Emily Kimelman - Sydney Rye 03 - Insatiable (18 page)

“I’ll fucking shoot it.”

“That seems unnecessary,” I said. He didn’t look like he was going to shoot Blue but with the tremor in his finger and the fear in his eyes, there was little I could be sure of. “How about I have him wait outside?”

“How about you just get the fuck out of my house?”

I stood up and reached into my purse. “Hey,” he turned the gun on me.

“I’m just getting money,” I said. I moved very slowly ignoring the muzzle of the gun trained on my face. I pulled out a bundle of cash and slowly placed it on the table. “You give me that gun, another that looks like it, and some bullets, I’ll leave the money and your house,” I said.

He looked down at the money and then at Blue, then his eyes reached my face. “I don’t like doing business this way.”

“Me either, man, but then again, I’m not the one who pulled out a gun and started threatening people’s pets.” I smiled at him and I could see him relax. “He won’t bite you,” I said.

“Unless she tells him to,” Jimmy added.

The man’s eyes jumped to Jimmy. “How you gonna bring this into my home, mon?”

“Hey, I’m just bringing you business.”

“Yeah right, mon. You bringing crazy in here.”

“Look, Oscar,” Jimmy’s brow furrowed and his mouth turned into a frown that radiated into his eyes, “she’s trying to give you money, mon. Her dog ain’t going to do nothin’ so why don’t you just sit down. We’ll buy some merchandise and then we’ll leave.”

“Thanks, Jimmy,” I said, surprised by his impassioned defense of me.

Oscar looked back at me and Blue. His lips pursed and he brought the gun down to his side. I was happy to have the barrel with its black center and deadly intent off my face. Oscar put the gun on the table next to the money and then opening the fridge pulled out two more that looked almost like it. “Here,” he said. “How many you want?”

I picked up the gun on the table. It was older and heavier than what I was used to but it looked well taken care of. On the handle where the serial number should have been was a file mark. “Do you know where it came from?” I asked Oscar. I aimed it at the back wall and looked down the barrel. It looked straight enough but I couldn’t tell without shooting the thing.

Oscar sat back down. “What does it matter where it came from if it’s here now?”

I smiled. “Well, Oscar, I just want to know what it’s been used for before in case I get caught with it. I want to know what I’ll be charged with.”

Oscar laughed. “Lady, it don’t matter what it done before, you get caught with that it’s not like they going to care what it done, they just care you got it. Besides, I don’t know where it been and I don’t want to know where it’s going.” Oscar laughed again and Jimmy joined him.

“Fair enough,” I said, recognizing Oscar’s logic.

DRIVING

Turned out I bought those guns just in the nick of time because when Jimmy and I turned onto his street my window exploded about a millisecond after the bang of gunfire rang out. “Shit!” Jimmy yelled.

I slid down in my seat, Jimmy did the same while pushing the gear shift into reverse. Another shot was fired, this one tinged off the metal roll bar above our heads as Jimmy hit the gas. Our tires spun in the gravel for a second before catching and propelling us back up the hill.

We hit the paved road and nearly ran right into the mountain on the other side of it before Jimmy pushed it back into drive and swung the wheel around so that we were racing down the road. I turned in my seat, making sure to keep my head low, and peeked out trying to see if there was anybody after us.

Blue was in the foot wells in the back seat with his ears flat against his head. We were on a very curvy road so I could only see about ten feet behind us. At first I thought there was no one there but when we hit a straightaway, right as we were going into the next curve, I saw a black Jeep.

Jimmy was hunkered down in his seat with just his eyes high enough to see where he was going. I hadn’t seen the driver because of the glare off their windshield, but I had a pretty good guess who was driving the other Wrangler. While I hadn’t heard from Maude about a sandy-haired man arriving on the island, that didn’t mean he wasn’t here. I turned back around and faced forward trying to think. We were headed back toward town and I thought that was OK. Blane couldn’t shoot at us in town, right?

