“Whatcha need, Mouth?” Holliford swayed and grabbed the door frame to steady himself.
“My friend Jimmy wants t’ask you some stuff about Marco Luchesi. That cool with you, Holli?”
“Oh, sure, man,” Holliford said with a bright smile. “I heard they found that prick in six feet of cement. It’s awesome. Just, uh... one quick question.”
“What?” Jimmy tilted his head curiously.
“Who’s the sasquatch?” Holliford pointed at Jules.
Jules showed his teeth in what might have been his attempt at a friendly smile.
It failed.
“He’s a friend, too,” Maury answered. “Don’t worry about him. He just needs a snack.”
“Mr. Holliford,” Jimmy said quickly. “I know this is probably a very sensitive subject, but I really want to ask you about any times that Marco may have hurt you.”
“Que fais-tu ici?” Jerry suddenly exclaimed, jumping back from the front door in surprise.
It was Charlie, wedding planner and very suspicious human being, declaring, “Je sauve la situation.”
“Charlie?” Jimmy stared stupidly as Charlie sidled up right beside him. “What the hell?”
“Oh!” Charlie grinned sheepishly. “I was just in the neighborhood—”
“Thisneighborhood?” Maury scoffed. “You lookin’ for some smack, pretty boy?”
“Is that a reference to narcotics?” Charlie asked innocently. “I saw the limousine and thought I’d pop over for a quick chat! I had the most amazing idea for these gorgeous engraved silver flasks for all the guests!”
“Who the fuck is this guy?” Maury snapped, nudging Jimmy’s arm for an explanation.
“My wedding planner,” Jimmy grumbled.
“Hey, you’re getting married?” Holliford chimed in. “That’s awesome, man! Congratulations!”
“Thanks! But please, can we get back to Marco?” Jimmy asked urgently. “Charlie, I’ll talk to you later. Sort of busy right now.”
“But I would really, really like to speak to you now, Mr. Poe,” Charlie insisted. “We only have a few weeks left to plan—”
“Jules, can you please remove Mr. Swenson?” Jimmy suddenly snapped.
“My fuckin’ pleasure,” Jules grunted, grabbing Charlie with his meaty paws and lifting him up.
“Oh, my! This, this is hardly dignified!” Charlie squeaked, kicking uselessly as Jules began to carry him outside.
Jimmy ignored all the commotion and turned his full attention back to Holliford. “Okay, please, Mr. Holliford. If you could please tell me about what happened with Marco Luchesi.”
“Oh, sure! He was always real handsy, real nasty. He really liked pushing people around and if you were a man, well, he had certain things he liked you to do for him. And if you didn’t want to, he would make you do it. Real bummer of a human.” Holliford frowned suddenly, looking down at the floor. “Huh, did you guys drop something?”
Jimmy followed Holliford’s eyes and found a small canister rolling by them. “Huh, it kind of looks like—”
There was a blinding flash, and Jimmy’s ears were instantly ringing. He wasn’t able to process any sound except the shrill tone invading his ears. He started to fall, completely disoriented. Maury caught his arm and screamed something, but Jimmy couldn’t hear him.
There were men in full SWAT regalia coming in from all sides, Jimmy gasping as one of the men grabbed him and slammed him against the wall. He could feel handcuffs being slapped on his wrists, and he watched Maury suffer the same fate.
He saw the men take Holliford, but he couldn’t see Jules or Charlie. Jerry was next, spitting and kicking wildly as he was put in handcuffs and dragged outside. Jimmy was certain he was going to throw up. He groaned miserably as two of the officers grabbed his arms and took him out after Jerry.
Jimmy was stunned by the sight of several black vans and flashing blue lights as they emerged, grunting as he was shoved rudely into the back of an unmarked sedan. Maury was pushed in beside him and squished him into the window.
