Enforcer: A Prequel Novella to the New Mafia Trilogy (10 page)

Mike’s protests were over and he was eerily calm, as if
resolved to his fate. We made our way down a narrow hallway, the walls stained
with dampness, some of the moisture green with algae and glistening. A faint
light could be seen up ahead, which grew brighter as we continued our
procession. Suddenly the narrowness opened up to a larger room where Marco,
Rico and Al stood in the center. Big Tone, Little Tone, Telly and Sal, Telly’s
father, formed a loose circle around them. I shouldn’t have been surprised to
see Dominic emerge from where he had been standing in the shadows to join the
group since he was gradually becoming more involved in the business. Three battery
powered lanterns were on the floor by their feet. Marco and Rico stepped to the
side revealing a single brown metal folding chair placed over a sheet of
plastic.

          “Sit down,” Marco told Mike who slowly complied. Sal
squatted down and proceeded to restrain Mike to the chair with a piece of rope,
wrapping his torso, keeping his arms bound to his side.

          “Marco, we can work this out. Whatever you think…”

          “Shut up!” Marco screamed. His face was an
alarming shade of red and spittle sprayed out from his mouth. Mike flinched,
but didn’t say another word. Marco gestured towards Dominic and I watched as he
moved forward to stand in front of Mike. Dom looked at his Uncle who nodded.
Straightening his shoulders, Dom turned back to face Mike and without any warning,
lunged, popping him right in the nose. It caved in under the force of Dom’s
fist and he grunted when his head snapped back. The chair threatened to tip
backwards, but Mike righted it, leaning forward to counterbalance. He may have
had his nose broken a few times before, but that doesn’t make anyone immune to
the throbbing pain that had to have been wrapping around his face. I gave Mike
some credit, he had balls sitting there and refusing to acknowledge the pain I
knew he was experiencing. Instead he glared defiantly at Marco while blood poured
out, soaking the front of his black shirt, making it gleam in the dull light.

          “Why’d you do it? Who set you up?”

Mike didn’t say anything at first; just spit blood on Marco’s
black leather shoes, which earned him another punch, this time in the mouth.

          “We’re family, Mikey. Your mother is rolling over
in her grave right now knowing you went against your own.”

          “Leave my mom out of it, this has nothin’ to do
with her, it’s strictly business.”

          “No. You fucked with my business and that makes it
personal. Tell me why.”

Mike kept his mouth shut, emphasizing the fat lip Dom had
just given him. Marco chuckled and nodded at Dom again. This time Mike received
two more punches to his face and I noticed Dom’s knuckles were broken open. By
this point, Mike’s eyes were beginning to swell and he was looking like he had
just gone six rounds in the ring.

          “You’re not getting out of that chair until you
tell me.”

          “Doesn’t matter, I’m dead anyway.”

          “I haven’t decided that. If you come clean…well,
you are family. Isn’t that right?” Marco turned away from Mike and directed
this question towards Rico and Al, winking conspiratorially.

          “Yeah, you’re family,” Rico echoed.     

          “Really?” Mike asked, visibly relaxing in the hard
metal chair. His shuffled his feet forward so he could stretch his legs out.
“Alright, I’ll talk.”

And talk he did. Apparently Miranda’s placement as manager
of Crimson pissed him off. He assumed he was going to be the one taking over
the high paying, high profile position.

          “What made you think that?” Marco asked. “I never
even considered you. You got brawn, but Miranda has ya in spades in the brains
department.”

          “Yeah, I know,” Mike admitted, lowering his head
as if ashamed.

          “So you were pissed. What happened?”

          “David Barker approached me about a promotional
opportunity at Lust. I’d be billed as a local celebrity and get paid to hang
out there, but in exchange for a favor.”

Well that explained why he was living so large in his own
private VIP room. The owner of Lust knew how to play Mike by appealing to his
ego.

          “You had to shut Crimson down. That was the favor,
huh?”

          “Yeah, now that I think about it, it wasn’t such a
good idea.”

          “’Ya think?” Marco said and pointed at Dom. “You
ready?” Dom licked his lips and nodded.

Dominic cut the rope from around Mike and hoisted him out of
the chair. “What’s going on?” Mike asked, his voice squeaking at the end.

