Walking inside the bar, the sound of loud music, laughter, and glass breaking greet me. I spot Billy in the corner of the room, looking like he’s already had a few too many. Perfect, it should make it easier to get him to talk. I don’t want to waste all my time on him.
“Hey, buddy,” he slurs as I walk up to the table. As soon as I take a seat, a waitress wearing a low-cut tank top appears by my side.
“Hey, handsome, what can I get you?” she asks in a sultry tone, utterly unaware of how futile her efforts of flirting are with me.
“Beer, whatever you have on tap,” I say gruffly without looking at her. She must have gotten the hint because she scurries away without another word.
For the next half an hour, I engage in friendly small talk with Billy, only sneaking in innocent questions here and there. I haven’t decided if I’m going to kill him yet. It all depends on how much he knows.
“I have to say, I’m surprised you called. You never just hang out, relax, or let loose, ya know?” he says with a laugh, waving his glass around, spilling half of his beer on the table.
“What can I say? I’m turning over a new leaf. Trying to be more outgoing.” The lie rolls easily off my tongue. “Especially with all these jobs, Christian has lined up for me. First, he gets into it with the Castros and now with Xander Rossi. He needs to pick his battles better; he can’t fight everybody at once.”
“Yeah, not sure what he was thinking, stealing those guns from Rossi. He should know better than to steal from him. This isn’t the first time either... he’s going to get himself killed.”
I nod my head as if I already knew about the guns. Knowing this might come in handy later, but for right now, all I care to find out is what he knows about Dove.
“Yeah, not sure what he was thinking. I think he is in over his head. He has me killing all these people, and I’m still trying to figure out how I’m going to get to this chick he wants. You know, the one working at the animal shelter.”
“Oh, yeah, Dove,” he says, and I want to smash his face against the table just for saying her name. No one should say her name, least of all him. Licking his chapped lips, I can only imagine what he’s thinking about her, “Shouldn’t be too hard. She’s completely unprotected.” He shrugs, taking another sip of his beer before burping obnoxiously loud.
What a fucking pig.
Ignoring the impulse to slug him in the face, I say, “I wonder why the hell he would want her anyway? She seems to be a nobody.”
Billy snorts. “If you only knew the half of it.”
His comment has me gripping onto my glass a little tighter. Doing my best to keep my face void of all emotion, I act like I’m not interested in the subject anymore and change it.
“Anyway, I could really go for some pussy right now. Wanna head over to Venus? Hookers are on me tonight.” I grin at him. While internally thinking about all the ways I’m about to torture him.
“Fuck yeah!” He slams the glass on the table with much more enthusiasm than necessary before getting up. Staggering over to the bar, he closes out his tab. I pay for my beer, and we both head outside.
Sucking in a lungful of fresh, crisp air, I lead Billy to my car. The idiot whistles as he gets into my SUV, completely oblivious to the fact that I’m about to torture and kill his ass.
Pulling out of the parking lot, I head toward the strip club. Billy’s eyes are cast down as he plays on his phone, not noticing when I make a turn, going off route. Only when I’ve come to a complete stop and parked at an abandoned train station does he realize something is off.
“Where the hell are we?” He looks up and around confused. When I don’t say anything, he reaches for his gun. Even without him being drunk and slow, I would have seen that move coming. It’s just funny that he thinks he’ll actually be able to shoot me in the condition he’s in. I grab the gun from his hand with ease before he even gets the chance to point it in my direction.
“Get out,” I order, pointing his own gun at him. He swallows hard and gets out slowly. As soon as I open my door, he takes off running across the parking lot. Idiot.
Sighing, I get out and raise the gun and pull the trigger. The bullet hits him in the leg, and he goes down with a pained groan.
“You’re a fucking idiot, you know that, right?” I yell as I walk over to where he’s lying. He tries to crawl away from me, but there’s no hope for him now. I’ve drawn blood now, and I’ll be the one to snuff him out.
Rearing my foot back, I kick him in the ribs, he rolls over onto his back, and I point the gun at his other leg.
“Tell me everything you know about the girl! Why does Christian want her dead?”
“You know I can’t—” I cut him off by pulling the trigger. The shot rings out through the air, and another bullet rips through the flesh of his leg.
“Fucking fuck!” He’s squirming around on the ground in agony, trying to get away. “I don’t know why he wants her!”
I’m past playing games, now I just want the truth, want the information, so I can keep Dove safe. “Don’t fucking lie to me. You already told me in the bar that you know something. Tell me and die quickly. Or I can torture you for hours. That’s up to you. I’ve got all fucking night.”
“Jesus, fuck. You can’t kill me. Christian needs me, and he’ll have your balls for this. I’m more useful to you alive.”
“Do I look like someone who gives a fuck? At this point, you’re more useful to me dead.” I pull the trigger a third time. The bullet hitting him directly in his kneecap. A high-pitched scream rips from his throat, and for the next few seconds, all he does is scream. It’s annoying, and I’m half tempted to shoot him in the head to make him shut up, but that wouldn’t get me the information that I need.
When he is somewhat calmed down, probably because he is starting to lose a lot of blood, I ask him again, “Why does he want her dead?”
“All I know… is that…” He’s fighting now to get each word out. The pain makes it hard to talk, but I don’t give a shit.
“Talk!” I snarl like a dog ready to bite.
“He’s been… looking for her… for a while,” he groans. “For a long time.”
“How long?”
“Years. Ten, maybe more.”
“He has been looking for Dove for over ten years?” I have to confirm that I heard him correctly.
“Yes…”
“Why?”
“I-I don’t know.” He shakes his head, and I believe him. Christian’s not a damn chatty man by any means, and whatever secrets he has, he keeps them close to his chest. Aiming the gun at Billy’s head, I fire one last bullet, hitting him right between the eyes.
Staring down at his lifeless body for a few seconds, I try to decide if it’s worth moving him. Deciding it’s not, all I do is grab his wallet from his jacket and walk back to my car. I’ll let the cops find him and figure something out on their own.
On the drive home, I roll down my window and throw his wallet into the river as I cross the bridge. My mind is a fucking mess as I try and connect all the dots.
Why the hell has Christian been looking for her, and why for so long? I thought Billy would be able to give me answers, but instead, he gave me more questions.