The Wrath Walker (The Wrath Series Book 1) by Matthew Newson (moboreader txt) 📕

but not all people or government agencies looked at our line of work the same way we did. I believed the term others used to describe our line of work was organized crime, which an organized criminal is what you had to be to make a decent living in Black Castle. I went to the bar and poured each of us a shot of whiskey and handed them to my companions. We all raised our glasses.

“To Black Castle, the city that has been so good to us.”

We all downed our shots, and then Frankie opened his fat mouth and spoke first as I tried to savor the smooth taste of that finely aged whiskey. His pride never afforded the opportunity to let someone else speak first.

“So, Skeeter, you brought us all here for something important I assume, so what can we do for you?” Frankie wiped away the whisky that ran down the sides of his mouth with his hand like a child.

I stood there quietly for a moment with my eyes closed, enjoying the whiskey as it settled nicely in my stomach. I was the boss, and I wasn’t going to let Frankie’s arrogance stop me as I enjoyed one of my favorite drinks. I took in a deep breath quietly and released it loudly as I opened my eyes and looked around the room with a satisfied smile on my face.

“First of all, gentlemen, thank you for coming here this evening on such short notice. I hope you can forgive me for interrupting whatever your evening plans were, but I have news from my informant in the Black Castle PD that must be discussed immediately.”

“Just tell us who we need to take care of, boss, and consider them done,” Frankie said as he motioned towards Enzo with a smile.

Enzo flashed a stern look at Frankie which caused him to immediately quiet down and look back at me.

I decided to ignore Frankie’s idiotic comment, which I knew would embarrass and anger him, but he needed to be reminded of his place. “Gentlemen, I received word a short while ago that our old associate, Ron Horn, is no longer with us. He was murdered a few hours ago.”

“I guess that’s one less man on the payroll,” Frankie said as he laughed and gave Joey a slap on the shoulder.

“Yes, Frankie, that is true, I did not call you here this evening to revel in Ron’s demise. As you all know, the intel and muscle Ron provided to us in the beginning was critical in our takeover of the city from the Riccis. Even after he got out of prison, he still had a way of getting information from the police that was very helpful and allowed us to stay one step ahead of our enemies. After all, that is why I kept him on the payroll, even when he went to prison, because he was the golden goose that kept on giving.”

“Are we at a disadvantage now that he is gone, Skeeter?” Joey asked in a respectful tone after observing my displeasure toward Frankie’s earlier comments.

“I believe we will be fine, Joey, I have another well-placed and secure informant who has proved to be quite useful. This is the same informant who contacted me just a few moments after Ron was dead and told me of his unfortunate passing. I bet the body wasn’t even cold before they made the call. Now, you’re probably wondering who my source is, but I’m going to keep that one to myself for the time being. However, we may have a potential problem facing us at the moment.”

“What’s the problem, sir?” Enzo asked.

“Apparently, Ron’s former partner, Brandon Farmer, was there when Ron was murdered. He witnessed the entire event right before his eyes and did nothing to stop it from happening. He said he was incapacitated by the attacker, and the police believed his story and cut him loose a little while ago, just like that. But I don’t need to remind you how Brandon feels toward each person in this room. He did say he would bring us all to justice one day, but he abandoned that notion when we threatened to kill his girlfriend at the time. Now, he’s a loser P.I. living in an old part of the city with very little to his name. Maybe he feels he has nothing left to lose.”

“Boss, do you really think he did it?” Joey asked. “We all remember Brandon being angry, but we all agreed that he was all talk and no bite back then.”

“Yes, I remember, but he said some guy in a red suit killed Ron.”

“Red suit. Like Santa Claus?” Frankie laughed and looked around the room expecting others to join in with him.

By that point I had enough of Frankie’s interruptions, and I reached over and grabbed Frankie by his lower jaw. “Frankie, if you interrupt me one more time with another one of your idiotic jokes, I’m going to have Enzo rip your tongue out. Do you understand me?” I forcefully pushed his head back.

Frankie lowered his gaze and was terrified because he knew I was serious.

“Yes sir. I apologize, I didn’t mean any disrespect. I’ll stop.”

“Thank you. Now, like I was saying, Brandon, said a man in a red business suit, white dress shirt, black tie, black gloves, and black dress shoes killed Ron. Apparently, he picked him up with one hand, and stabbed Ron in the chest with a knife before he dropped him to the floor. The guy claimed he knew about how Ron killed all those old folks with a knife for not moving when we told them to, so I’m only going to ask this once. Have any one of you been running your mouth about our former business dealings?”

The guys looked at each other, and they all seemed to answer at once. “Not me, boss.”

“That’s what I figured because you know what would happen to you if you did, and Ron was always