          “You’re going home and tomorrow you’re going to
pay David Barker a visit and you’re going to tell him you’re done that you no
longer work for him. Understood?”

          “That’s it?”

          “Do you want me to change my mind?” Marco asked,
his thin lips curling up in a sinister smirk.

          “No! I’m really sorry, Marco. I fucked up,” Mike apologized
before docilely following us out of the dank building. He thought Marco was
going to forgive him that easily? Christ, he really wasn’t, as my mom liked to
say, the brightest bulb on the chandelier. 

An insistent buzzing, more annoying than a mosquito hovering
by my ear, broke through my sleep and I groaned, rolling over to the source of
the annoying sound. My phone that was charging on the table next my bed was
going off, the display the only source of light in the dark room. I didn’t
recognize the number, but answered anyway. Turns out it was Natalie calling
from her resident assistant’s cell phone.

          “Hey, Grant, are you still coming to get me
today?”

I looked over at the alarm clock and groaned. It was already
after two in the afternoon and I needed to be at work by six for a staff
meeting.

          “Yeah, yeah, I’ll be there in less than an hour.”

After a quick shower and scarfing down a protein bar, I was
on my way to pick up Natalie. She was waiting out front of her building;
sitting on a bench basking in the late afternoon sunlight with her head tilted
back, eyes closed. I honked the horn, causing her to jerk. She smiled and waved
when she saw me, quickly gathering up her stuff and skipping down the sidewalk
to my car. She slid in the passenger seat, tucking her backpack on the floor in
between her feet.

          “Where to first?” I asked.

          “The bank and then I need to get a new phone.”

I accompanied my sister on all of her errands, but let her
handle her business no matter how frustrated she became with the assistant
manager at the credit union or with the sales associate who helped her pick out
a new cell phone. Natalie needed to learn how to do things on her own.

It was after four when I dropped her off, but any anxiety
she had experienced from her first big city mishap seemed to have vanished.

          “Thanks bro!” She said with a big smile before
getting out of the car. “Don’t work too hard tonight.”

Oh, she had no idea.

Sunday nights were usually busy, but that night we were down
by close to fifty percent. Where the dance floor was jam packed, there were
visible gaps in between people. As I was walking by the VIP area, Marco flagged
me over. I mounted the steps that led to the elevated section and made my way
over to his table where he was holding court with Rico and Al.

          “I don’t like it this quiet,” Marco said and I
knew he wasn’t talking about the music.

          “Me either. It’s noticeable, isn’t it?”

          “Yeah. Listen, Dom is coming here. When he shows
up, bring him to me. I need to talk to the both of youse.”

          “You got it.” Dismissed, I went back out to the
main floor and continued my rounds, checking in on my staff and keeping an eye
out for issues. I ran into Miranda as I was passing the kitchen. She had a large
white ceramic bowl full of Cobb salad in one hand and her office keys in
another. Her hair was pulled up and piled on top of her head, the style
elongated her neck. I forced myself to look away from the exposed skin and met
her gaze.

          “Need a hand?” I asked, taking the keys from her.

          “Thanks.”

I led the way to her office, clearing a path to ensure no
one knocked into her. Once inside, I placed the keys on her desk and shut the
door. She sighed and sat down heavily in her chair. The screen from her laptop
cast her in a blue glow.

          “That bad, huh?” I asked.

          “You’ve seen it out there. It’s a freakin’
graveyard. Between being closed last night and now this, it set us back for
revenue.”

Fucking Mike was responsible for this. I didn’t like that he
was putting frown lines on my girl’s face.
Whoa, my girl? Slow your roll,
Grant.

          “Don’t worry about it, we’ll rebound. Last winter
we had a slump because of all the snowstorms, but we made up for it in the
spring.”

Miranda was picking over her salad as if inspecting each
piece of lettuce. She sighed again and set her fork down. “I know, but I’m not
off to a very auspicious start as the manager here.”

          “These circumstances are beyond your control, but
your dad’s not going to let this slide. Trust me, things will work out.”

Her shoulders relaxed and she picked her fork back up.
“Thanks for the pep talk, Grant. Now, don’t you have a job to do?” She said
with a wink and flash of a smile.  

