Page 37 of Bite the Bullet

“Wait here.”

“Bullshit. I said partner, not shithead that sits in the car. If you want me in on this, I go where you go.”

“This guy is jumpy.”

“Yeah? He’s gonna be really fucking jumpy when I shove my boot up his ass.”

Rico laughed, shaking his head at me. “Man, I knew you were right for this job. Let’s go.”

I shoved my door open and walked over to the man waiting by his car. He glared at Rico, who was just a few steps behind me.

“What the fuck is this shit? I told you to come alone.”

“Hey, don’t worry. This guy is cool. He saved my ass a dozen times in prison.”

“I don’t give a fuck who he is. This wasn’t part of the deal!”

He was a skeevy fucker, barely looked like he could drive a car, let alone handle chemical weapons. And if this asshat was the one creating chemical weapons, we had a bigger problem because that meant that whatever shit he was giving us was most likely not created by someone that knew what the fuck they were doing.

“I’m here to authenticate the product,” I answered smoothly. “Which means you better be really fucking sure of what you’re giving us. If not, you won’t have to worry about getting any more business because you won’t have any fucking fingers to work with. Ya hear me?”

His eyes flicked to Rico. He was scared as hell, not confident like a man in his position should be. I hated when amateurs got in the game and fucked things up.

“Fine, but you should have told me before.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a vile. It didn’t look large enough to hold much, but this could just be a sample, something to trial the effects with. It would be the smart way to play it for any buyer.

Rico took the vile, then handed it over to me. I held it up to the light. While it was impossible for me to tell out here if what was in the vile was real, it had all the right properties. The liquid was an amber color and appeared to be oily. Without a lab and someone who actually knew how to test this stuff, that was as far as I could go.

I handed it back to Rico. “It looks like the right stuff.”

Rico slid his hand behind his jacket, and for just a moment, I thought he was reaching for a gun. Instead, he pulled out an envelope and handed it over. “I’ll be in touch.”

I memorized the man’s plate before he got in his car and drove away. With any luck, I could get some information on this guy before he started producing quantities that could have mass casualties.

“Let’s go get paid,” Rico laughed, slapping me on the arm.

“You know, I don’t get it. You have a legacy with your old man. Why are you going this route?”

“Because Baz Gelbero only thinks about himself. I’ve known eversince I was fifteen that none of the business was actually going to come to me.”

“Why’s that?” I asked, sliding into the car.

“He promises a lot of shit, but never follows through. He’s too fucking anal to ever hand his business off to anyone else. I overheard him telling his lawyer that he’d rather sell the business to a competitor than let it fall into my hands. I’m just a fuckup.”

That was the truth. Hell, he was buying chemical weapons from a nobody on the streets. Instead of working his ass off to prove his father wrong, he ended up in prison. After seeing what Rico was really into, I wasn’t sure this would lead me any further into Baz’s organization. If what Rico was saying was true, then the only reason Baz wanted me around was to keep his son out of trouble.

11

SKYLAR

The day was stressful,to say the least. Mostly because I was late to work, which never happened, and then I had to deal with my boss who hated me. Denise hadn’t liked me for whatever reason since the day I was transferred to the ER. I didn’t know what her problem was. I kept my head down and got my work done. I had no interest in workplace drama or the gossip mill that continually turned in this place. My only goal was to work hard and earn enough money to escape far away from Baz Gelbero and his dimwitted son.

“I need you to check on bed three,” Denise said as she strolled over to the counter, sipping her afternoon coffee.

“I have to leave,” I reminded her. This was not a new thing. I had been leaving at the same time every shift since I started. It was the only stipulation I had when I took the job in the ER. They were desperate for more nurses and I needed to work someplace in the hospital that could allow me to work ten hours instead of the usual twelve-hour shift.

“You know, everyone else around here pulls their weight. I hope you realize that every time you leave early, you’re dumping more work on the rest of us.”

I finished typing in the notes for my final chart and closed out theprogram. “I’m not leaving early. This is my shift. I worked it out before I accepted the job. If you don’t like it, take it up with administration.”

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