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.But would Lorenzo blame Pablo and Corky? Who knew?Sometimes the boss chose one guy to make an example of, just to keep everyone else on their toes.Joey still remembered Freddy, Lorenzo’s last example, still remembered having to pull his cold, dead body from the trunk and then burying it in a patch of woods.Joey hadn’t really liked the man, but he hadn’t disliked him enough to see him dead.For a week, Joey had puked every time he thought about Freddy and the hole in the back of his head.Damn, he didn’t want to be the boss’s next example.He didn’t want to be the reason someone else puked their guts out.Not that most of Lorenzo’s hired help would care enough to lose their lunch.Killing was what most of them did.Not for the first time, Joey regretted accepting Lorenzo’s job offer.But with Joey’s size and his lack of education, he didn’t have a lot of employment opportunities.Being a bouncer had paid his rent, put food on his table and given him dough enough to occasionally take a woman out to dinner.From bouncing jobs he’d gotten a few gigs working as a bodyguard—and that was what he’d signed on to do for Lorenzo.Only, Lorenzo paid a hell of a lot more than anyone else.Sure, Joey knew Lorenzo was dirty, but he’d fooled himself into believing he could work for him without getting involved.And for what? The money.Why the fuck had he thought the money would make a difference? It didn’t.Joey kicked a tire so hard that he heard the bone in his big toe crack; then he let out another string of curses, words his crackwhore of a mother would have taken a toilet brush to his mouth for saying.His mom had sold her body for ten dollars a pop and then used most of the money to pay for her drug habit, saving her dimes and nickels to buy peanut butter and bread so her two sons wouldn’t starve.Sometimes, when the money was all used up, she’d sent them to the store to steal the peanut butter.Stealing and whoring were okay, but let him or his brother use a four-letter word, and they’d have toilet breath for weeks.To this day Joey didn’t eat peanut butter, and every time he really let loose with bad language he got a bad taste in his mouth.Jeezus! Why was he thinking of his dead mom and peanut butter? It had to be the accident, getting his brain knocked sideways.He reached up to the goose-egg-size lump on his head.He hadn’t given his mom this much thought in years.Some things were just best forgotten.A string of curses came from the car.With his toe throbbing, Joey limped around the other side and opened the passenger door.“I bet you wish you’d worn your seat belt like I told you now.”Donald spat.Blood oozed down the man’s face and dripped onto his black suit coat.“Why the fuck are some people so hard to kill?”Donald was talking about Luke Hunter and the redhead, of course.That’s when Joey realized why he’d been thinking about his mom.It was that woman, the one with Hunter.His mom had had red hair, too.“What the hell happened?” Donald snapped.“How did we wreck?”“I don’t know.”Joey let the question run around his addled brain.He remembered Donald shooting at the van and thinking that, if they caught up, he’d either have to help Donald kill the pair or at least witness it.The next thing Joey knew the car had gone into a swerve and started flipping.Not that he believed he’d done on it purpose.Surely he hadn’t done it on purpose.He wasn’t that stupid, was he? He sure as hell wouldn’t put his own life on the line to help save some woman he didn’t know.Not even a redhead who made him think about his mom.Nah, he wasn’t that good of a person.If he was, he’d have told Freddy about the orders to take him out.The thought sent a gush of acid into Joey’s gut.He looked at the cut over Donald’s brow.“You’re gonna need stitches.”“Why? I’m going to get a bullet in the brain if we don’t find that asshole.”Joey looked closer.“Bet I’ve told you a hundred times to wear your seat belt.Maybe now you’ll listen.”“Fuck you,” Donald said, and pulled out his cell phone.He dialed and waited, then: “We’re on Route 5, a couple miles down the road.Get the car here now! Joey fucked up and wrecked the car.” His eyes shot to Joey.“Hunter’s getting away.I don’t care if Corky’s hurt.If he can’t make it, shoot him.Just get here now before they get farther away [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]