Page 67 of Flint

It’s slow going, but I ain’t risking shit right now. Gator scans the second floor as we move up the stairs. More offices than expected. The halls are empty, and the two other doors he tries are locked. We both see this as a dead end and continue moving up. The building’s got five floors, but I’m only interested in getting to the third and making sure we’ve got a clean exit. Hence why we checked out floor two. I’ve seen what happens when you don’t look; lost a few buddies in Afghanistan that way.

When we reach the third floor, I already know shit is different. Lights are off. Not something that usually happens unless everyone’s gone. And at least one person is still here. She might have gone to another floor, but with the memory loss, I doubt it.

“Going to text her again,” Gator says as we duck behind a half cubicle. We tried a few times when we arrived but got nothing.

The screen lights up, no sound or vibration. I look over his shoulder and can’t hold back the twitch in my lip. Of fucking course my girl would be into playing games.

Gator: Marco

Julianne: Polo

“Seriously?” I whisper.

“Figured it was worth a shot. We played Marco Polo a few times while you were out. She doesn’t get how the game works in text form, but if she’s texting at all, it’s better than nothing.”

I grunt in agreement, then sink lower when I hear voices.

“I thought you had this handled?” a whiny male voice floats to our ears.

“Handled?”

“Yeah, you said not to worry about her. That you would take care of it.”

“And how did you expect me to take care of it?” The second voice is more assured, controlled even. Got a feeling I know who it is, but I’m not chancing looking up to confirm just yet. I’d rather hear more before we get caught. This place ain’t exactly the best for hide-and-seek. Not with all the half cubicles and glass outer walls.

“I don’t know. Kill her or something. But now she’s back, and that’s a problem.”

“You said she lost her memory. Don’t see how it’s a problem.”

“Yeah, but she can get it back. And what do you think she’ll do then?” My jaw aches from how tight I grind my teeth while listening to this shit. I figured it out before I drove over here, but hearing it? Well, shit. I’m pissed right the fuck off. Even more than usual, if that’s possible.

“You tell me, Larry. Why are you so concerned? She looked at the books ‘for a second,’ I thought you said. Isn’t that what you said? You said she was a nobody, not someone to worry about. Yet when I said I take care of loose change, you were all for it. My boys did a piss-poor job the last time—hell, even the second time when they did a follow-up visit to make sure she was dead. They're dead, by the way, in case you care.”

Gator’s eyes go wide, matching my own. Now we know why we couldn’t find them.

“You killed them?”

“Of course, Larry. I don’t work with incompetent people. I know my strengths, and my weaknesses. All the great men of our time do. I know I don’t know numbers—I ain’t got the brains for all of it. That’s where you come in. You went to school, so you’ve got what I need. When you want to get high, I get what you need. It’s a win-win. You wash my money, I get a few properties under my belt, boss thinks product is selling, and no one sees what else we got going. All was fine till the little busybody stuck her nose in. And I bet she looked a bit deeper, huh? Deep enough to see you were skimming off me?”

“What? I wouldn’t.”

We can hear the panic from the whiny guy clear as day, and I just shake my head. Gator and I already know what’s going to happen to this Larry idiot.

“Larry, Larry, Larry. See, that’s where you’re the dumb one in all of this. Did you really think I would just ignore the way you sweated over that girl? Did you really think I would trust only you with my shit? Nah, I got another guy who double-checks your shit. You know, procedure and all that. Guess what he found? He found out that while the boss might not see what’s going on, and I might be getting a nice bit of cash flow for my next business adventure, it ain’t nearly as much as I should be getting.”

“I didn’t do that, I swear, Duke. You got to believe me. I would never.”

I expected the gunshot a long time before then, so I don’t flinch when it goes off. But movement catches my eye, and I see a foot pull behind a desk. The office door is open, and it isn’t that far from us, but it’s also a helluva lot closer to the action at the end of the hall.

“What now?” another guy asks.

I turn my attention back to the group of bikers. We saw four bikes out front, so it would be foolish of me to think Duke is in there alone. I might not see them, but I’ve got a pretty good idea where they are.

“Burn it. Burn all of it.” I swear to Christ there’s a note of glee in Duke’s voice as he speaks. I can’t see him at all, but I can hear it.

“All of it?” His guy must think he’s as nuts as I do. Only reason you question Duke and live to talk about it.

“Yeah, we can write this off. Boss will want the books if Larry’s out, and a fire proves the books are done for. Make it look like an accident or some shit. Don’t care. I want all of it gone. I took the books from him last time we met, so we ain’t got shit to worry about.”

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