“Still, you grabbed a janitor who works for cops.”
“We checked him out. His name is Juan Altered. He’s a small-time crook, ex-con, got the job on some work program. Hasn’t talked yet, but we haven’t pressed very hard.”
“Shit,” I said. “Good work, Vince.”
“Thanks, boss.”
“Where’s he at?”
“Safe house on 16th.”
“Good. Let’s go.”
I followed Vince out toward the cars, though my mind was still very much on Natalie.
The girl drove me crazy. I wanted her, wanted to fuck her rough, make her come, make her mine. I wanted her to obey my commands and to watch her come hard on my thick cock.
But I also found myself wanting to know her more. It was a strange feeling, something I wasn’t accustomed to. Maybe it was weakness crawling its way out of me, or maybe it was just a new kind of strength.
I couldn’t be sure, not so soon. Not while my head was still spinning with thoughts of her.
We wove our way through traffic, heading toward the place on 16th. It was a bit run-down, but it blended in well with all the other houses in the area. We parked a few blocks away and walked around back, pushing in through an old, wooden door.
“Louis,” I said, nodding to the guy standing guard.
“Boss.”
We moved past and went down some stairs, heading into the basement.
The safe house used to be a normal row home until it was bought by one of the many shell companies my father ran. We used it for interrogations and for people that needed a place to lie low. Not too many people knew about it, mostly just guys in my crew.
Downstairs were two more guys, Joey and Carlo. They were low-level thugs, basically hired muscle, the kind of guys you wanted to have your back if shit hit the fan.
Sitting in a chair, his hands tied together but otherwise fine, was our new pal, Juan.
He was younger than I had expected, maybe in his mid-thirties. Life had been hard to Juan. He had tattoos up his neck, his head was shaved bald, and he had a scowl on his face.
“You the boss?” he asked me.
I nodded. “Good guess.”
“Not a guess, man. Look at the way these people stand around you? Like they scared or something.”
I smiled and pulled a chair up in front of him. “Do you need anything, Juan?”
“Maybe my fuckin’ freedom would be good.”
“We’ll get there.” I leaned back in my chair. “Water? Something to eat?”
“Nah, man. Just get on with it.”
“Do you know why you’re here?”
“Because I work for the cops and you think I fuckin’ know something.”
“Exactly.”
I smiled. I liked Juan already. He wasn’t messing around.
“Well, I don’t know shit.”
“How about you wait until I ask before you deny?”
He shut his mouth and I sighed.
“Okay, Juan, do you remember the cops bringing in a truck a few nights ago?”
He nodded slowly. “Yeah. I seen that.”
“Good. Do you know what was in it?”
“Nah. I didn’t look inside.”
“Okay. I want to know about that truck, Juan.”
“I don’t know shit.” He looked away.
“Juan, listen to me. Did someone take something out of that truck?”
He didn’t answer.
I leaned forward. “I don’t want to hurt you. I don’t want to get violent. But I have to know this thing, and you can tell me.”
“Fuck you.”
I sighed and stood up. “Please be civil. We’ve been kind to you so far.”
“You can’t do this shit, man.”
“Don’t be a little bitch,” Joey called out.
I gave him a look and he shut up.
“Who stole our shit from the truck?” I asked Juan.
“I don’t know.”
I stepped forward and kicked him square in the chest. He let out a short cry of surprise and pain as he toppled backward, slamming onto the ground. He groaned, and the boys laughed.
“Pick him up,” I said to Joey and Carlo. They each grabbed him and lifted him back up.
“Fuck you,” Juan said.
“The truck,” I said. “You’re not stupid. You know how this works. You talk and you’re okay, or you get beat until you talk anyway. Make life easy for yourself.”
“I don’t know shit.”
I reached into my pocket and pulled out a pair of brass knuckles. His eyes went wide.
“Last chance,” I said.
“I don’t know who they were,” he said quickly.
“There we go,” I said softly.
“They came in late the night after we took the truck, just loaded all the shit into another big-ass van and drove away. Nobody stopped them or said shit to them.”