“Oh, come on.” Frankie stood nonchalantly, lit cigarette back in his mouth, and I went on high alert. He took one last drag before squashing it on the Formica tabletop. With a wild gleam in his eyes, his smile—all teeth like the Cheshire cat, and held his arms out wide. “We can all be friends.”
In the split second before Frankie took a step toward me, I knew how this was going down. “Krew,” I shouted.
Frankie yanked a Desert Eagle from behind him and aimed it at me. I simultaneously moved, my nine pointed at him.
“Wait a second,” Jay quickly said. I wasn’t sure who he was talking to, until he looked straight at me. “I didn’t come to start any shit.”
“That asshole pointing the gun at me says otherwise,” I hissed.
“I’m here to start some shit,” Frankie laughed as he waved the gun in his hand until the semi-automatic pistol was now trained in Krew’s direction. Either Krew hadn’t obeyed my instructions and was still sitting there, or Frankie was bluffing to distract me.
“Shut the fuck up, Frankie,” Jay hissed over his shoulder before turning back to me. “I swear on my dead mother’s grave I didn’t come in here to rumble you.”
My eyes bounced between Jay and that greasy turd with him. “I don’t believe you, Jay,” I said in warning.
I pulled the trigger the same time as Frankie did. My shot went wide; his bullet hit something outside my periphery—that something better not have been my best friend.
I didn’t get a chance to look before I launch myself at Frankie. My sole purpose was to take this bastard down with prejudice.
The asshole was fast, and kicked my Ruger out of my hand, but so was I. With a counter kicked, I knocked the gun out of his grip, before we exchanged blows.
For a moment, he had me pinned. As he cocked back his fist, I punched my arm upward, and my fist landed a solid jab to his throat. He fell backward, choking. I twisted and rolled, shoving him off my legs.
I scrambled to my feet, and saw his Eagle was in reach. I grabbed it, took aim and shot twice—one to Frankie’s chest and the other to his head. I pivoted and trained the gun at Jay. He was pointing his Sig at Frankie, who was face up, his blood was pooling around him on the linoleum.
Fear cut through my focus that Krew had been shot by Jay while Frankie and I brawled. But I didn’t dare look away from Jay, who now trained his gun on me.
“Don’t move,” Jay demanded.
“Do you have a death wish?” I narrowed my eyes on the man.
“No. I came here to warn you, man.”
“This is your warning?” I growled out my fury.
“No. This asshole liked to play Russian roulette with his life. But not me.” Jay kicked at Frankie’s lifeless body and spat, “Good riddance.”
“Tell me what you want to say and then get gone.” I made no move to lower the gun.
“Your friend over there is marked.” He pointed a finger toward Krew. “A hundred grand in the next twenty-four hours. You saved my ass back in Columbia, so I’m calling us even. I’m going to back out of here and leave. And don’t worry, your boy is alive. I won’t go after what’s yours.”
“How do I know you’re telling the truth?”
“There’s no reason for me to lie. I owed you a marker, and now we’re done, Moss. He’s safe—Oh, and by the way, there’s one other mark—not sure if you know the bitch,” Jay said without lowering his gun.
“Who’s the other target?” I asked, slowly standing to my full height, keeping Frankie’s Desert Eagle still aimed at Jay’s head.
“Some woman named Regina—I don’t fucking know. I’m sure your handler can find out.”
Behind me, Krew gasped at Regina’s name. I didn’t even blink. “Who called in the hits?” I asked, easing back from Jay.
“Don’t know and don’t give a shit.” Jay pointed the gun at Frankie’s lifeless body for two beats before it was trained back on me. “That’s on you to figure out. Now I’m out of here.” Jay backed his way out of the door, keeping his eyes on me until he was outside.
I inwardly counted to ten, so absorbed on Jay and what he said, I didn’t register Krew standing beside me.
“He was talking about our Regi,” he said unsteadily.
“Yeah,” I admitted without looking at Krew. I continued to watch Jay’s figure melt into the dark, remaining vigilant in case the hitman changed his mind and came after me and mine.
