“Maybe it should be over, Donnie Elder. Perhaps you should just ‘carve your losses’, that they say.”
I snorted and turned. Joe College was already opening the door to guide me to the elevator. No problem. I had a feeling I would be back.
CHAPTER 21
I was determined to visit Clay after work, make sure he was taking it easy. Pain in the ass drive, but I still felt responsible. Despite the craziness with the punk rock trio and the Legenkos, I opted to drop by before making the run back to the office.
I entered the room to find he and Harper chatting, with Clay sitting upright, his back propped against two pillows.
“Hey, you gave us another scare.”
Harper stood and kissed me on the cheek, and I shook hands with Clay. Despite the return engagement at the hospital, his grip had a bit of oomph to it.
“Well, I think they just want to keep an eye on me. I’m sure everything’ll be alright.”
“Good.”
“How did today go?”
I walked Clay through the day, pausing from time to time to let him insert anecdotes about certain customers. As usual, I found myself taking notes on a scrap of paper. Sick or not, Clay knew the business inside and out.
“How about you, how have you been?”
“Oh, I’ve been good. Feeling a lot stronger. I think I just overdid it a bit.”
On hearing that, I considered skipping over my visit with the punks. But it was Clay’s business, so I walked them through the robbery attempt that afternoon, and my visit with the Legenkos.
If anything, Clay seemed impressed.
“Well, maybe our mugger friend will find himself in a heap of trouble with his employer.”
“Wouldn’t that be nice.”
“You going to pass on your suspicions to Sun?”
“I was thinking of giving it a few more days. See if anything comes of our session today.”
“Sounds reasonable. You’re doing well, kid.”
“Thanks.”
I left feeling like maybe I was getting a hang of things at last.
Silly me.
CHAPTER 22
I was getting ready to start another day on the road when the repercussions of my visit to Ruscan arrived at the door.
“Uh, Donnie?” Kara’s voice rang out over the intercom, sounding a bit off. I picked up the phone.
“Hey.”
“Hi. Uh, there’s a gentleman here to see you. He says you know him?”
“What’s his name?”
“Nikolay?”
Kuzmenko. Here?
“Give me a second.”
What was best? Grab the bat? Grab a crowbar and ask Jamar to back me up? Make a run for it? I needed the upper hand on this guy. I twisted the ring on my finger, a new habit that I had come to find soothing. Maybe I should call Amy. Or Ted.
I closed my eyes and tried to calm my thoughts. Okay, what did I need to do? Well, I needed leverage on this idiot. Then, I needed to get that damned package back. But first, I needed to make sure he didn’t shoot my ass right here and now.
And then I had it. A stroke of genius. Or maybe a stroke of modest intelligence. Whatever.
I rifled through my pockets, pulling out my wallet, car keys, some change and an old movie pass. Pulled the watch off my wrist, and lay it down next to the items spread on the kitchen table. Jamar had stopped eating his breakfast — a huge bagel with a good half inch of cream cheese on it — and was staring at the junk on the table with a question on the tip of his tongue. I held a finger up to keep him quiet.
Drivers license, credit card, bank card, health card. I pulled everything I needed out of my wallet. Left in an old library card, the passcard for my former employer’s office, a ten year old Blockbuster Video membership card and $40. Jammed my wallet back in my pants. Movie ticket and change back in pockets. I glanced at the watch. Decent Timex IronMan. Pretty sure Ted bought it for me for Christmas a few years ago. I would rather not lose it, but… I slid it back on my wrist.
Then I grabbed one of our pink notepads and a pen, and scribbled a message down.
Peter Martin, Chief Financial Officer
Harding Philips Gallery
Oaktree Terrace, Suite 718
Toronto,
Ontario
With a wave for Jamar to follow me, I headed out front.
There he was, in all his shirt buttons open, greasy hair glory. He was leaning over the counter trying to sweet talk Kara, who seemed engrossed in whatever form she had managed to pull up on her screen.
I edged my way out from the back, even leaning back slightly. Had to sell this.
“Kara, can you take care of this for me?” I held out the note, but big Niki reached out and snagged it from me.
“What is this?” He scanned the note.
“It’s the address for a customer, asshole. I need Kara to open a file for them.”
He glanced again at the note, then handed it back to me. I passed it to Kara.
“Can you open a file on them? The rest of the paperwork is in my office, cabinet in the back. Jamar can sit desk.”
“OK.” I could tell she was puzzled, but she played along. Either way, it was a good idea to get her away from Niki. She stood and headed to the back, and Jamar took her place.
I turned my full attention on Niki.
“OK, asshole. What do you want?”
“Donnie Elder! My friend.” The look on his face said anything but. “You visited with my employer yesterday.”
“Yes I did.”
“That was not a wise thing.” Niki pulled back his jacket, and showed me his gun. Again. I saw Jamar tense up as he realized who the man was. This was my chance.
“You shit.” I tried to look scared, not so hard since I was. “Think you’re tough when you’ve got a weapon in your hands, eh?”
“Never fight fair when you can fight dirty.”
This guy was crossing the line.
“Fine!” This I belted out, startling Jamar so much that he kicked his seat back, gliding back a good four feet until the chair nudged up against the inner wall. “I guess assholes like you don’t know when to stop, huh?” I pulled my watch off, dropped it on the reception counter in front of him, dug into my other front pocket and slapped the movie ticket next to the watch, and then laid on the gusto, pulling my wallet out with a flourish and tossing it down next to the other items.
“You satisfied?”
Niki had a huge grin on his face. “Much better, yes.”
He reached out and grabbed the watch, pocketed it. Slid the bills out — three tens and two fives. He pocketed those too. I still had forty dollars tucked into my front pocket, but saw no sense in being charitable.
There was a soft clicking sound behind me, over my left shoulder, but Niki was enjoying himself too much to notice it.
“I suppose you want my goddamned school ring, too?” I grasped the ring, then held my breath.
The big oaf smiled and gestured for me to toss it to him. It slid off easily, and I nudged it across the counter to him.
“That’s more like it.” He picked the ring up, apparently impressed by the stone, then slid it onto his baby finger. Thank God it fit.
Got him. I saw Jamar’s seat turn as he faced me, a look of confusion on his face.
I held to the act, snarling. “Now get out of here. Leave us alone!”
“For now, Donnie Elder. But if you speak to my employers again, it will not go well for you, or your colleagues.” He snarled at Jamar, and for just a moment I considered going after him then and there. But I wanted him to get the full experience of the ring before putting the squeeze on, so I shut up.
The big man turned, a chuckle rumbling in his gut.
I watched him stroll across the parking lot to his car, a blocky old BMW 325 that probably reminded him of home. He opened the door and, with some work, managed to finagle his body into the driver’s seat. As he did, I noticed something fall from his pocket to the ground. Maybe my wallet? Seemed almost too much luck to ask for, but I had seen what that ring could do.