He grinned then put his massive frame against the door.
We both pushed together. Baldy let out a shout as he got forced inward.
I moved in forward, gun up. Baldy put his hands in the air so I shot him in the chest twice. He slumped back against a white wall and left a trail of blood as he dropped to the floor. I put one more in his head as Oleg moved further inside.
The back room was filled with flowers. A workbench took up the center of the space. Half of the bench was covered in arrangements, and the other half had small baggies of pills lined up in neat rows.
“What the fuck is—” A man’s voice came from a door to the left. He was older, cheeks wrinkled, and wore an ill-fitting suit.
I didn’t bother with questions. We weren’t there for questions. I shot him in the skull then put one in his chest just to make sure.
Oleg collected the pills. He found a plastic bag and dumped them all inside. I lingered, kicked over a few flower pots.
“This is weird,” I said. “It’s like a real fucking flower shop.”
“Front,” Oleg said. “For pills.”
“I see that. Still. Someone took the flower shop part seriously.”
Oleg grunted. “Doesn’t matter.”
I shook my head. “You’re right. Come on.”
He turned and headed toward the door.
There was a scream and another side door burst open. A man came through with a small sub-machine gun. Bullets sprayed out. I dove to the side as Oleg fell to the floor. I fired back at the gunner and he stumble over the body of Baldy. He cursed and I managed to shoot him in the leg. He screamed and dropped, his gun still firing, massive booms in the dark night.
“Oleg,” I said, getting up.
“I’m fine,” he said and climbed to his feet. He clutched at a wound on his arm. “Grazed me. Got lucky.”
I took the pill bag from him. “Go,” I said.
He nodded and ran out the door.
I put a bullet in the last guy’s head and followed.
The night was comfortable and quiet. Blood covered my shoes and jeans. I ran across the street and jumped into the passenger side.
Robin stared at me for a long moment before starting the car and driving away.
I dropped the bag of pills onto the floor and leaned my head back. Laughter ripped itself from my chest. I couldn’t help myself. Relief and anger and adrenaline rolled through my veins and laughter was the only way I could vent it. Robin smiled and looked at me like I was nuts and none of it mattered.
I laughed as we drove away from the scene. Five dead men and a bag full of pills, probably tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of them.
It was a good fucking night.
I put a hand on Robin’s thigh and kissed her neck. She grinned, tilted her head, kissed me back at a stop sign.
“I guess it went well.”
“Better than expected.”
“What’s in there?”
“A lot of money.” I rattled the pills around. “In fact, I think I just had an idea.”
“Yeah? You know how we’re going to get out of this?”
“Not yet. But maybe it’s a start.” I leaned back and grinned out the window as my mind worked in circles.14RobinI felt like a train hit me the next morning, and I hadn’t done anything. Leo was already awake and typing out messages on his phone when I walked into the living area and poured some coffee.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
He looked up. “Morning.”
“Morning.” I nodded at the phone. “What’s going on?”
“I’m making some plans.”
“Does this have to do with your idea last night?”
He nodded and nudged the bag of pills with his foot. They were still on the floor next to the couch where he’d dropped them the night before. I wasn’t sure he’d slept at all or not, but at least he took a quick shower and changed into clean clothes that didn’t have blood on them.
“Running it past the group. And it seems as though I’m getting the green light.”
I perched on the arm of the couch and crossed my legs. The coffee was bitter and hot. I took a long sip.
“Why don’t you clue me in and don’t make me guess for once?”
He grinned and put the phone down. “Okay then. Let me ask you something. Who in this city would want to see the Volkov family fall?”
“Aside from you? I don’t really know.”
“Who would profit from it the most, then?”
I frowned a little. “The Leones would. But aren’t they allied?”
“They were. But things change. Don Leone died a couple years back and his son’s been running things here ever since. The old guard moved on to the new family out in Chicago, and I think that the young men in charge here might be willing to do a deal.”