwing me has me rolling in the dough. Maybe I’ll do this one on the house, too.”
I didn’t charge Little John for killing Brucey boy.
Personal hits for the only human that has ever looked at me hard enough to figure me out, then still give me a chance in spite of it? Yeah, I’ll wipe out all of Rolling Meadows, the entirety of El Paso County if he needs me to, and I won’t ask for a dime.
Huh…
I wonder if that’s another of those peskyfeelingsI’ve never had toward another adult human being rearing its head again.
I must be going soft with age.
Not that thirty-two isold, but when you live a life like mine, it’s bound to catch up to you in one way or another. Apparently for me, age comes with thewarm fuzzies.
“You sure?” John lifts a brow before he nods toward me. “That file might change your mind.”
Another drag of my smoke. “I like a challenge, always have, and if this hit is as complicated as you seem to think it is then I’ll be giddy as fuck the entire time, so money won’t be a concern.”
“Could lead to more than one body.”
I shoot him theand your point islook, then shrug. “Again, I’m always up for a challenge. I’ll do my homework like a good little student, keep my eye out for any douche canoes that want to steal my thunder, and in the meantime, I’ll do what I always do.”
“Which is what, exactly?” John asks as I get to my feet.
“Masturbate to slasher movies while I keep a low profile. Keep up,Johnathon.”
This time, Little John barks out a laugh and I grin in satisfaction as I head for the door.
All it took was twelve years with the grizzly bastard for me to realize that maybe I’m a little less psychopathic than I was originally told.
Who woulda thought?