Around the next bend a chicken was in the road. Jimmy saw it and swerved into a rut to avoid it. It was a wild, out-of-control move and I grabbed at the door trying to steady myself. The Jeep jerked down and then up again as Jimmy powered us out of the ditch and back onto the road. “What the fuck!” I yelled.

“There was a chicken.”

“Next time fucking hit the chicken!”

That’s exactly what the guy in the black Jeep did. I turned around to see the feathers exploding with a mix of blood and guts against the guy’s grill. He drove through the chicken into the shade of a tree and I saw him. I saw Blane. He was wearing wrap-around sunglasses - the kind douche bags think look cool. His mouth was a straight line, his face made of stone.

I rested my new gun on the shoulder of my seat and tried to steady my aim as we raced back past the Home Depot. Jimmy swerved around other cars, at times facing oncoming traffic, to further our escape. It was impossible to get a clear shot. I turned back around as we crested a hill and we could see the town below us.

Traffic became congested as we got closer to town. I turned around and saw that Blane was stuck several cars behind us. There was no way he could fire off any rounds with all these people around. We stopped at a red light and I waved to Blane. He raised a gun and I dropped down in my seat as I heard a window shatter. It wasn’t our car but the one right behind us.

People started screaming and the light turned green. Jimmy and I were off. Blane was stuck in the traffic jam he had caused. I laughed as we pulled further away; I couldn’t see his face but I was sure he was pissed.

I thought we would pull onto the street that runs along the water but the road was blocked. “Cruise ship just came in,” Jimmy said.

“What?”

“Five thousand people all flowing into town at once causes traffic.” He turned and looked at me.

I looked around to check for Blane. I heard Jimmy’s door open and turned to see him running away from the Jeep into the heart of the town. Blane came around the bend, his hands empty. He saw Jimmy racing along the side walk and took off after him.

Sirens filled the air and I saw flashing lights headed toward Blane’s traffic jam. Cops were running toward me. I decided it was time to go. People behind me were leaning on their horns. Grabbing my bag, I picked up Blue’s leash and we left the car, walking toward Main Street. A cop bumped into me as he ran toward the “shots fired” site.

When they were around the bend, I took off in the direction Blane and Jimmy had been heading. For a moment, as my flip flops smacked the pavement and I reached into my bag for my gun, I wondered why I didn’t just turn around and walk away. Let Jimmy and Blane do to each other whatever they wanted. This was my chance to escape.

But then I spotted Jimmy running up a staircase on the side of a building still missing its roof. Blane was only twenty feet behind him. Did Blane know that I wasn’t with Jimmy? That I was behind them? I watched Jimmy disappear into the building. And then Blane, with his gun raised, went in after him.

I stood at a distance looking at the old brick building with its blue tarp, catching my breath. I checked that my gun was full of bullets, it was. I looked down at my flip flops and wondered at my stupidity. Not only was I not wearing the right shoes for this I was also wearing a dress. And who fucking cares about those two anyway? Was it my fault if Blane killed Jimmy? I mean the guy tried to take me in. He hit Easy!

The sun was high and hot. Sweat beaded on my forehead as I looked at the door my two enemies had gone into. But what if Blane didn’t hire Jimmy? I needed to know because if Jimmy didn’t tell Blane where I was, who did?

I started after them. The steps were old, metal and rusted. They creaked under my and Blue’s weight. I just hoped the two men inside were too busy fighting to hear me coming. I stopped just outside the door and listened. I didn’t hear anything. I looked back at Blue. I wished I could hear what he was hearing.

The door was open a crack and I peered into the gloom beyond but I didn’t see anything. Fuck it. I kicked the door open, ducked and rolled into a dark corner. Resting on my haunches I looked around. Blane laughed and my eyes zeroed in on him. He had his bandaged arm around Jimmy’s neck, holding his body close. His free hand pushed a gun against Jimmy’s temple. The light from the door cut through the dark of the room illuminating Jimmy’s petrified eyes.

I thought about shooting Jimmy and then Blane but figured that firstly, Blane would get me before I got him and besides I really didn’t want to kill Jimmy. I’m not afraid of burning in hell, I just don’t like to think of myself as a killer. I prefer avenger.

