“Stop.” I spoke quietly, cold compared to the heat he was blasting.
There was silence and then, “Haz?”
“No.”
“Ah, put him on the line.”
“You have the nerve to call my phone, threaten my boyfriend, and then say you’re going to flush my babies down a toilet?”
“Y-your babies?” he stammered.
“I was going to offer you a million cash for that decrepit old excuse for a fish store, but after this display of complete idiocy, I will give you half. Frankly, you’re lucky I’m willing to go that high.”
“I’m sorry, what?”
“Five hundred thousand cash. Take it and leave town. Don’t ever breathe in Haz’s direction ever again,” I said flatly.
“What makes you think I’ll sell you my store?”
“Because if you don’t, I will kill you.”
Threatening people over the phone. Killing without a contract. You know, just more shit the me from a week ago would never do.
“A million, you say?”
“No. I said five hundred thousand. You threatened my children.”
He scoffed. “T-they’re fish.”
“You want to bet your life on it?” I deadpanned.
“How soon can I have the money?” Suddenly, he seemed a lot more interested in being reasonable.
“Day after tomorrow. I’ll meet you at the store with the contracts and the cash.”
“I’ll be here.”
“Get someone over there to board up the door.”
“That’s not my?—”
“The answer is yes.”
I heard him swallow. “Yes. Okay.”
“Make sure you feed the plecos before you leave.”
“Okay.”
“If anything happens to them, I will personally flushyoudown a toilet. Piece by piece.” I ended the call and tossed my cell on the island. It knocked over an empty water bottle.
What a fucking shit show.
A light sniffle had me whirling.
“Haz,” I rasped.Shit, I hadn’t even heard him sneak up on me.
He sniffled again. I noticed the tears on his cheeks.
