Page 19 of Five Fingers of Death

“Fuck,” Red huffed. “You told Rae, but not us? What are we? Chopped liver?”

Something rustled in the grass to the right, and all three of us pulled our weapons, ready to fire just as Fox popped up, grinning at us. “Chopped liver is actually an excellent meal. Though I can see why you wouldn’t like it. You weren’t too fond of some of the other meals I suggested. I could make you Qarta, but I doubt you’d eat it.”

“Do I want to know what that is?” Red asked, holstering his weapon.

“It’s the rectum of a horse. Don’t worry. It’s boiled first. Or pan-fried, if you prefer. It’s rather delicious with the right combination of spices.”

I tried not to picture Fox cutting out a horse’s rectum and boiling it with one of his victims, but it was hard to do. “Fox, why aren’t you in position?”

“In position?” Eli said incredulously. “You told him, but not us.”

“Whoa, no need to get feisty,” Fox chuckled. “We’re all pals. I just happen to have a certain skill set that Kavanaugh required for this particular job.”

“Yeah? And what was that?” Red asked.

“Well… I’m crazy,” Fox answered plainly.

I looked at both of them, hoping that was a good enough answer. “So, are we good?”

“Can’t really argue with that,” Eli muttered, holstering his weapon. “Though you still could have told us.”

“So, where do we stand on Qarta?” Fox asked. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had it, and I would really love to?—”

“Fox, we’re more interested in neutralizing the threat,” I snapped, continuing toward the fence line.

“Right, the baddies. Gotcha.” He shuffled ahead of us, whistling and dancing as he always did.

“Did you ever consider that maybe he’s too crazy for the job?” Red asked. “Seriously, a horse’s rectum? Who eats that shit?”

“Pun intended?”

“Not even a little.”

“The point is that we’re more likely to end up singing a show tune than killing anyone with him around,” Red pointed out.

“That’s not true. Consider all the men he’s boiled over the years. I’d say we’re in good hands.”

Red snorted. “Yeah, as long as we don’t end up on his bad side.”

“He would never boil us. We’re his friends.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Of course.” But then I thought about it. “Mostly.”

We were getting closer to the fence line now. It wouldn’t be long before these assholes would be out of my life for good.

“How can you be sure that killing these guys will remove the threat from your life?” Eli asked. “They’ll just keep coming back for you.”

“I’m going to send a message.”

“And you think that’ll get them to back off?”

I wasn’t positive it would, but I had to try. Anything else just wasn’t acceptable. “It’s time,” I whispered, getting down low and running to catch up to Fox. I knelt beside him, waiting for his signal.

We only had to wait a few minutes before he chuckled, and with a single nod, we were off.

“What was that nod?” Eli hissed.

---