steal from you. There’s not much point in asking them why. You already know why because you’re a thief too.
“So why were you chasing us?” the driver asked.
“It wasn’t exactly a chase.”
“No, it wasn’t. You’re not a very competent tail.”
I wiped my mouth and said, “My first time.”
“Could be your last too, little doggy.”
I let that slide. I didn’t have much choice but to let it slide. “I’m not here to juke your play.”
“Juke our play?” He frowned and slid his hat a little farther back on his head. A few blond hairs of a widow’s peak appeared. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Ruin your score.”
He lit a cigarette and sucked on it slowly, studying me. He was thinking about kicking the shit out of me again but decided it wouldn’t work any better than before. The next step was to blow out one of my knees. He leaned back against the brick building, finished his cigarette, and flicked the dying butt over my head.
“Your face is known,” he said. “You’ve been on television. You look just like your brother.”
It pissed me off, hearing that. “Not so much.”
“You a maniac like him?”
“Not quite.”
“So what’s it all about?”
A twinge of pain went through me and I almost dropped. I groaned and caught myself in time. “If you know who I am then you know Chub and I used to be friends.”
“I hear that was a long time ago.”
“It was.”
“So then what?”
“So I want Chub out of the life. I don’t care about your heist. Or who you are or what you do. I care about Chub. He’s got a wife and daughter and if he keeps playing around with strings like you he’s going to get sent up. I can’t allow that.”
Now the driver laughed. It was a brisk short chuckle without any humor to it at all. “You want">“Is it?”tp. You care. You can’t allow. Take it up with him. Stay away from us. There’s no cool way to say this, but we know where you live. We watched the house. We know everything about your mother, father, sister, your dog, your granddad, everybody. Back off.”
“Why the firepower?” I asked. “You’re a wheelman. Drivers don’t carry. You sit at the curb and wait for the others, and then you get everyone the hell out. Drivers put two hands on the wheel. They don’t carry. So why the hardware?”
I saw his teeth this time, but he wasn’t smiling. “You might not be a maniac but you are a moron. I’m trying to give some professional courtesy here and you’re spoiling it. Are you a suicide case? Do you want us to ace you?”
I felt the barrel of a gun against the back of my head. I didn’t know much about guns, but it was big and ice-cold and I had no doubt that the bullet would turn everything above my neck into custard. I thought about my mother standing at my closed casket.
“No,” I said.
“You caused us a setback. We can’t trust our escape route anymore.Maybe we can’t trust your friend Chub anymore either. That might not be so good for him. I ought to kill you for the trouble.”
“He doesn’t know anything about this.”
“It doesn’t matter. Don’t bother us again.”
The barrel of the gun withdrew. I expected at least a chop behind the ear, but it didn’t happen. They walked down the alley single file. I stood there wavering and watching them ease away. They moved in perfect sync. They turned the corner and were gone.
I took a step and fell over. I crawled back to my feet. At least one rib had been cracked. A couple of teeth were loose. The blood ran down the back of my throat and made my belly tumble. I went into a long coughing fit that shook everything that hurt.
It took ten minutes to make it to the mouth of the alley. I walked back to where I’d dropped the bag full of my sister’s stuff and was surprised to see it was still there. I bent over to pick it up and vomited. I almost tipped over again. I managed to grab the bag and make it back to my car. By the time I got behind the wheel
“So why were you chasing us?” the driver asked.
“It wasn’t exactly a chase.”
“No, it wasn’t. You’re not a very competent tail.”
I wiped my mouth and said, “My first time.”
“Could be your last too, little doggy.”
I let that slide. I didn’t have much choice but to let it slide. “I’m not here to juke your play.”
“Juke our play?” He frowned and slid his hat a little farther back on his head. A few blond hairs of a widow’s peak appeared. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“Ruin your score.”
He lit a cigarette and sucked on it slowly, studying me. He was thinking about kicking the shit out of me again but decided it wouldn’t work any better than before. The next step was to blow out one of my knees. He leaned back against the brick building, finished his cigarette, and flicked the dying butt over my head.
“Your face is known,” he said. “You’ve been on television. You look just like your brother.”
It pissed me off, hearing that. “Not so much.”
“You a maniac like him?”
“Not quite.”
“So what’s it all about?”
A twinge of pain went through me and I almost dropped. I groaned and caught myself in time. “If you know who I am then you know Chub and I used to be friends.”
“I hear that was a long time ago.”
“It was.”
“So then what?”
“So I want Chub out of the life. I don’t care about your heist. Or who you are or what you do. I care about Chub. He’s got a wife and daughter and if he keeps playing around with strings like you he’s going to get sent up. I can’t allow that.”
Now the driver laughed. It was a brisk short chuckle without any humor to it at all. “You want">“Is it?”tp. You care. You can’t allow. Take it up with him. Stay away from us. There’s no cool way to say this, but we know where you live. We watched the house. We know everything about your mother, father, sister, your dog, your granddad, everybody. Back off.”
“Why the firepower?” I asked. “You’re a wheelman. Drivers don’t carry. You sit at the curb and wait for the others, and then you get everyone the hell out. Drivers put two hands on the wheel. They don’t carry. So why the hardware?”
I saw his teeth this time, but he wasn’t smiling. “You might not be a maniac but you are a moron. I’m trying to give some professional courtesy here and you’re spoiling it. Are you a suicide case? Do you want us to ace you?”
I felt the barrel of a gun against the back of my head. I didn’t know much about guns, but it was big and ice-cold and I had no doubt that the bullet would turn everything above my neck into custard. I thought about my mother standing at my closed casket.
“No,” I said.
“You caused us a setback. We can’t trust our escape route anymore.Maybe we can’t trust your friend Chub anymore either. That might not be so good for him. I ought to kill you for the trouble.”
“He doesn’t know anything about this.”
“It doesn’t matter. Don’t bother us again.”
The barrel of the gun withdrew. I expected at least a chop behind the ear, but it didn’t happen. They walked down the alley single file. I stood there wavering and watching them ease away. They moved in perfect sync. They turned the corner and were gone.
I took a step and fell over. I crawled back to my feet. At least one rib had been cracked. A couple of teeth were loose. The blood ran down the back of my throat and made my belly tumble. I went into a long coughing fit that shook everything that hurt.
It took ten minutes to make it to the mouth of the alley. I walked back to where I’d dropped the bag full of my sister’s stuff and was surprised to see it was still there. I bent over to pick it up and vomited. I almost tipped over again. I managed to grab the bag and make it back to my car. By the time I got behind the wheel
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