Cautious (Sequel to Disastrous) by E.L. Montes Page B

Catch a Rat.” The gun landed on Jimmie. I
stiffened. My body dampened with sweat as my heart thrashed against my chest.
All sound went faint, except for my breathing, which grew hasty. Everything
around me felt as if it was going in slow motion. I showed no sign of
uneasiness as I exhaled when Lou took the aim off of Jimmie and began to go
down the row of men again. “By his toe. If he squeals.” Mischievously, his
smile grew lopsided. “Then let the fucker go.” Without a second thought, Lou
pulled the trigger.
    A loud ringing noise echoed in the room after the gun went off.
My eyes traced from the blood splattered on Lou’s shirt to Al dead on the
ground. He lay flat on his belly, his head landing on Lou’s leather shoes.
Kicking the head aside, Lou spit on the lifeless body and then made his way
behind the desk. The other men, including Jimmie and myself, looked at each
other, confused.
    “Uncle Lou, Al was the rat?” Gio asked in astonishment.
    Lou grabbed a cloth from the inside of his jacket. Removing his
shoe, he began wiping off the blood. “From the sound of it, Gio, it seems as if
you don’t believe my source was accurate. Is that so?” He asked. After wiping
off his shoes and putting them back on, he then unbuttoned his shirt, replacing
it with a fresh one that was removed from the desk drawer.
    “No, not at all, it’s just when you mentioned a rat, my first
guess was Buddy. You know what I mean?”
    “Fuck you!” Buddy coughed back and spit at Gio. The saliva fell
on top of Gio’s shoes.
    “Fuck you. You fuckin’ cocksucker!” Gio began making his way
toward Buddy. The two of them had been going at it for days; it was some
unfinished business from years ago before Gio had skipped town. If you asked me,
it was really just a competition for Lou’s affection. They both were like sons
to him.
    “Enough!” Lou slammed his hand on the desk and began barking orders.
“Vinnie and Buddy, take care of the body. Gio, go fetch the car and bring it
out back. I’ll meet you down there in five minutes. Marky, you got my money?”
    Gio walked out the door. On his way out, he and Buddy exchanged pissed-off
glares. Buddy and Vinnie picked up the body from the floor and carried it down
the stairs. Jimmie reached for the duffle bag that was beside him and handed it
over to me. I placed the bag on top of Lou’s desk and unzipped it. “It’s all
accounted for.”
    Lou reached for his jacket, slipped his arms through the
well-tailored dark blue sleeves, and smiled. “Good, how was the exchange?”
    “Same as always with the Boyle’s: smooth. He placed another order
for this time next month.”
    Nodding, Lou reached in the bag, took two large stacks of money,
and handed them to me. “You did good, Marky. Keep it up.” After grabbing the
bag, he left the room.
    Once the door was shut, I turned and looked at Jimmie, gesturing
my head toward the door. Without a word, we both left Lou’s office and made our
way toward my car. When we entered, I twisted in my seat to fully look at him.
“What the fuck was that?”
    “What?” He asked.
    “Don’t play dumb with me, Jimmie. I know you. You were shitting
bricks in there. Care to explain?”
    “What do you think, Marcus? When he said someone was hiding
something, I instantly thought about Michael. He’s going to find out sooner or
later.”
    “No, he won’t.”
    Jimmie tossed his hands in the air and rolled his eyes. “Come on,
Marcus! You can’t be that naïve? If he doesn’t know already, Lou is going to
figure out that Mia is Michael Sullivan’s sister, and when he does, Lou will
begin to piece together the fuckin’ puzzle. It’s only a matter of time. Al
wasn’t the rat. Lou was trying to send a message.” Huffing out a deep breath,
he sank his head back onto the headrest. “The one person that crossed my mind
while we were in there was my little girl. I can’t be a failure to her. And I
know you love Mia. I truly understand, but now you