He huffed and his eyelashes fluttered. “You and six of my cousins. Last name?” He raised his eyebrows and stared into my soul.
“Wheelright.”
His expression closed down as he came around the counter to threaten me more personally. He poked my chest with the tip of the gun.
My balls practically ascended to heaven. “Ouch.”
“You’re just here for a cop, then. Doing a cop’s fucking dirty work. That’s worse. Detective Wheelright’s related to you? There aren’t any other Wheelrights around New Gothenburg.” He jabbed my chest so hard with the gun that I grunted.
“N-no, I’m not!” I couldn’t run now. Perhaps I’d messed up and Tyler’s list was ofbadpeople to avoid like a brand-new plague, but a stupid part of me couldn’t let this go. “How do you know Tyler? I’m worried about him. I want to help him. Please.” I cupped my hands under my chin and begged harder than someone in the front pew of a church on Sunday morning—after Saturday at a whorehouse.
Shanahan blinked and snorted, slapping the gun down on the corner of a nearby shelf so he could rub his face with both hands. “Tyler White or Pretty Boy Tyler?” He gave me a nasty grin.
Anger churned in my gut along with another heaping helping of guilt. Perhaps if I’d taken Tyler with me, assholes like this wouldn’t think they were better than him. “He has scars. He’s sweet, though.”
“My name’s Mike, and Tyler’s about as sweet as a rabid dog’s kiss. You want to stay away from that one. The guy might suck cock like it’s an Olympic sport, but he’s got a screw loose.” He twirled his finger beside his head, and my anger spiked.
“How do you know him?” All the junk was closer to me. My skin tingled. Teeny bugs must be crawling on me.Don’t think about flea-ridden fur coats. Oh God, are they far enough away? I need to shower.
“You’re standing in my place of business.” He shrugged a shoulder and glanced around with his chest puffed out, and I was baffled that he really was proud of this dump. “That idiot used to try to bring in cop shit he stole. Then would complain when me or my brother paid less due to the risk we were taking. Like I needed that dickhead detective sniffing around and taking a bite out of my ass.” He snorted and wiped his nose with the side of his hand. “Plus, he used to give out bjs in the alley behind my place. Pretty sure that ass got a workout, too. If I’m going to take a risk, it sure won’t be for a whore.”
Fury set me on fire. I didn’t think, just shoved him. We scuffled for a few seconds. He slapped my face, and I tugged his ear. He shrieked, then his shoulder hit the shelving and the gun dropped.
My stomach became a void.
The gun was falling.
Falling.
Falling.
For seven eternities.
I flinched as thebangdrove off every sense of peace I’d ever had. In the same instant, blood splattered my face and chest, hot and damp. The gun clattered across the floor.
Mike crumpled, a big part of his forehead missing. He went down harder than a tree. I had to assume he was already dead. I stared morbidly, noting the hole under his chin. I supposed the police would call that the “entry point.”
The gun would become the “murder weapon.”
That would make me . . . .
Guilt and horror made the room spin. “Fuck! Just...what the fuck?”
Then, next thing I knew, Tyler had joined the shit show.
And here we were, staring at each other with a fresh corpse on the floor.
“Why would you come here?” he shouted, barreling toward me. Despite his words, his gaze darted down my body, as if making sure none of the blood was mine.
With a shaking hand, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and brought up the picture of the list to point out Mike’s name, smearing blood everywhere. “How did I get blood on my hands? Shit! I wanted to know who these people were to you. I guess one of the only good things I got from my dad was curiosity.”
He groaned and hung his head. “They’re fuckers I wanted dead, Eddie! Which you must’ve guessed since you killed him!”
“But . . . . But I’m on the list.”
Tyler shrugged. He seemed less stressed about this than I’d expected. There was no crying. No shrinking away in fear.
Instead, he just seemed pissed I’d caused a mess.