Blane spoke first. “You can stand up.”

“You seem to be confused.”

“Oh yeah,” he smiled.

“The man you are holding so tenderly is not my friend so I don’t give a shit if you kill him.” A shadow flickered across Blane’s face. “He’s your bounty hunter dipshit.” He looked surprise. I didn’t think he had a bounty hunter. It also might have been the first time since grade school he’d been called a dipshit. He didn’t know about Jimmy. How the fuck did he find me?

I stood up slowly and began to circle Blane. He continued to use Jimmy as a shield, shifting his position so Jimmy was always between us. “If you don’t care about him why don’t you just kill him? And then me?”

I laughed. “Blane, I feel bad for you-”

“If you don’t kill him you’re stupid.”

“If I do I’m no better than you, and Blane, I really enjoy being better than you.” I kept walking till Blane’s back was to the door. He realized it only a second after me. Blue was already in the air when Blane threw Jimmy at him and fired off a shot. I took aim but Blane dove out of the way, I followed him with my barrel and started squeezing off shots feeling the reverberation in my wrist. It kicked as hard as a pissed off horse.

Blane ran through a shaft of light to an open door filled with darkness. I heard his feet pounding on the wood floor. Blue started after him but I called him back. I wasn’t about to go crashing through a dilapidated building hunting Blane. I needed to call my friends and tell them to get out of Jimmy’s house.

Blue came and sat next to me. My heart stopped for a second when I saw a red stain on his neck but looking closer I saw that it wasn’t his blood. Looking back toward the door to the outside world, I saw Jimmy on the floor holding his shoulder and moaning. I stepped over him to get out into the sunlight. I planned on just leaving him there but he struggled to his feet and followed me down to the street.

Jimmy’s face was pale. He was using his left hand to apply pressure to his right shoulder. His shirt was stained red and it leaked out of the sleeve and down his arms, dripping off the tips of his fingers. There weren’t many people around because we were on a side street, but there was no way I could walk out into a public area with this bleeding man.

At the top of the alley a woman was selling sarongs and straw hats. I told Jimmy to wait for me; he leaned against the building and squeezed his eyes shut. I ran to the top of the block just hoping that Blane wouldn’t come out and start shooting at me. The woman with the sarongs smiled as I approached.

“I’ll take a hat and that red one,” I said, pointing to a burgundy piece of cloth with fringes hanging off it.

“Very good choice,” she said as she pulled it off the rack. “Very high quality. And only fifty dollar.”

She handed it to me and I looked down at the cheap piece of cotton. I knew that it was worth about five bucks but glancing down the alley at Jimmy slumped against the wall I also knew I didn’t have time to bargain. I handed her three twenties, grabbed a hat and started back toward Jimmy.

I scanned the block as I walked keeping all of my senses ready for another fight. The building was a large one and I was sure it had other exits. I hoped Blane had used one of them. I hoped he was out of my hair for just a couple of minutes.

I wrapped the sarong around Jimmy’s shoulders covering up the blooming stain. Luckily the stain on the front had a matching one on the back so I guessed the bullet wasn’t still in his shoulder.

I held his good arm, supporting him as we moved toward Main Street. I wanted to be around people where Blane wouldn’t have the guts to start shooting. I pulled my cell phone with its stolen chip out of my purse as we hurried toward the crowds.

I called Easy. She picked up on the second ring. “Get out of there now,” I said. “Meet me in town.”

“What?”

“Do it now.” We turned onto Main and the mass of people was almost suffocating. I held Blue’s leash and Jimmy’s arm and pushed through the throng. Jewelry stores lined the block along with T-shirt shops and liquor distributors. Every door was open and manned by someone yelling about the products inside. Air conditioning poured out of the stores onto the sweltering streets. Fat tourists sweated and held their fanny packs tight.

I stepped into a store selling china and crystal just to get out of the heat but inside was so full of bodies that I felt like I was going to scream. It was a feeding frenzy. People were pulling everything off the shelves, I heard them bargaining with the sales people demanding better prices. “You can’t bring a dog in here,” a woman wearing a name tag told me.