Page 29 of The Devil's Reward
“Them there coveralls or whatever the hell those contraptions are called,” Louie answers after a moment’s thought. “Other bastard was in a fucking suit. Can you believe that? A suit in these parts! Stuck out like shit on a white dog.”
I don’t bother reacting to his analogy. Instead, I ask, “Is this the first time they’ve been around here?”
“Nah. Come every week. Sometimes they come at night, but they come in a car. Some fancy black one that you can see your face in. All sneaky-like cause they always pull into the place they fix them cars.”
“Have you seen them in any other businesses?” I ask him.
He narrows his eyes in concentration. “No,” he finally says. “Saw one of you bastards though, down the way a few blocks.”
My shoulders stiffen at his information. “One of us?” I repeat carefully.
“You know, I’m awfully thirsty,” he remarks slyly.
I bite back the retort brewing on my tongue; instead I pull out my wallet and count out three bills. I hand him one, and he scowls at me. “You get the other two when you tell me what I want to know. Then you’re free to drink yourself silly.”
“I do get silly,” he agrees with a giggle. He tucks the bill away quickly, like he’s afraid I’m going to snatch it back.
“Who did you see, Louie?” I ask him impatiently.
He shrugs. “I only saw the cut. Alley was dark. Couldn’t tell who he was talkin’ to, but he wasn’t in there long. Left with a bag too.”
“Which alley?” I ask.
He nods his head towards the left. “Big building with the picture,” he explains. “Can’t miss it.”
Viper and I share a look. We know exactly where he means. It’s the same spot where Sage first took a picture of Dmitri. “Did you see the name on his cut? Or what he looked like?” I ask, though I know it’s a long shot.
Louie shakes his head. “Nah. Kept on going, didn’t want no trouble.”
“Do they meet a lot?” I ask him.
He shrugs. “Only saw the once. Was feeling pretty good too,” he grins.
I know we won’t get much out of him now. “You keep an eye out for more, okay, Louie?” I say as I give him the other two bills.
He snatches them greedily and nods fervently. “Of course. You bet. Gotcha. No problem.”
“And if you see another guy like us with a cut like ours, you try to see the name and remember it, okay?” I say firmly, giving him a hard look.
He nods again. “Yes, sir!” he replies smartly, snapping a quick salute at me.
I step back and he’s out of the alley like a shot, already heading for the liquor store.
“Let’s keep going,” Viper says grimly. “If he saw them, chances are someone else did too, and maybe we’ll get lucky.”
I doubt it’ll be that easy, but now we know for sure that one of our guys is meeting with Dmitri and his men. The fun part is going to be finding out who. “I’ll let Bullet know and then we’ll keep going,” I say briskly as we make our way out of the alley.
Time to put the pressure on and start shaking some more trees to see what else falls out.
SEVENTEEN
QUINN
Thank God for Shadow.
It’s been a shit day. I don’t even know where to begin, but I know that I’m grateful Macy is going to Maddie’s for a sleepover. Maddie is her best girlfriend in her class, and tomorrow is a field trip day; thankfully Maddie’s mother offered to take them both, so it isn’t so hectic tomorrow. That, and she’s chaperoning; a job I do not envy her. I can think of much better things to do than supervising an entire class of five and six-year-olds.
So instead of heading home, I walk to my favorite ice cream spot for some self-comfort. Nothing like stuffing your face with ice cream to make the day better. It’s also rare for me to go alone, and hopefully, the walk will help ease the tension headache at the base of my neck.
