Page 80 of Devil's Work: Dark

“Be my guest.” I gesture to the door that she walked through to go back into the kitchen. “Just don’t piss off Bugsy. He’s good people.”

“What’s the game plan?” Rough cuts in. “For this meet.”

“It’s tomorrow at one. We’ll see what he’s got for us.”

I silently cringe every time the front door opens. Maybe coming back to one of my old haunts wasn’t the best idea. Well at least Patty’s a distraction when she walks out with three plates stacked along her arm and she somehow manages to carry two red plastic baskets in the other hand. She pulled her hair down from the bun letting it flow long around her shoulders. It looks soft. Her makeup’s a little darker. And I’d swear she plumped those miraculous tits up before bringing out our food.

“Jake,” she says as she comes to rest in front of the three of us. When I only nod, she smiles but it’s not the flirty one from earlier, clears her throat, and says, “Gents,” while setting out plates down. The baskets she places in front of Cut who has the center seat between me and Rough.

“I hope this doesn’t offend you, but you are the prettiest woman I’ve seen in a long time,” he says to her. And there it is. Man, he’s smooth. Women have a hard time resisting his charms. And it looks like Patty is among them when she rolls her eyes but does it giggling.

We’ve downed another couple of beers with our burgers and then I have too much on my mind to sit any longer. I stand from my stool. “Ready?” I ask my brothers.

Rough stands but Cut stays sitting, staring at Patty’s ass again as she bends to load the small beer fridge. “I think I’m gonna hang here a bit longer.” He’s so getting laid tonight.

Called that one. I laugh, shaking my head, and pat his back. “Don’t forget we got business tomorrow.”

“Yes, dad,” he teases.

“Fuck you.” Rather than pat his back again, I give it a hard shove. He bursts out laughing. As I start to walk away I look over my shoulder to Rough. “What about you?”

He shrugs. “I’m tired and don’t really have it in me to charm some bitch to fuck tonight.”

Fair enough. We head back outside. The nights a bit on the cooler side with those storm clouds hanging around. Rough and I head back to the hotel.

He hits his room and I hit mine. It’s a restless night of tossing and turning. I just wish I could shut my brain off for one night. Just one night is all I’m asking.

The next afternoon—Cut looking tired but well fucked—the brothers follow me down to the dirtiest, seediest, most urine-soaked side of town. The thick raindrops pelting us do nothing to dull the stench.

We’re soaking wet by the time we park around the corner from the old brick building where I’m supposed to meet Shady.

The place has aged twenty years in the ten years I’ve been away. Broken bottles, bent spoons, and used condoms litter the way as we push aside the wooden board meant to keep the vagrants and druggies out.

It smells so heavily of piss and shit that my brothers are forced to use their T-shirts to cover their mouths and noses. It appears that I’m still too used to the stench to be bothered by it, even after all these years.

We’re not staying in here anyway. It’s the alley out back that we want.

A couple of junkies see us coming and scramble to get out of our way. Once we reach the back of the building. I shove hard against the rusted, metal door to force it open. The air is thicker in here with the smell of chemicals. Someone must be cooking something close by. We walk along the alley toward the large green dumpster. There’s a hidden door behind the dumpster. That’s our destination.

I wrench the metal open forcefully, holding it for my brothers to step inside the old basement stairwell and we wait.

At one o’clock exactly I hear a throat clear and see the shadow step out from the basement. “You brought men?” It sounds older, more scratched, but it’s definitely Shady’s voice.

“They’re my brothers. Rough, Cut, this is Shady.”

He steps out of the shadow. His hair is stringier. His skin looks ashen. He’s jittery as fuck. The man’s back using again.

“What do you got?” I ask.

“Them bitches. Two of ’em. Got sent to some resort island for rich fucks in the Caribbean.”

“A resort island?”

“Yeah. You know the one for couples who want to bring a third bitch into the bedroom with them.”

I narrow my eyes on him. “An island for threesomes? Where the fuck you hear this?”

“I was doing a job for Williams. He called me into his office and he had a man there. They were talkin’ about movin’ some bitches.”

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