CHAPTER 8
“A body was found in floating down the Pecos
river this morning, the police have not been able to identify…”
“Curse you, Johansson, curse
you!” Asdis muttered furiously flipping off the TV. “Wefel?” she paged.
“Yes, Doctor?”
“Contact Scott Elem for me.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
A few minutes later the phone
rang. “Hello?” Asdis answered expectantly.
“Asdis, it’s me, Elem,” a rough
voice cave over the phone.
“Elem, I want you to find some
boys to - um - give Hayden Ares some hospitality.”
“What about Johansson?”
“I’ll invite him to my house.”
“I’ll get my boys to contact him
immediately.”
“No! I don’t want a lot of
attention.”
“Oh, I see.”
“You do?”
“Yes.”
“Good, I expect to know how the
dinner went over the news report tomorrow.”
“It will be a pleasant supper!”
“I am sure it will be. I hate to
miss it, but I am busy.”
“One more thing.”
“Yes?”
“The payment?”
“This is a measly meal, you can
afford a favor.”
“No, I can’t.” Elem replied
cooly.
“Very well,” Asdis replied in
exasperation, “One grand.”
“Nonsense, five.”
“Half a million? That’s
ridiculous! You know I am on a limb bargaining over the phone!”
“Four,” the man replied evenly.
“One fifty.”
“Three fifty.”
Asdis hissed through her teeth,
“Two.”
“Three fifty.”
“Two…”
“Three fifty or I’ll hang up
right now.”
“Three fifty. The usual account.”
Asdis agreed with a sigh. She knew she was trying to rip him off and he
was too smart for that. It annoyed her, but she couldn’t help but a respect a
talented criminal mind like herself.
*Click* She knew that she would
soon have what she wanted. Three fifty grand was a small price to pay for such
short notice. She had no idea where in the world Elem was or how quick he’d
have to act to find the boys to the job. He couldn’t use his usual crew. She
was actually asking for much, once she thought about the details of the job. At
least she knew he wouldn’t fail.
“Hades, where have you been?”
“Trailing the kid, what do you
think?”
“Did you hear the news?” Hades
shook his head. “About the murder?”
“Was that you?” Hades asked
hotly.
“It was one of Asdis’ men.
They’ve been trailing us.”
“Asdis has it in for you now,” Hades shook his
head.
“You think I don’t know that?”
Seth hissed, “And the police will be on the trail, too!”
“I wouldn’t worry about that,”
Hades answered languidly, “Asdis won’t want you to get arrested because of the
damage it might do to her. She’ll kill you first.”
“I know she will!” Seth nearly
shouted.
“Why couldn’t you have taken care
of him quietly? At least have thought of a better place to hide the body,”
condemned Hades.
“So you think you could have done better?”
challenged Seth, “Do you think you would have done
better?”
“I did do better. I caught two of her men shadowing me earlier.
Both have found their way to their graves just fine.”
“Is that what’s up with your
face?”
“It’s not that bad.”
“No, it just looks like someone
mistook it for a baseball with a bat.”
“Shut up, I didn’t use my gun so
the bullet can’t be tracked, unlike yours, and their bodies haven’t been found,
unlike your man.”
“What did you do with them?”
“One I hid in fresh cement and
the other I dumped into a ravine.”
Seth stared at him. Fresh cement?
He wondered what it would be like in twenty, thirty, maybe more years when the
cement is dug up and a body is found. It was slightly amusing and slightly
horrifying to him. “Two? And you managed them alone?”
“What did I say, leave the
violence to me,” Hades didn’t mention that his entire torso and back were
rainbow colors and sore as anything. “Anyway, what are we going to do?”
“Watch our backs, we’re almost
done.”
“Getting the kid, but what about
harvesting?”
“We can wait a few years,” Seth
suggested.
“A few years!” Hades yelped,
starting from his chair he had been laying in, “I’ve waited almost five!”
“She’ll be after you, too, you
know?”
Hades grumbled something under
his breath.
“I’m going to set some of my guys
on to her,” Seth mouthed. Hades looked at him oddly then understood.
“I’ll check,” he mouthed back. He
spent the rest of the evening searching through the apartment for bugs and
cameras. If he couldn’t find them, they weren’t there and they weren’t.
