Page 138 of The Slayer
Alaine shrugged, because she felt like she had just landed on another planet. “You said that’s where you lived.”
“I used to live here. Actually, I used to live a mile down the road, but—”
“Can we just focus?” Tino interrupted him. “We need to watch the warehouse. We need to crash. Do you know anyone around here we could crash with?”
“Yeah, I know people, but—”
“In this direct area,” Tino went on, waving his hand around in a very Italian way. “You know someone close?”
“Anyone I know is gonna tell Marcos I’m here,” Chuito said in exasperation. “And if Marcos knows—”
“Look, motherfucker, we’re gonna need backup,” Tino cut him off as he turned back and gestured to the warehouse they had passed. “We don’t know what’s in there, but if your boy Angel is working with the Russians, I guarantee you the two of us cannot get this job done, and I can’t call Nova.”
“We should probably call Nova,” Chuito argued. “’Cause I know Angel. There is no way he went out looking for those Russians. They found him. That means these Russian motherfuckers are plotting something against your people, and Nova needs to know that.”
“Do you know what Nova is gonna do when he gets ahold of me?” Tino snapped at him. “I’d like to skip bringing the accountant into this issue if we can help it. Let’s fix the problem, and then we’ll deal with my brother. It’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission. Besides, this is not a Nova issue. I can handle it. I just need backup.”
“So my cousin is the backup?”
Tino nodded. “Your cousin strikes me as decent backup.”
“After I sold my soul to get him out. I don’t think so. There are plenty of Italians in Miami. Call one of your people.”
“This is your issue.”
“Russians are my fucking issue? No.” Chuito shook his head. “The Russians areyourissue. That is an Italian problem. There is something going down much bigger than Angel, and now we’re stuck in the middle of it with Alaine. Call Nova!”
“Is there a reason we can’t just talk to Angel?” Alaine interrupted their debate. “Or the Russians? Isn’t there some sort of negotiation that could take place so we don’t need guns?”
“Oh, yes, let’s negotiate with them,” Tino said sarcastically and then turned back to Chuito. “We’re gonna have bigger problems than Russians if we call Nova. I know him. I know how he thinks. There are so many things about this that are gonna stroke him out. We’ll need to shoot him with a tranq dart to keep him from having a heart attack.”
“He’s probably already having a heart attack,” Chuito shot back. “And you know what, the longer you’re here with me, the more that makes it my fault. Ninety-nine problems, no fucking shit, and one hundred is gonna be Nova wanting to smoke my ass for dragging you out of retirement for this bullshit. This isnotmy fault. I left you in Garnet.”
“You jacked my car!”
“Really?” Chuito shouted as he stared back at him. “You think your brother’s gonna buy that? That you came down here for a car?”
“No, I don’t think he’s gonna buy that! I’m not the one who wants to call him!”
Alaine sighed and admitted, “I’m so tired. Aren’t you two tired? Maybe that’s why you’re fighting? Maybe we need to rest and regroup.”
“Maybe,” Chuito agreed and then leaned forward. He slowed the car down, staring at a house they were passing. Then he stopped in the middle of the street and looked behind them. “Do you see anyone?”
“Why?” Tino asked but glanced around anyway.
Chuito put the car in park. “I need something tiny and metal. Quick.”
Alaine went to search in the bag she had, but remembered she had left her purse at home and all she had in here were the emergency supplies she and Tino had picked up at one of those highline outlet malls on the way.
Then she reached up, undid her hair clip, and pulled it out. “Will this work?”
Chuito leaned forward, using the lights off the dash to stare at it. “Yup, this works. Tino, drive around the block. I need one minute.”
“What are you doing?” Tino growled at him, but Chuito had already leaped out of the car. “Merda.”
Tino got out of the backseat and slammed the driver’s-side door when he took Chuito’s spot. Then he put it into drive, all the while glancing around in paranoia. Alaine turned in her seat, seeing that Chuito had run up to the house they passed and yanked a piece of paper off the door.
“What is he doing?” Alaine asked Tino when they got too far to see in the darkness.
