Page 53 of Bullet

Ajax and I were playing our third round of pool when my phone buzzed. The text was from Dead Man.

Dead Man:Got the package. Headed to the warehouse.

I smiled. Finally, some good news. I messaged him back.

Me:Good. Omw

I put my pool cue back on the rack. “Got some business to deal with. Catch y'all later, boys.”

I headed to the warehouse where we’d made the exchange with the cartel. Occasionally, we also used it for more unsavory business dealings like when we needed to interrogate someone or get rid of a body.

When I pulled up, I saw the shop van already there, and my body buzzed with nervous energy. I wanted answers and wasn't afraid to do what was needed to get them.

I went inside and locked the door behind me. Dead Man and Trey were in the center of the warehouse, tying a man to a chair. His mouth had duct tape over it, and he had a cut above his eye that was bleeding down the side of his face.

Dead Man looked up when I walked over. “Any problems?” I asked.

He shook his head. “Nah. This guy went to the corner store near their hotel alone. Was easy to grab him and take him out the back.”

“Good. No one tailed you?”

“No. We took a lot of backroads to make sure.”

Trey stepped back after he finished tying the guy's legs. He was yelling, but I couldn't make out what he was saying because his words were muffled from the duct tape.

I gestured around the room. “These walls are soundproof. No one is going to hear you here.”

Being in the types of businesses we dealt in, we had to take precautions to make sure we didn't draw unwanted attention. That was why we had the warehouse out in the middle of nowhere and even went to the trouble of soundproofing the walls, as well, just to be safe.

His eyes narrowed, and he continued to try to yell through the duct tape.

“Suit yourself.” I sighed, then laughed. “I'm going to ask you a few questions. Your answers will determine how long you're stuck here and how badly I hurt you.”

I began to pace back and forth in front of him. “What's the name of the girl you're looking for?”

I gestured to Trey to remove the duct tape. When he did, the man started screaming for help and cursing in Spanish.

I blew out a breath of exasperation, letting him scream a few minutes before punching him in the jaw. That shut him up.

“I'm gonna ask you again. Who is the girl you're looking for?”

He spit blood on the concrete floor. “Fuck you,puto.”

I chuckled. I hadn't given a good beating in a while. “Wrong answer.”

I punched him in the left eye, giving him a matching gash to the opposite eye. “We're not letting you go until you tell me what I want to know.” I grabbed a rusted metal bucket that was underneath a nearby table and held it up for him to see. “You see this right here? This is your bathroom for the time that you're here.”

His eyes widened a little, which made me smirk. “The sooner you talk, the sooner you can be on your way. Now, who is the girl you're looking for?”

He didn't respond for several seconds, and I thought he was going to crack. Then he chuckled. “Chupa mi verga.”

Since we dealt with the cartel for years, I'd learned some Spanish along the way, primarily the cuss words. So him telling me to suck his dick pissed me the fuck off. I punched him so hard that I made the chair fall over from the momentum.

He grunted as he hit the concrete, and I kicked him in the stomach for good measure, making him groan in pain.

I lit a cigarette and took a drag to ease my nerves. I was close to completely losing my cool, but I needed to keep my composure before I ended up beating the guy to death. It wouldn't be the first time, but I preferred to keep the cops off my back.

I blew out smoke as Trey righted the chair. I took another drag as I stared at the guy, calculating the best way to get through to him.

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