“By the way,” Hades mentioned
cautiously as Seth prepared for bed, “I’m going to be gone early this morning.”
“How early? Where?”
“Around three. I don’t know how
long. I’ll probably be back before you’re up. If you hear the door, don’t come
running out waving a loaded gun, okay? I’ll have one with me when you do.”
“Fine,” Seth closed his bedroom
door as Hades closed his.
It was just before dawn and a tan
truck sat pulled off the road. There weren’t many people driving down that road
at that time. Two people sat inside. One in the driver’s seat and the other in
the passenger seat. It was Selena and Hades. Selena had snuck out of the hotel
room and met Hades around three that morning.
They chatted it up about nearly
anything, alluding very little to Seth and Hades’ job. Hades had his arm over
Selena’s shoulder, but that was all she would allow, saying that she didn’t
like to move forward in relationships too fast. “Besides, if I give you
everything,” she laughed, “before making you like me, then you’ll be done before I have a chance to show you how much
you need me, because you do.” Hades did not protest.
“So, are you taking me to meet
your boss today?” Selena asked as the sun crept up, her chair pushed down and
her high heel shoed feet resting on the dashboard.
“I don’t have a boss,” replied
Hades moodily.
“That’s a relief,” answered the
young woman carelessly.
“Sure, I’ll take you to meet my
partner today, but later.”
“Whatever you want, but I’ll be
going in a few days if not,” informed Selena.
Hades glanced at her curiously
then said cautiously, “What do you mean if not?”
Selena laughed awkwardly, “Well…
uh… I don’t know.” Her eyes darted around the truck anxiously.
“I think I see what you mean,”
saved Hades, “if Seth blows his top and I can’t calm him down, you’ll go back
to your family. If he gives the A-ok, you’ll stay with me.”
“That about sums up what I know
of it,” confirmed Selena.
“Then I think I’ll introduce you
tomorrow,” Hades told her uncomfortably. His mind went over Seth’s possible
reaction. If he couldn’t convince his partner she was a good idea, she’d be
heading back to wherever she lived in the US with her family and Seth would
have be furious with him. That was not a comfortable thought. Loyalty only went
among criminals so far. Even the best of friends had to watch their backs for a
dagger.
There was a moment of silence
when Selena happened to glance out the window down the road. “Uhh… Hades!” she
murmured anxiously.
Hades looked. Barreling down on
them was a van with at least two obviously armed men inside. He muttered a four
letter word before saying, “It’s Asdis’ people!”
“Who?” Selena sat up before
immediately dropping back down. The van had squealed broad side off the road
and a shot was fired out. Selena threw her arms over her face as she flipped over
to protect herself from the shards of glass that flew around the cab of the
truck mini-seconds later. Hades shoved open his door which was on the far side
from the attacking van and crawled out. Selena scampered over the middle table
and climbed out, ducking behind the tire and slamming the door shut.
Hades was crouching behind the
open back door and pulling something out. Selena glanced up just in time to see
him pull out a fully automatic AK-47. Slamming the back door shut, he crawled
around Selena, cocked his gun, and, setting it on the hood of the truck, shot
several rounds before ducking back. This time, Selena had her own
semi-automatic glock out and cocked.
Suddenly, both she and Hades
became aware that the van was driving again. It was driving straight towards
them.”What are they thinking,” Selena cried rolling to the edge of the front of
the truck. Hades was right behind her.
“If we jump out fast enough…
hurry, this side,” he pulled her to the other side of the truck, “they won’t
expect us from this end. When I say go, we jump, raise your gun and shoot.”
Selena nodded. “Go!” The two jumped out of the way just as the van barreled
into the truck pushing it. The van’s glass shattered. Selena’s eyes scanned the
area. Where were the drivers? Hades lifted his AK-47 and shot two times. Her
eyes darted to where he had shot. One then another bloody body fell to the
ground. “Played right into her hands,” Hades shook his head and muttered.
“What?”
“Asdis only hires professionals,”
Hades warned, “These fools are obviously not. The only experience they’ve ever
had is from action movies. Asdis set them up for something she knew I could
handle.”
“Why?”