Yeah, I did and that included righting the wrong against
Miranda. She didn’t deserve the stress and not only was she an amazing woman,
but she was a hell of a manager.

Minutes later I got called to the front desk to escort
Dominic back to VIP. He wasn’t 21 yet and Rico didn’t let him hang out at
Crimson so his eyes were busy taking everything in and I chuckled because I’d
had the same reaction my first time through.

Marco didn’t waste any time getting down to business. “Mike
called me and said he was heading over to Lust tonight to meet with Barker.
Dominic, this is your initiation. It’s time. I want you to intercept Mike. He
never makes it to his appointment. Got it?”

Dominic swallowed hard and nodded. “Yeah, Uncle Marco, I got
this.”

Marco turned to look at me. “You’re to go with in case
something gets fucked up. I want Marco dead.”

          “Understood.” I looked at my phone. We had less
than an hour before Mike was scheduled to arrive at Lust.

Rico stood up from the table and hugged his son. “Do us
proud tonight. You got your piece?”

          “Yeah,” Dom lifted the front of his baggy black
t-shirt to reveal the handle of his gun. He had it tucked into the front of his
jeans without a holster. Jesus, I thought to myself, and hoped this cocky kid
was smart enough to have the safety on.

I made arrangements with Joey D. to cover for me before Dom
and I left the club. We took my car and drove in silence to Mike’s
neighborhood. Dom’s left leg was extra fidgety and he kept tapping his foot
against the floor mat.

          “Nervous?” I asked.

          “Nah man, I’m cool.”

Right, I thought and shook my head. Dom was going to find
out that killing a man was far from cool.

          “It’s best not to think about it.”

          “I got this,” Dom snapped and proceeded to ignore
me the rest of the ride, but his foot continued its tap dance.

We parked a few cars down from Mike’s apartment. His light
was on in the front window enabling us to watch him move around. He was on his
phone and pacing around the room, occasionally peering out of the window at the
street below. When the light switched off, Dominic tensed up and pulled the gun
out of his pants, releasing the safety. I quickly surveyed the neighborhood for
any witnesses, but it was close to eleven on a Sunday night and things were
relatively quiet, even the corner grocery store at the end of the block was
closed.

Mike appeared in the doorway to his building and he skipped
down the front steps. He started walking in our direction and passed by my car,
not even noticing us sitting inside. As soon as he was past, Dom opened his door
and silently got out. I quickly turned off the dome light to avoid attention.
Dom followed Mike around the corner and disappeared. Seconds later I heard the
report and started my car. Dom came running and practically dove into the
passenger seat. Calmly, I pulled out and drove away from the crime scene.

Dom’s normally tan skin was ashen and he was close to
hyperventilating, making a wheezy, gasping sound. We were almost to his
parent’s house when he told me to stop the car. The moment I stopped, he opened
the door and leaned out to puke onto the street. My nose wrinkled as the smell
wafted in, so I rolled down my window. After a few dry heaves, he straightened
up and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

          “You good?” I asked and he nodded so I put the car
in drive and kept on going. “There’s a pack of gum in the console,” I told him.

          “Thanks,” he said and opened up the lid, pulling
out a piece.

          “It doesn’t get any easier, you just learn to tuck
it away – lock it up so you can function.”     

          “I’m fine.”

I wanted to call him out on it and tell him he was lying,
but I remembered that I had to learn on my own and maybe that was part of the
process. This was Dom’s initiation and he was no longer just Rico’s son, he had
just moved up the ranks to become an enforcer like me. The poor kid needed a
drink.

When we pulled up in front of his parent’s house, Rico was
waiting out front with a tumbler of scotch in one hand. We both got out of the
car and walked over.

          “Is it done?” Rico asked Dom.

          “Yeah.” He sat down on the stoop next to his dad
as if he carried sand bags on his shoulders. Dom’s color had improved somewhat,
but he was still pale. Rico handed his son the glass of scotch and he tipped it
back, taking a big gulp.

          “Any witnesses?”

          “No, it was clean,” I assured him. “You need
anything else?”

          “Nah, go home. Marco will settle up with you
later.”

