Page 51 of Blood on Ice

He raised his gun, but he was too slow. I fired first, hitting him in the center of the chest. He staggered, dropped to his knees, then fell. He didn’t move again, and with the amount of blood pooling under his body, he’d be dead in seconds if he wasn’t already.

I glanced back at Zeke. His face was ghostly white. I took hold of his arm and led him over to the side of the closest building. “Lean against the wall or sit down.”

“Can’t sit down here, I’ll ruin my suit.” He did bend down, resting his hands on his knees. I hoped he wasn’t going to pass out.

I gave him a few moments before I said, “Baby, look at me.” After a few seconds, he did. “It’s okay. We’re all right now.”

He shook his head. “They’re going to keep coming after me, aren’t they?”

“Reclaiming your debt is just an excuse to get to me and my family now, but I’ve got this. You’re going to be fine.”

“What are we going to do now? I’ve got to get to my game and there’s a… Is he dead?”

I nodded. “I’m going to take you to your game. I’ll get someone to come take care of this.”

“How can you be so calm? You just you just killed that man.”

“He would’ve killed me and then either killed or tortured you. I will kill anyone who tries to hurt you.”

“Oh my God, Vito. This is…I never meant to get myself mixed up in something like this. I thought I was just having fun, then I was in so deep. I was so desperate….”

I cupped his face. “It’s okay, baby. All you did was borrow money. You had every intention of paying it back. Everybody fucks up. I’m going to make sure no one hurts you.”

“I’ll pay you back. I swear.”

“We’re going to take care of this. We’ll see how it all turns out, and then we can talk about that, but right now the money isn’t the issue. Your safety is. Now, let me get you to the arena.”

“They won’t… You don’t think they’d pull something there?”

“No. They might be brave enough to pull shit like this in an alley, but they’re not going to do it that publicly.”

“I have been in plenty of fights, but no one’s ever died right in front of me like that.”

“It’s okay, baby.” I hugged him, and he clung to me, burying his face against my neck. “Trust me.”

A few moments later, he pulled away and looked up. “I do. I’m probably crazy for that, but I do. How did you know he was there?”

“A lot of years of honing my instincts.”

“I wouldn’t have known. I would’ve?—”

I placed a finger over his lips. “It’s okay. You didn’t have to know because I was here.”

“We’re really just going to leave a dead guy right here? This is crazy. What if someone saw what you did?”

I glanced around the alley, checking again for anyone who might be lurking.

“There’s no one here, and we’re really going to leave him because you’ve got a game to be at. Come on.”

“What’s that?” He pointed at a small round object on the ground. Fuck. It was the tracker I’d put in his coat. It must have fallen out when he bent over. I reached down, picked it up, wiped in off, and put it back in his pocket.

“Vito, what the fuck is that?”

“I needed something to tell me where you were.”

“You put a tracker in my jacket.”

“I told you I’d do anything to keep you safe.”

---