Page 57 of Balls to the Walls

“What the fuck are you doing here?”

“Saving your ass,” I grumbled as I rolled over, kicking the man in front of me out of the way. I pressed my fingers to his throat for several seconds, but felt no pulse. Jack’s hand wrapped around my bicep and then he hauled me to my feet. I was a little unsteady, stumbling back a step into the kitchen table.

“Again, why the fuck are you here?”

“Someone just broke in to kill you,” I said, my voice coming out a raspy tone. I pressed my hand to my throat, clearing it in the hopes of easing the ache.

“Yeah, and I would have taken care of it. Do you have any fucking clue what will happen if someone finds out you’re here?” he snapped.

I took a moment to look him over. He looked rough, like he hadn’t slept in weeks. He was only released from prison a month ago. I would have been here sooner, but it took me that long to figure out where he was. Even Rae couldn’t find him, but that was the point when Gelbero set him up here. He was supposed to be a ghost.

Jack walked to the back door, pulling a gun as FNG rounded the corner, coming to a halt with his hands in the air.

“Hey! It’s you!” FNG said enthusiastically. “Man, have I got a story for you.”

“I don’t want to hear a fucking story,” Jack said, grabbing FNG by the shirt and dragging him inside before shutting the door. He turned to us, the anger on his face clear as day. “If they find out you’re here, I can’t vouch for you. Don’t make me put a bullet in your head because that’s what they’ll be expecting.”

I knew the risks when I came here, but what was I supposed to do? I hadn’t seen Jack in way too fucking long. I needed to know he was okay, that he didn’t need my help. His time on the inside could fuck up the hardest men.

“I wasn’t followed, and I’ve been casing the place for two days. I got in clean.”

“You got in, but that doesn’t mean no one saw you. I tagged you the moment you drove past the first fucking time.”

I grinned at him, knowing he wasn’t lying. Jack always did have eyes in the back of his head. “You could have said hello to an old friend.”

“Could have, but that would have blown my cover.” He turned to FNG. “What did you bring him along for?”

“I didn’t bring him. He followed me.”

“I thought he was dead,” Jack grunted as he moved through the house, closing the blinds.

“Yeah, we all did.” I grabbed the feet of the first guy and dragged him toward the door. The man weighed a fucking ton, probably fifty pounds overweight. I stopped and shot a glare at FNG. “Are you going to help or be just as fucking useless as you were a few minutes ago?”

“Yeah, sorry about that,” he said, rushing over to grab the man under the arms. “I tripped on my shoelace.”

I stopped moving and stared at him. “You what?”

“Yeah, see, I was running past the bushes. They really need to be cut back, by the way,” he said over his shoulder to Jack. “Anyway, the lace snagged on a bush and came undone. It totally tripped me. I have this massive gash on my shin from where I hit the concrete steps. You should see?—”

He stopped talking the moment he saw the pissed off look on my face.

“Anyway, this is more important. I’ll tell you about it later.”

“What do you want us to do with the bodies?” I asked Jack.

He strode back into the room and started rifling through their pockets. “Let’s see who they are first.”

I grabbed the other man’s wallet and pulled it out, reading the name. “Elmer Fudd. Not sure that’s going to help us.”

Jack sighed, tossing the wallet back on the man. “We can’t move the bodies right now. The streetlights would give us away in seconds.”

“Who’s watching you?” I asked curiously, though I was pretty sure I already knew.

He got in my face, keeping his voice low. “You need to get the fuck out of here. Leave your vehicle behind and find another way home. If I knew you were sneaking around, chances are someone else saw you too. This guy doesn’t fuck around.”

“Gelbero,” I answered, knowing he wouldn’t openly say it.

“Just get the fuck out of here. I’ll handle the bodies.”

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