“It’s not gonna happen, man. Like I said, the guy is long gone, probably in Mexico by now.
“He’s here. We’ll find him.”
The more they spoke, the more I couldn’t shake how familiar they sounded.
“I’m not sure we will. Boss seems pretty fucking obsessed.”
“He does, but can you blame him?”
“I guess I don’t.”
“Liam embarrassed Colm, made him look weak. He has no other choice but to hunt Liam down and kill him.”
“Yeah, and I owe that rat cunt.”
The man laughed. “You really do.”
There was a brief silence. I heard glass clink. They were having a fucking drink, I realized. Probably parched from a long day of trying to murder me.
“You still need to do the count?”
“Yeah.”
“Put it off, man. Screw that.”
“Got to do it. Boss will be pissed if I don’t.”
There was another clinking of glass. “Whatever, pussy.”
I heard the man laugh again, and then I heard a chair scrape against the floor. There were footsteps coming closer, and I tensed. I gestured quickly to Leary.
I’ll take the first guy. You get the second. He nodded, gripping his gun firmly. I checked to make sure that my safety was off, my hands shaking and covered in sweat.
“Fuck it. Do it tomorrow morning,” the one guy called out. “Stay here and have another drink.”
“I have to finish this crap, Max.”
Max. Recognition spiked through my chest and my pulse jumped. Jesus, I knew the guy that spoke, too. It was Colin, or at least I was pretty damn sure it was Colin. Had the same voice as him, and seemed to know Max pretty well. On the other side of the door, the two men sent out to hunt for me all night, were Max and Colin.
I clenched my jaw as rage filled my body. I wanted to tear the fucking door down, shove my gun into Colin’s mouth, and pull the trigger. The piece of shit had said that I could trust him, but that was a lie. Everything about the Mob was a damn lie. I wanted to finish the job on Max, too, and regretted letting him live. That was a moment of weakness that I wasn’t going to repeat.
“I’m not waiting around here. Fuck this. I’m going home,” Max said.
I heard Colin sigh. He was standing right on the other side of the door. If I put my gun against the wood and pulled the trigger, chances were pretty good that I’d hit him. It would be so easy. I heard his hand grab the doorknob and my fingers tightened their grip on the gun. He was inches away, and it was kill or be killed. I had no other choice as I leveled the gun, pressing the barrel up against the wood where I hoped his chest would be. There was a brief pause as I steadied myself and prepared to shoot.
There was another sigh. “Fine. I’ll do it in the morning.”
He turned and walked back into the main room. I heard Leary let out a breath, and I gave him a sharp look.
“Come on, you’re driving,” Max said.
Colin responded, but I couldn’t make it out as the footsteps retreated. I heard them close the front door behind them and lock it.
We stood in the office completely still, listening to the empty room. I thought I heard an engine start, but I wasn’t sure. I gestured at Leary. Wait two minutes. Standing there in the darkness, trapped in the office of the man who wanted me dead, I thought I was going to collapse from anger. I was seething, blind with rage. How dare they think it would be so fucking easy to hunt me down? How dare Colin betray me? I always figured he was in Colm’s pocket, but that proved it, beyond a doubt. I shouldn’t have felt as betrayed and annoyed as I did, but I couldn’t stop myself from wanting to smash his skull against a wall.
The minutes slipped by, and Leary gestured at me. It’s time. I nodded, turned the knob, and pushed the door open, slipping out into the room fast, my gun drawn level. Leary was right behind me, his own gun held steady.
Empty. The room was empty. I nodded at Leary and we moved fast but quiet back through the kitchen and out the back door. We didn’t bother shutting it; they’d figure out quickly enough that someone had broken in. We stopped at the end of the alley and I looked out into the street. There was nothing except for the parked cars. The place was silent like a grave. I waited a minute or two, straining to hear everything around me, but I couldn’t catch a single sound. Finally, I nodded to Leary, and we made our way across the street, back to the other side of the parked cars, and hustled down the block toward Leary’s car. We kept low and quiet, moving fast.
Max and Colin. The two fucks were working together. Well, it didn’t matter. I had what I came for. In one of our bags, I had what I needed: proof that Colm was the thieving bastard I knew he was. At least, I hoped I did. That proof would spark another war, one that would destroy him and leave someone else in power.