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

“Well, I see it like this. Brandon killed Ron to get even for using him when they worked together. Since Brandon used to be a detective, he knows just how to set up a crime scene to make it look like he had nothing to do with it, even though he was there. The guy in the red suit is the equivalent of a fall guy, so the cops or any of us won’t suspect he’s the one doing this stuff. No one has ever seen him, but everywhere Brandon goes as of late, someone dies. This would explain how the guy knew how to commit the crime and not leave a single trace behind. I mean, tell me this doesn’t sound suspicious to any of you?”

“You’re right, boss, and we are thinking the same thing you are about all of this. So, it’s settled, we are going to take care of Brandon. Say the word, Skeeter, and it will happen tonight,” Frankie said on the verge of running out the door to perform what he perceived as my bidding. I could see it in his eyes that he wanted blood, and I did too, but we had to be careful how we went about it.

“Easy now, Frankie, you’ll get your chance. It’s clear to me that something has snapped inside the guy for him to start killing people in the way he’s doing it. I’ve only ever met a few guys in this line of work who are capable of inflicting that amount of punishment on another human being. We have to be absolutely sure that it was Brandon, and we need to make sure none of us are walking into a trap. We are going to need to be careful in how we take care of this one.”

“I agree, boss,” Enzo chimed in.

Frankie jumped up fully enraged by my words. “What? You two have got to be kidding me. No, this guy has to die tonight! Joey is our family, and if you won’t do anything about it, I will. There’s too much at stake here to let this go unpunished. If we don’t do something then we are going to lose a lot of respect and authority in the streets, and then we will end up like the Riccis, and I’m not going to let that happen!”

While he yelled, I calmly placed my cigar in the ash tray in front of me and turned the ring on my finger to catch him just right across his cheek as I shot up and delivered a hard-right hook to his face. As the lights temporarily dimmed in Frankie’s eyes, I grabbed him by his jacket and drove him back into and up against the wall.

Enzo stood up too and got in Frankie’s face.

“You want to threaten me you piece of trash? Where do you get off? Did you forget that I’m the boss of this family, and that includes you the last time I checked!”

“No, boss, I’m sorry,” Frankie yelled out as he struggled against my grip. He began to panic at the potentially fatal error he made by stepping out of line with me.

“Do I have to remind you that the chain of command is extremely important in our business? And when it’s not followed to the letter, bad things start to happen for all parties involved.”

“You don’t, Skeeter, I’m sorry! But this guy has to pay. Joey was like a brother to me.”

I pulled Frankie from the wall and pushed him back down in his chair as he rubbed his cheek like a scolded dog. I nodded at Enzo, and he sat back down.

“Joey was like a brother to all of us,” I yelled as I stood over Frankie. “You’re not going to cry about that punch to your face, now are you? Take it like a man for crying out loud!”

“I’m not going to cry, Skeeter, and I’m sorry. I stepped out of line, and it won’t happen again.”

“Good. Now, like I was trying to say before you decided to flip a switch, is that I agree with you. Brandon needs to be taken care of, but we have to be smart about this. Every guy we clip leaves us open to exposure to the police and other federal agencies if it’s not done right, so we don’t need to take any unnecessary risks. Our business already has enough as it is,” I said as I got up and poured myself another drink.

I downed it quickly, and then poured myself another before I continued. I was mad that the alcohol had little to no effect on my mood, and all I wanted to do was bury my fist in Frankie’s face.

“Brandon is a person of interest in this case for the cops, so they are going to be watching him. So, Frankie, since you want blood so bad, you’re going to take care of this quietly, and you better not screw it up. I mean it, if you get busted, you’ll never make it out of the first holding cell they put you into.”

“Okay boss, I hear you, but don’t you think Enzo should do this? After all, it is his specialty,” Frankie said as he tried his best to keep his voice from shaking.

Enzo continued to give Frankie a dirty look from across the table, but he knew better, and kept his mouth shut.

“Did you not learn anything from a second ago? You don’t make the calls around here, I do. If I wanted Enzo to take care of Brandon, then I would have told him to!”

“I didn’t mean any disrespect, Skeeter. I just meant that don’t you think Enzo should help me do this?”

“What are you, deaf? Am I speaking in a foreign language, or did that punch knock you stupid?”

“I’m not deaf, and your punch didn’t knock me stupid.”

“Then stop acting like a weasel. You’re making me sick. You’re a captain for crying out