          “Take it easy Dom. Like I said, it’s easier to
tuck this shit away.”

          “I’m fine,” he said and glared at me, his jaw
jutted out from clenching his teeth.

I looked over at Rico and he waved me off, “I’ll take it
from here, thanks Grant.”

That was okay with me. I didn’t want to mentor the punk or
anything. The kid could be a real asshole.

Adrenaline was still coursing through my veins so I hit the
gym. It was open twenty-four seven and perfect since I never knew what my
schedule was going to be like one day from the next. I always kept a gym bag in
the trunk. One thing this life taught me was to always be prepared.

At this time of the night, the gym was practically empty. I
ran five miles on the treadmill as a warm up before hitting the weights. I was
benching 395, over seventy-five pounds more than high school. My muscle mass
had definitely increased and I needed the size; that alone intimidated people.

I showered and changed back into my work clothes. On the way
home to my apartment, I drove by Crimson and saw that Miranda’s car was the
only one left in the employee parking lot, which had significantly more
lighting since Mike slashed her tires.

Pulling in, I parked next to her car and could smell the
rubber from her brand new tires. I went in through the employee entrance,
pleased to find at least this was locked. The idea of Miranda inside alone,
didn’t sit right with me. Only the minimum lights were on, making the shadows
even larger and darker. Miranda’s office door was closed and thin beam of light
could be seen through the crack at the bottom. I knocked once before sliding my
key in the lock and took a quick step back as soon as the door swung open.

Miranda was sitting behind her desk, but she had a gun
pointed at me. “Sweet Jesus, Grant!” she yelled, making sure the safety was on
before setting her pistol down on top of the desk. “You scared the shit out of
me.”

Holding my hands up in mock surrender, I stepped into the
room. “Do you even know how to use that?” I asked, pointing at her piece.

          “Of course I do. I’m a Grabano, I think I got it
as a Confirmation present.” She tossed her hair back over her shoulder and
looked at me, her right eyebrow raised.

          “Really?”

Miranda laughed and shook her head. “Just kidding I did get
it as an eighteenth birthday for myself though. Dad wasn’t thrilled about it,
but whatever. We should go shooting together sometime. I heard you’re a good
shot.”

          “I am a good shot…been told I have excellent aim.”
I lowered my voice suggestively when I said this and she actually blushed.

          “You’re not shooting blanks?” she teased back,
leaning forward on her desk, causing her shirt to dip open, revealing the edge
of her black lace bra. God damn, this playful side of Miranda was fucking hot.

          “No, I keep my gun clean and my ammo is the real
deal.”

She laughed again and I caught her glancing at my crotch.
“Well, it sounds like we need to make a date. I need someone who can keep up
with me.”

          “I’m down anytime.” At this point I wasn’t sure if
we were still talking about going shooting together or something else entirely
and I didn’t care. I was just psyched that Miranda was letting her guard down
around me. Marco’s threat was the furthest thing from my mind when Miranda was
near and that wasn’t a good thing.

CHAPTER TWELVE

My life fell into a somewhat regular routine over the next few
months. After Lust practically burnt to the ground, the result of an
“electrical fire”, business at Crimson picked back up and was even busier than
before. Miranda and I made Tuesday afternoons our shooting date and even
Natalie seemed to have fallen into her own routine. Between her classes and
working as a server at Friday’s, I hardly ever heard from her. My concern about
having to bail her out of one crisis after another was unfounded. Business with
Marco was booming too. People were having a hard time paying back their loans
or their protection money so I was busy collecting and busting heads. He even
stopped extending credit to several people at the gambling houses, picking up
the services of a doctor from the Mainline in exchange. That wasn’t a bad deal.
We always needed a doctor.

It was early November when I picked Miranda up at her house
for our shooting session. Miranda was wearing skinny jeans and a black leather
jacket that hugged her curves. I enjoyed watching her walk toward the car.
There was one area in my life that deviated from my usual routine and it was a
big change. I had stopped fucking around with women. I just couldn’t get
interested enough, not even for a quick screw. There was only one woman who
held my interest and she was sliding into my car, her large handbag, the one
she used to transport her gun and bullets, clunked heavily on the floor.