LITMIR.BIZ

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with what you’ll do if I lie? I really don’t know! Look at me, I’m shakin’ I’m so fuckin’ scared. If I knew who it was, I’d tell ya, just to make sure I stay alive! I told you I’d cooperate, and I will. I’m just sayin’ you better fuckin’ watch who you tell, ’cause I’m puttin’ my life in your hands!”

      “We’ll be very selective on who knows,” said Jack.

      “If you’re not, I’m dead.” He nodded toward the desk and asked, “Can I get up now and sit down?”

      “Got a piece in your desk?” asked Jack.

      Lance smiled briefly. “No, it’s not in my desk. It’s fastened in a holster under the drawer. I wasn’t gonna do you guys. I bet someone knows you’re here?”

      Jack ignored the question as he retrieved the pistol from underneath the desk drawer. “Not a bad piece of hardware: 9 mm,” he said casually, before returning the pistol to where he had found it.

      “You’re not takin’ it from me?” asked Lance.

      “No, it would only inconvenience you until you got another one. We don’t want to change how you operate. We just want to be informed. So have a seat. We have a few questions.”

      Lance got up off the floor, and after a few nervous glances at Jack and Danny, he pulled out the chair from the desk. He was careful to place his hands flat on top of the desk as he sat down. Jack sat on the edge of the desk, looking down at him, while holding the shotgun in one hand with the barrel pointing toward the ceiling. Danny stood to the side and held his weapon with both hands.

      “So why, Lance? Why’d they try to kill me?”

      “It wasn’t you! We thought you were a rat!”

      “Who told you?”

      “Wizard an’ Rolly. They have someone on the inside who lets them know what’s goin’ on. They call ’im The Suit. I don’t know his real name and have never seen him. He likes young broads. I heard Wizard and Rolly laughing about him one day. Does sort of a power trip on ’em. I think he uses a dog, too. Rolly used to handle the whores. I think that’s how they met the guy.”

      Jack thought about Marcie. He became conscious that the bullet wound in his upper arm hurt and realized that his fist was clenched. He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.

      Lance continued, “This guy has been talkin’ for years, but except for maybe Damien, the rest of us don’t know who he is, just in case.”

      “In case what?” asked Danny.

      “In case you guys infiltrate the club somehow. Only a select few know what’s goin’ on.”

      “Last week in the alley, how did Wizard and Rolly know what I looked like?” asked Jack.

      “Wiz knew some bitch who knew you. Red’s her name. You must know her; she said you’d been buying from her.”

      “I knew her.”

      “She met us in a room at the BW about half an hour before we tried to do ya. She told us what you were wearing. Don’t think she could help ya now. Wiz had her pegged as a loose end. Said he was gonna take care of her.”

      “She died of an overdose,” said Danny.

      “I’m pretty sure Wizard gave it to her,” replied Lance.

      “That’s what we figured,” said Jack. “How about Lenny? What happened with him?”

      “It was the same way as you, except with Lenny, we didn’t have any problems. I drove. Wiz shot ’im with a .22. It was the middle of the day and people were around, so he used a potato for a silencer. Rolly carved him up after. If somehow he got past them and ran, then I was supposed to drive over him.” Lance looked at Jack. “Just like with you, except I didn’t expect ya to run toward me. I couldn’t drive over ya because that dumb, fat Rolly was right on your ass.”

      “Does Wizard still have the gun?” asked Danny.

      “Naw, he probably threw it in the ocean. He never keeps it once he’s done a job.”

      “So tell me, Lance, who was it that blew up Crystal?” asked Jack.

      “Crystal? Was that the whore on the freeway who tried to skip out?”

      “Yes, that one,” said Jack, glancing at Danny. The knuckles on Danny’s hands turned white as he gripped the shotgun.

      Lance took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Oh man, I just don’t know,” he mumbled, putting his elbows on the table and holding his head with his hands.

      “What do you mean, you don’t know?” yelled Danny.

      “That’s not what I mean,” muttered Lance, shaking his head. “I just don’t know if I’m doin’ the right thing by talkin’. I didn’t mind about Lenny, ’cause I knew you had that one figured out, but…” His voice trailed off and there was silence as Lance grappled with his uncertainty.

      Jack picked up the family picture. Lance eyed him nervously as he laid the picture down on the desk between Lance’s elbows. Lance looked down at his family. They disintegrated before his eyes as Jack smashed the butt of his shotgun into the glass. Splinters of glass sprayed out while other pieces tore into the faces on the portrait. Lance fell back in his chair. His eyes were wide and his mouth opened and closed. Fear and anger made him speechless.

      Jack reached for the telephone and said to Danny, “I’m calling the office. We’ll have Wizard and Rolly arrested tonight.”

      “It was Axle and Nails! Don’t call, man! I’m tellin’ ya, it was them!”

      Jack was silent for a moment, then said, “There’s no going back now.”

      Lance looked at the picture and sighed, then said, “Yeah, I know.”

      Jack replaced the telephone receiver and asked, “What role did you play?”

      “I had nothin’ to do with that one! Nails was in some special branch of the army. He knows all about makin’ bombs an’ booby traps.”

      “Who besides Axle and Nails were involved?” asked Jack.

      “The hit would have been sanctioned by Wizard or Damien, but I don’t think anyone else was involved. It’s not the sort of thing you normally talk about, but a few of the boys were called out to watch hospitals and clinics the night we tried to whack you. Axle was paired up with me. He’s still striking and he told me all about how Nails planted a bomb on her car. He wanted to know if I thought he would get his patch for what happened.”

      “What role did Axle play?” asked Jack.

      “He stood six while Nails planted the bomb.”

      “That’s all? He was just a lookout?” asked Jack.

      “He also drove and followed the whore until Nails detonated the bomb. Axle supplies us with hot cars when we need ’em. Whatever he was drivin’ when they followed the whore would have been stolen. It was Axle who got me the car we used on Lenny. The same goes for the Volvo I used for you.”

      Jack leaned over, close to Lance’s face. Lance felt uncomfortable and started to roll his chair back, but Jack gripped the armrest. “What other murders do you know about?”

      Lance swallowed, then said, “Well, two others for sure.”

      “Start with the most recent one,” said Jack.

      “They were both killed together, not too long ago.”

      Jack found himself holding his breath, listening to every sound to come out of Lance’s mouth. This is it! His grip on the chair and shotgun became intense. His muscles rippled and the knife wound on his back oozed blood. He could see every blemish and pore on Lance’s face.

      “It was a couple of Vietnamese guys,” continued

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