not stupid,’ replied Shattner.
Diego swung the barrel against his head viciously, drawing a thin line of blood from his temple. When the ringing in his head had stopped, Shattner found the black bore of the barrel against his face, steady, Diego’s eyes black and empty looking back at him.
‘Young hoods are desperate to join us. Some rob, some sell drugs, many sell their sisters and mothers. And some kill. To prove themselves to us. You just walked in. Not logical. Jose does not like things that are not logical.’
He paused, his eyes black holes in his face.
‘I’m an enforcer. You know what that means?’
‘People shit in their pants when they see you?’
Diego hit him again on the other temple. A thicker stream of blood started running down Shattner’s head.
‘You think you’re smart. How come I’m holding this gun and you’re at the other end?’
Diego extended his forefinger and touched the blood streaming down Shattner’s face. He inspected it for a while and flicked it away.
‘That’s my business,’ he said, nodding at the copper droplets flying away.
‘I am number two. I am also the enforcer of our chapter.’
He paused, enjoying the fear in Shattner’s eyes.
‘I looked into your past, your history, and your time in the army. I spoke to your previous garage in New Jersey, your landlord… everyone who knew you. You are a criminal, just like us. But I told Jose, better to kill you. Your joining us did not feel right,’ Diego continued without any inflection. He could be reading the weather.
‘But Jose is smart. Smarter than me… is why he is boss. He said we need Anglos. Less suspicious.’
‘He said we didn’t need to worry about you. You got kids. Lisa very pretty, no?’ Diego smiled a feral smile.
Shattner went cold.
Diego smiled thinly. ‘Relax, Anglo. You are alive; your kids are safe… for now.’ He leant back in his seat and gestured at Shattner to drive.
Rajek clicked his tongue and looked disappointed. Maybe happiness for him was Shattner’s brains splattered over the windshield.
His involvement in the gang increased. He was used the most as a driver, but soon started distributing baggies to the street vendors and making collections for the gang.
The garage, while a front, was not very successful. The people who brought their cars in were known to the gang even if they weren’t gang members themselves. Shattner figured out the hierarchy of the gang over time. Cruz ruled it at the top, with Diego as his second in command as well as its chief hit man. Then came a handful of Rajeks – the senior members of the gang, and then there were the doers… those who ran the drugs, the rackets, the women.
In his arms trading, Shattner had dealt with many gangs, but this one was different. This one ran like a smoothly oiled machine, a strong chain of command linking the hierarchies and utter ruthlessness shown to those who disobeyed or challenged the gang. Like a military machine. Shattner learnt over a period of time that most of the gang members, including Jose, Diego and Rajek had military experience, some in European armed forces, some in South America or Africa.
Most of those armed forces must have been happy to see the backs of these guys , he thought.
A month after his close-up with Diego’s gun, he drove Diego to a hit.
Chapter 3
It was at two in the morning.
He drove Diego to an office block, killed the engine, and nervously waited for instructions.
Diego was silent and motionless, his dark eyes seeing nothing and seeing everything. His phone beeped after half an hour, and after a murmured conversation, Diego straightened. In another fifteen minutes, they saw a car make its way from the opposite end of the street, stop about a hundred feet away, and kill its lights.
Two people stepped out of the car and approached theirs, and Diego met them halfway. He bumped fists with them, took wads of cash from them, gave them baggies in return, turned his back on them,
Diego swung the barrel against his head viciously, drawing a thin line of blood from his temple. When the ringing in his head had stopped, Shattner found the black bore of the barrel against his face, steady, Diego’s eyes black and empty looking back at him.
‘Young hoods are desperate to join us. Some rob, some sell drugs, many sell their sisters and mothers. And some kill. To prove themselves to us. You just walked in. Not logical. Jose does not like things that are not logical.’
He paused, his eyes black holes in his face.
‘I’m an enforcer. You know what that means?’
‘People shit in their pants when they see you?’
Diego hit him again on the other temple. A thicker stream of blood started running down Shattner’s head.
‘You think you’re smart. How come I’m holding this gun and you’re at the other end?’
Diego extended his forefinger and touched the blood streaming down Shattner’s face. He inspected it for a while and flicked it away.
‘That’s my business,’ he said, nodding at the copper droplets flying away.
‘I am number two. I am also the enforcer of our chapter.’
He paused, enjoying the fear in Shattner’s eyes.
‘I looked into your past, your history, and your time in the army. I spoke to your previous garage in New Jersey, your landlord… everyone who knew you. You are a criminal, just like us. But I told Jose, better to kill you. Your joining us did not feel right,’ Diego continued without any inflection. He could be reading the weather.
‘But Jose is smart. Smarter than me… is why he is boss. He said we need Anglos. Less suspicious.’
‘He said we didn’t need to worry about you. You got kids. Lisa very pretty, no?’ Diego smiled a feral smile.
Shattner went cold.
Diego smiled thinly. ‘Relax, Anglo. You are alive; your kids are safe… for now.’ He leant back in his seat and gestured at Shattner to drive.
Rajek clicked his tongue and looked disappointed. Maybe happiness for him was Shattner’s brains splattered over the windshield.
His involvement in the gang increased. He was used the most as a driver, but soon started distributing baggies to the street vendors and making collections for the gang.
The garage, while a front, was not very successful. The people who brought their cars in were known to the gang even if they weren’t gang members themselves. Shattner figured out the hierarchy of the gang over time. Cruz ruled it at the top, with Diego as his second in command as well as its chief hit man. Then came a handful of Rajeks – the senior members of the gang, and then there were the doers… those who ran the drugs, the rackets, the women.
In his arms trading, Shattner had dealt with many gangs, but this one was different. This one ran like a smoothly oiled machine, a strong chain of command linking the hierarchies and utter ruthlessness shown to those who disobeyed or challenged the gang. Like a military machine. Shattner learnt over a period of time that most of the gang members, including Jose, Diego and Rajek had military experience, some in European armed forces, some in South America or Africa.
Most of those armed forces must have been happy to see the backs of these guys , he thought.
A month after his close-up with Diego’s gun, he drove Diego to a hit.
Chapter 3
It was at two in the morning.
He drove Diego to an office block, killed the engine, and nervously waited for instructions.
Diego was silent and motionless, his dark eyes seeing nothing and seeing everything. His phone beeped after half an hour, and after a murmured conversation, Diego straightened. In another fifteen minutes, they saw a car make its way from the opposite end of the street, stop about a hundred feet away, and kill its lights.
Two people stepped out of the car and approached theirs, and Diego met them halfway. He bumped fists with them, took wads of cash from them, gave them baggies in return, turned his back on them,
Similar Books
Water Theatre
Lindsay Clarke
Black Angels???Red Blood
Steven McCarthy
Dying to Live
Roxy De Winter
She's Not Coming Home
Philip Cox
Palm for Mrs. Pollifax
Dorothy Gilman
Conall's Legacy
Kat Wells
Chasing Gold
Catherine Hapka
Forest of Memory
Mary Robinette Kowal
From The Heart
Sheila O'Flanagan
Bad Blood
Geraldine Evans