Pay Up and Die Read Free Page B

man.
    Behind the large man an SUV came to an abrupt halt next to the pickup truck. The door opened and the driver hurried over to the scene of bloodshed.
    “What the hell are you doing?” The well-dressed man acted dumbfounded at the large man’s lack of pace, afraid that they would be discovered momentarily. “Why aren’t you cleaning this up? And who the hell is that?” He pointed at Michael lying in a pool of blood. The large man looked down at the unconscious body and then looked back at “the suit” with a grin on his face.
    “And what the hell is on your head? You sick bastard. All I needed you to do was to kill Doug’s wife so he would understand that I mean business. And now we have two more bodies and a park full of smashed cars. Are you trying to give me a heart attack? We need to hurry before this place is crawling with cops. Shit, there’s probably people watching us right now through their bedroom curtains. You goddamned imbecile.” The well-dressed man was exasperated and ran his fingers through his slicked back hair, the mousse darkening his gray-peppered temples. He felt like he was hyper ventilating so he tried to calm himself down with a deep breath. Looking down at the bodies he collected his thoughts and got back to business. The large man rolled the unconscious body over and stood up.
    “Wait a minute. How did he get here?” the suit asked incredulously. He recognized Michael Wright immediately even through the bloody visage. Great, he thought quickly, now how am I going to get out of this? This sick bastard will never let me keep him from his ugly craft. Think. Quick.
    “Dunno. I was killing this guy here when Captain Big-britches jumped on my back. I never saw him coming,” said the large man. He despised the way the suit spoke to him. He didn’t have to answer to anyone, especially some little prick in a tie and jacket. The large man daydreamed briefly about stomping on the short, rich guy like a little bug.
    “Okay. Okay. Why don’t you get out of here right now and let me handle this one for you. You need to get out of sight fast before someone sees your truck and that ridiculous uniform of yours.”
    “This is my lucky shirt. I wear it for all my jobs. You don’t like my shirt?” The large man took a step towards the suit.
    “It’s very nice, okay, Martin? I just meant that it is highly recognizable because you are always wearing that shirt in public.” He held his hands out in front of his chest to hold off Martin in case he made a move towards him.
    “I’m shocked that you want to get your hands dirty. I thought you don’t like messy situations. Isn’t that what you call me for? To handle your messes?” Martin felt his adrenaline pumping and struggled to control his urges.
    “Yeah, well, I need to finish this one for you. Your truck and that shirt stand out like a sore thumb around here. It will be harder for someone to i.d. me.” He sighed loudly. “Please. Leave now. And take off the goddamned scalp, will you? You look like a goddamned monster.”
    Martin smiled and slowly walked towards the suit. He stopped right in front of the suit and leaned into his face. He wiggled his eyebrows up and down several times in mockery, the bloody hair-piece moving in rhythm. Then he began laughing and brushed into the suit’s shoulder as he walked past to his truck.
    A chill ran down the suit’s spine and he closed his eyes in disgust. He waited for Martin Pike to leave, listening for the truck to drive away.
    After the truck left, he breathed a sigh of relief. Then crouched down over Michael Wright’s body. He felt for a pulse and was relieved that it existed. He didn’t understand what Michael was doing here at this hour and cursed his luck for having to deal with this wrinkle. He stood up and looked around. Nobody appeared to be looking out their windows. The distant sound of a wailing siren started and he knew he needed to leave. He looked down again at Michael.
    “You