Page 21 of Paying Daddy's Debt Collector

When I find it, I look around for the surveillance cameras. There are two, so I slip beneath them one at a time and spray them with a stream of hairspray. The images will be contorted and blurred until the spray dries. This gives me time to stick the tracking device in his wheel without damaging the cameras and alerting security.

With the device securely in place, I move back to my car and pull away. There are no cameras on the street so I’m certain I’ve gotten in and out without being detected. I park around the corner and call Bobby to let him know that the car has been tapped and open the tracker software on my phone.

“He’s leaving but he isn’t alone, boss. He just went out the back door with about six of his guys.”

“He’s scared. Maybe his father told him just how dangerous I can be.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Get to your car and get ready. I’ll tell you where to meet us.”

The minutes feel like hours as I wait for the GPS tracker to send me a signal. It takes so long that I worry Ramone may have left in a different vehicle. Then, the screen lights up and the little red dot begins to move. I watch the screen, wanting nothing more than to take off and follow him, but the best thing to do is to wait until he stops. We’ll have his location soon, and we can surround him.

He reaches his destination in less than ten minutes. “I knew he would keep her close,” I mumble. I pick up the phone and send a group message to all of my guys that reads, “Bentley Hotel.”

As I approach the hotel, my boys flash their headlights to alert me to their locations. I pull over about two blocks from the parking garage and wave my hand over my head. In seconds, I have an army assembled behind me.

Two of Ramone’s men are stationed at the entrance to the garage, but they don’t see us coming. They’re too busy cutting up over something on one of the men’s phones. I point to two of my men, and they spring into action. They swiftly and silently remove the two men from their posts and replace them at the entrance.

Bobby is beside me when we enter the structure. Ramone’s car is parked inside, but I don’t see him. My boys and I fan out, knowing there are at least four more of Ramone’s men here somewhere and we’re all out in the open with nowhere to take cover.

Bobby and I reach the door that leads into the hotel, and voices are coming from the other side. They’re heading this way, so I take one side of the door and Bobby presses his body against the wall on the other. The door flies open, and I grab the first man out from behind. Bobby grabs the second man before he can run back inside. The man has his weapon drawn, and they struggle for control.

Bobby pulls the gun from the man’s hand but it fires off in the process, alerting the rest of Ramones’ men of our presence. Still holding on to the first man through the door, I snap his neck and drop him to the floor. My men make short work of the other four bumbling bodyguards and enter the hotel hall. I set one foot on the old, dingy carpet and stop in my tracks.

“Bobby, did you hear that?”

“Hear what, boss?”

I’m sure I heard a woman cry out. I step back out into the garage and walk toward the guard shack. If Ramone is in there with Cassidy, he’s trapped. He’ll wait until the smoke clears and try to move her somewhere else.

I call Bobby over. “I think they’re in there. Don’t make a sound. Just watch.”

We stand beside the building, my heart slamming against my ribcage, and finally, the door opens just a crack. Ramone sticks his head out and looks around then calls to Cassidy, “Get over here. We’re going right to the car. You try anything and I’ll fuck you up.”

I could have waited for them to come out into the open. In hindsight, that was the smartest thing to do, but hearing him threaten Cassidy turns my vision red and causes a deadly rage to bubble through my veins and into my skull. I step around the corner and watch as his skin goes pale.

He fumbles to pull the door closed, but I kick it open before he can secure the lock. He flies backward into the wall behind him and reaches for his gun.

He pulls the weapon from his holster. I could have done the same but I want to put my hands on him. I want to feel his blood run cold from the force with which I lay assault on him. He aims at me and fires, clipping my left arm. I don’t care. The wound does nothing to stop me.

His eyes grow wide when he sees that even a bullet won’t stop me. He lifts the weapon again and tries to aim, but I’m too close now. I smack the gun out of his hand and slam his arm into the concrete wall, hearing his bone crack in the process. He cries out in pain and I smile before unleashing an onslaught of lefts onto his face and torso, feeling his blood splatter onto my knuckles.

“Chris,” Cassidy calls to me. I turn and see the horror on her face. She shouldn’t be seeing me this way. I don’t want her to see me as a monster. I turn back to the beaten and broken man I have pinned to the wall and try to control my rage.

“You shot me,” I say.

“Yeah, good. I was aiming for your head.”

I laugh and tell him, “You can’t do anything right, can you?” Then I pull out my weapon and shoot him in the knee. “Crawl to your car and go tell your daddy how badly you fucked up.”

I turn back to Cassidy who leaps into my arms. “I knew you’d come for me. I knew it,” she cries.

“Did he hurt you?” I ask her, knowing that if she says yes, I’ll probably finish him.

“No. He didn’t.”

“Alright. Let’s get you home. Bobby, round everybody up and leave before the cops arrive.”

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