Page 22 of Dirty Daria
So, I say, “Having cocktails.” While he says, “Because you’re really close to fucking shit up. Do not engage.”
“I have to go.” I hang up on Mack. Which I know will piss him off even further. But there’s nothing he can do about it now. He’s in the middle of an operation and does not have time to deal with meandDavid Tremblay. Who appears to be getting up and leaving with his date. I look at the time, it’s only been forty-five minutes. Where could they be going so soon?
“Let’s go,” I tell Quinn.
“Go where?”
“He’s leaving. We’re following.” I find our server in the restaurant and slip her a one-hundred-dollar bill. “This should cover it. Keep the change. We have an emergency. Everything was great.”
Our total wasn’t more than thirty dollars, it’s happy hour pricing. But I will always,alwaysover tip waitstaff no matter what. I know from owning a bar the job is shitty, the tips can be even worse, it’s hard to be on your feet all day schlepping around hot food and dirty plates, listening to people bitch about their order. It’s got to be one of the most thankless industries around. So, whenever I can, I try to take care of them.
I wind through the cars in the lot and across the street to where I parked. My Audi purrs to life as I push the button to start it, the seats rumbling beneath us.
“God, how do you not orgasm every time you drive this beautiful beast?” Quinn asks.
“Who says I don’t?” I wink at her, then turn up the music and fall in behind the near convoy now following David Tremblay and his date.
The plan I have for David has nothing to do with Mack and his strategy. Or even the safety of the girl. All I’m doing tonight is making sure David realizes his days are numbered. Maybe he’ll make it to his wedding, maybe he won’t. I just want to put a little fear into him while I still can. Before he’s arrested or someone else takes him out.
I already know, from everything I’ve read, that he’ll drug the girl at a stoplight or stop sign, then head in another direction toward the drop house. All of which seems to take a lot longer than I expected it to.
Finally, David starts to head into a seedy part of town. Not so bad that you worry about your car being stolen, but bad enough there’s no neighborhood watch either. He pulls his car up in front of a nondescript beige house with a blue door. Mack and Reed stop their SUV about half a block back. I circle around the next block and park where I’m sure the house behind this one is. I pull my Ruger from under my seat. My girly gun. It’s small, pink, and fits seamlessly in my pocket.
“Stay here,” I tell Quinn as I pull the lever for the trunk.
“I want to go too,” she whines.
“No, I may need you to drive the getaway car in a hurry.”
“Oh, okay!” She scrambles out of the passenger seat and over to the driver’s side.
“I’ll call you,” I tell her as I grab a rifle from my trunk and tuck it flush under my arm, so the gun’s mostly hidden beneath my flesh. I’m perched in the tree, diagonal to the house David is headed to, before he’s out of his car.
My god, he moves slow.
I watch as Mack motions to Reed and they flank the front of the house. David leaves the girl in the car and disappears inside. Mack and Reed follow silently behind a moment later. I wait to hear gunfire and yelling, the cries of scared women, and the thuds of bodies falling.
I get nothing.
I climb down from the tree and make my way toward the house and hear Mack and Reed talking to David inside.
“Where the fuck is everyone, Tremblay?” Mack’s deep voice echoes through the empty room.
“I don’t know, man. I swear this is the address they gave me.”
“David, I warned you about this. I told you that you must cooperate in order for me to protect you. If you don’t, I can’t help,” Reed says.
“I am cooperating, this is the address they gave me. Look.”
He must show them his phone or something, because I hear murmurs of concession followed by footsteps nearing the front door. I tuck back into the shadows on the side of the house and wait for the men to appear.
Mack.
Reed.
David.
I raise my gun, the small one, no need for the rifle at this distance, and aim for the dirt near David’s left foot.
