Page 64 of No Safe Place

Shaw had started in the business working for Vance’s father who was a rich shit, too, but at least he had been a marine.

“Four of my guys are down? Four?” was the first thing Vance said.

“Uh-huh. I’m sure you’ve seen it for yourself by now. All blown to bits but me. Thanks for asking if I’m okay. Your unwavering support and concern is touching as always, boss. I’m actually not okay, by the way. I think I have a serious concussion.”

He wasn’t even joking about that. The door slamming him against the headrest had rung his bell. He was nauseous and dizzy and his ears were still ringing.

“How is that possible?” Vance said, ignoring him. “All four gone?”

“Carpenter screwed things up and they hit the gas line is how.”

“How could he have screwed up that bad?” Vance said. “He was a wizard with that stuff. Those soft hands of his were way too good. That’s why we hired him.”

Shaw stifled a sigh as he thought of all the men who were better than Carpenter, better than even Shaw himself, who were rotting in graves on foreign soil because some jackass tripped or farted or sneezed at the wrong time.

“I just don’t understand,” Vance said.

If you were ever in a war you’d know, Shaw thought.

“Whatever,” Shaw said. “The game has changed. No more extractions. No more bullshit. You want me to finish this, I can. But I’m tired of washing my feet with my socks on. Unless this is full bore, I leave now. The natives are getting restless up here after that firecracker. There’s too much heat now even for me.”

“I get it,” Vance said with a sigh.

“You want to call the client and talk about it?”

“Screw that. I don’t need to call. Do it. Take the woman out. Wrap this up.”

“The wife or the investigator?”

“Both. They said if push comes to shove, by any means necessary, wipe it up. I’ll handle any problems.”

“How do you like that?” Shaw said in sudden happy surprise.

“Like what?”

“You making a command decision. I didn’t think you had it in you. Maybe the apple didn’t fall that far from the tree after all. Your old man would be proud.”

“Screw you, Shaw.”

Shaw smiled.

“That’s it. Now you even sound like dear old dad.” Shaw stood, feeling the cobwebs start to clear from his head.

“No more screwups, Shaw. Just get this disaster over with.”

“Sir, yes, sir,” he said, getting his second wind with a deep breath.

56

With its sturdy brick walls and wooden floor, the inside of the two-story factory-turned-antique-shop we had retreated into had the look of an old firehouse.

Having kicked in its front door, I quickly got everyone straight to work barring the entrance. Just inside was an incredibly ancient and heavy weighted dime-store scale and with the help of my new friends, we lifted it up and maneuvered it into place behind two sideboards, a chest of drawers and half a dozen chairs.

When we were done, Mario ran off and came back bearing a massive concrete driveway lion that he had found somewhere. He heaved it up with a yell on top of the sideboards. There was a crash of glass as it slipped off the top and smashed out the little window in the center of the door.

“Try to get through that, you stupid pieces of shit!” Mario yelled.

“That’s the spirit, bro,” I said, high-fiving him. “I like it!”

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