“Because an anonymous tip is
going to float into the police station as soon as they investigate telling them
about a tourist who might just be the one they are looking for,” Hades snapped
irritably, “This is bad. Look, you’re in on this now, and the fact is, you
can’t get out.”
“What exactly are you saying?”
Selena looked him sassily in the eye.
“I’m saying it will be in your
best interest to be willing to work with us. The good news now is that that
Seth can’t say no unless he wants another murder.”
“Hmm… well, I didn’t want to go
anywhere anyway.”
Hades smiled at her while saying,
“I’m calling Seth.”
“Seth? This is Hades. Where are
you?... Perfect, come out and get us, will you?... It’s not like I’ve not put
myself in a risky position for you plenty of times, you get out here or else!”
If he had been using a flip phone he would have slammed it shut, but as it was,
he could only furiously press the ‘end-call’ button. Not nearly as satisfying.
“Seth is coming. Here, let’s get into this field so nobody who stops can see
us.”
He and Selena climbed through the
barbed fence. Selena tore her skinny jeans, but they were already artificially
torn, so it didn’t look much different. Her shirt though she’d be getting rid
of as soon as she was home. Hades couldn’t have cared less about his clothes
and if they were torn or not. He wore blue jeans and a basic grey T-shirt. Selena
could tell Hades was worried someone would arrive and report the accident
before Seth arrived, but thankfully Seth arrived first.
He
was not very happy and glared as they approached. “Who’s that?” he nodded
towards Selena.
“My girlfriend and our new confederate.
Drive on,” Hades climbed in front seat and Selena climbed in the back.
“Your what?” Seth hissed pulling
back onto the road.
“I said it once I won’t say it
again,” Hades replied.
“Look, girl, what’s your name?”
Seth looked back at Selena through the rearview mirror.
“Selena,” she replied.
“You don’t want this guy, he’s
way older than you and he’s done things a kid like you can’t imagine. Why don’t
you go back to your family or whoever before it’s too late,” Seth pleaded in a
fatherly voice so far from his heart Hades nearly vomited. Instead, he crossed
his arms angrily.
“That’s alright, I think I know
what I am getting myself into,” Selena shook her head, “I think it’s
wonderfully thrilling and I also think you’ll find me a more helpful
confederate than you can imagine. I am eighteen, but you’d be surprised about
what I know. For instance, your illegal AK-47 was bought on the black market in
New York two years ago. It cost you a bit, ‘cause there were only forty in that
shipment and plenty of demand for them.”
Hades started, “How’d you know
that?”
“My boyfriend helped receive the
shipment.”
“See, Hades, she’s taken.”
“No, I broke up with him three
months later. He was a stupid jerk and when I say stupid, I mean he was
unintelligent. I had no patience for it,” told Selena.
“You won’t get much better from
this guy,” Seth grumbled. Hades barely restrained himself from a violent
reaction.
“I think I will,” replied Selena
coyly.
“Not if I have anything to do
with it,” Seth muttered.
“It’s too late, Seth, she knows
too much anyway,” Hades interrupted. Seth glanced back at Selena and observed
her until Hades exclaimed about a curve in the road.
“Fine, you’re in,” Seth gave a
sharp nod returning his attention to his driving.
“You mean it?” Hades asked
warily.
“I do,” was the resolved answer.
Hades knew Seth’s voice when he didn’t really mean what he said, but he seemed
very honest right here. He knew Seth wouldn’t risk killing her while he was on
her side. Selena smiled in relief. She hadn’t realized she had been holding her
breath.
“Hades! Hades!” a furious voice
shouted several hours later from the living room of the apartment. Hades
stumbled out of bed he felt like he had just climbed into and wandered into the
room, groggy eyed. “Listen to this!” As it was, there was nothing to listen to
because the anchor had just finished the report and was moving on to others
topics. “The crash is all over the news! The police are trying to identify the
victims! How much longer do you suppose until Asdis give her anonymous tip?”
“She won’t do it right away,”
Hades replied in a morning voice.
“Thank goodness for that,”
snapped Seth, “We have to move fast!”
“We can stick to the plan and
bring him in tonight,” Hades said, “but we’ll have to grab him this time. No
more psycho stuff.”
“Fine!” Seth relented. He was too
prideful to admit that that had been a foolish attempt made for his scholarly
curiosity.
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