“Hey! Beefcake!” Junior greeted him cheerfully. “Good to see you!”
“Hi.” Brick had the wildest urge to hug Junior because damn if he wasn’t actually happy to see him too. “Wow. Uh, you guys have been busy?”
“Real busy.” Junior grinned. “You should see Erasmus. He’s havin’ the best fuckin’ time.”
From around the corner came a gurgled scream of agony.
“The best.” Junior laughed.
“Who is that?” Brick demanded.
“You don’t need to see, baby,” Jules soothed. “We’re almost done, okay?”
“Is it Finchie?” Brick was already breaking away from Jules to go see for himself. “That fuckin’ son of a bitch!”
Finchie was tied to an armchair with bungee cords, and Erasmus was standing beside him with a small knife in his hand.
Finchie’s ear was in the other.
“You!” Brick stormed over and socked Finchie right in the face. “You motherfucker! You threatened me! My fucking family? You were gonna send Roland to my parents’ house? Fuck you!” He punched Finchie again, still riled up and angry, and his next swing was caught by Jules.
“Easy, tiger,” Jules urged, gently dragging Brick back a few steps. “It’s okay. He’s done, all right? He can’t hurt nobody. Never again, okay? I promise.”
Brick hadn’t realized how hard he was shaking until Jules squeezed his hand, and he let himself go limp against Jules’s chest. “Fuck. I’m sorry. I don’t… I don’t know…”
“Fuck, you’re all crazy!” Finchie shouted hysterically. “You’re all fucking nuts! Every last one of you stupid fruity fucks!”
“He give up the ledgers yet?” Jules drawled, ignoring the insult.
“Oh, about five minutes ago.” Erasmus delicately placed Finchie’s ear on top of his head. “I’ve just been having fun.”
Finchie snarled in disgust and tried to jerk away.
“Where are they?” Jules asked.
“Right there on the table.” Erasmus nodded. “They’re all here.”
Junior headed over to pick them up. They were a stack of thick black books, and he hugged them close. “Ta-dah! Bingo! Let’s get the fuck outta here, huh?”
Erasmus pouted.
“Sorry, Raz,” Junior said. “Cutter is only giving us twenty minutes, remember? In and out, buddy. Maybe next time, okay?”
“Fine.”
“You’re all dead, you hear me?” Finchie seethed, struggling against the cords holding him. “Do you have any idea what my family is going to do when they find out what you’ve done to me? Huh? You’re dead! You and everyone you’ve ever cared about! They’re all fucking dead—!”
“Ya, Finchie!” Jules drew his gun. “Malhajima sibalsaekki.”
“What?”
Jules fired.
Finchie jerked, and his head dropped to his chest, blood gushing from the hole Jules had just put in his forehead.
Jules beamed. “My boyfriend taught me that.”
Chapter Sixteen