Bran melts away into the shadows.
“Fuck you, Aidon Kasteros” Ashford curses. “That’s a low blow.”
“You don’t deserve more. Tell me the story.”
“Or what? You’ll piss on me again?”
This time when Bran appears, he’s gloved and masked, carrying a bucket. Ashford’s eyes widen, and he again tries to fruitlessly struggle. Bran kneels near Ashford and uncovers the pail. The man recoils from the smell. This time, Kailler uses her fist to cover her nose. The noxious gas of the shit bucket fills the air. Bran covers the bucket up, but the scent still lingers.
“Bran will force feed you this until you’re ready to talk.”
Ashford falls silent. I know he’s debating whether I’m serious. I could let the wheels in his brain churn until he comes up with an answer, but I’m not confident he’s done bargaining, and I want to get upstairs to Cora, so I give the silent order for Bran to continue. He shoves the cover aside and dips a gloved hand into the pail.
“This bucket is courtesy of the mounted police unit on the west side. They have an excess of horseshit and are always happy to give some of it away. I felt it was appropriate for you since there always seems to be shit falling out of your mouth.”
I nod and Bran shoves his coated palm against Ashford’s face. He tries to keep his mouth shut, but Bran jabs a finger inside it. Ashford tries to retaliate by biting down, but Bran’s gloves are made of flexible metal, the kind that line cooks wear to chop shit. Ashford’s more likely to break a tooth than hurt Bran.
“Another, Bran,” I order.
“Wait. Wait.” Ashford gags. “I’ll talk. Give me some fucking water.”
Kailler picks up a hose, and when Bran moves out of the way, she opens up on Ashford. He’s happy at first and then when the force of the water hits him like a fist, he shakes his head violently. “Stop,” he screams. “Stop. Fucking stop!”
Kailler looks at me, and I give her the go ahead to cut off the water. Ashford slumps forward. It’s hard to say whether his face is wet from tears or Kailler’s fire hose.
“Go on,” I say because this is tiresome shit.
Ashford’s shoulders slump. “Isn’t this too much, Aidon?”
“No. Not at all. You killed my man.”
“Sara killed him,” he interrupts.
“At your order.”
“We decided together,” he exclaims.
And there it is. His confession. “And why?”
“Why else?” He’s irritable now, coming to terms with his defeat. “I wanted more territory, but you’re here. The best thing I could do is start a war between you and someone else. I picked Vieth because their Midtown location is so fucking prime. I didn’t think she’d send her kid to you, but when she did, it seemed even more perfect. You’d fuck that ripe piece—“
Kailler turns on the water, and a hard blast knocks Ashford over. She glares at him and gives me a defiant look.
“Please, be my guest,” I say, gesturing for her to hit him again with the water. “Don’t hold back on my account.”
“What do you care about the Vieth women? Let’s make a deal—man to man,” Ashford begs.
“Not interested. I think we’re done here. Let’s wrap it up.” I pull out my gun and shoot Ashford in the head. He slumps over, dead. Bran and Kailler untie the body and then take him next door to the furnace room. I throw a couple of tablets of bleach on the floor and hose the workroom down.
Tonight I’m going to make love to my wife, and tomorrow we’ll have to start the messy task of taking over Ashford’s territory. The body count shouldn’t be too high, but the furnace will be going for a few days.
“Good job, folks. Take the night off. We’re going to be busy for the next few days,” I inform the crew.
Kailler joins me as I ascend the stairs. “Do you think Cora would hate me if she knew what we did here?” Kailler asks.
“No, but I’m not going to volunteer that information either.”
“Are you afraid she would hate you if she knew what you did?”
“She grew up with Karin Vieth. I don’t think she’s as innocent as she appears. She knows that power is held with a certain amount of violence.” It wouldn’t matter if Cora hated me because of the activities that took place in the basement. I’m not giving her up, even if she demands it. And I’m keeping her safe, which means the furnaces run when necessary. But what she doesn’t know, well, that isn’t hurting her.
Epilogue
Cora
“You listen, and you listen good.” I think hanging out with Kailler so much is giving me an edge. “You’re going to keep yourself in line. One hour. You will give me that.” I point at my stomach. I think my sweet little man is trying to make an earlier arrival. He is already like his father. He has no patience. But I’m not ready yet.