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

My dismay at my perceived hopeless situation was immediately replaced with disdain as I stared at the man who was pointing a gun in my face. I wanted nothing more than to reach out and strangle him with my bare hands over and over again. I hadn’t been that close to that piece of trash since the trial, and he still reeked of the same cheap cologne that he used way too much of.

“What’s the matter, Brandon, are you deaf? I asked if you understood me!”

“Yeah. Yeah, I understand,” I said as my eyes darted back and forth between Frankie’s face and the nineteen-eleven in his hand. I judged by the large bore of the gun that it was chambered in forty-five ACP, and I didn’t stand a chance of surviving at that close of a distance. His face was red and filled with determination, and at that moment I knew the Amaras had blamed me for killing Joey and probably Ron, even though Ron had never become an official member of their criminal organization.

“Good. Now drive, and don’t get smart and try anything or I will blow your head off. You got that?”

“Yeah, I got that based off the gun you have in my face.”

Frankie smacked me hard on the side of my head with the pistol and caused me to see double for a second.

“I said don’t get smart with me, and that includes your stupid comments.”

“Alright, where are we going, Frankie?” I blinked hard several times to get the world around me to come back into focus.

“I’ll tell you when we get there. Take a right out of the parking lot and keep going straight until I tell you to turn again, and I’m going to keep this gun pointed at you the entire time so I wouldn’t make any hard turns if I were you. You wouldn’t want my finger to slip accidently, now would you?”

“Does it really matter? I’m a dead man anyway, aren’t I?”

“You’re not as stupid as you look, Brandon.”

I nodded as I slowly backed out of my parking spot. I thought about all the ways I could grab my gun under my seat and unload the magazine in his head, and some of them brought a smile to my face. I had to get him distracted so I could make a move without him knowing what I was doing. He was supposed to be the funny guy, but I judged from the cut on his cheek, he got smacked for something. If I had to guess, he probably stepped out of line with someone higher up than him. Anyway, I figured if I could get him talking, then I had a good shot of pulling something off to make it out of there alive.

“I thought you were just the money collector or something like that, and now I see Skeeter’s bumped you to hit man. Way to go. You’re moving up nicely in the world of organized crime.”

“Shut your mouth, Farmer, before I put one in you right here. Take a left at the light.”

“I’m just curious as to why Skeeter sent you and not Enzo after me? I thought he was the designated killer of the Amara family?”

“I told you before to shut your mouth because you have no idea what you’re talking about. You’re just some guy who was too dumb to be a detective, and that’s why you’re nothing more than a washed-up loser.”

“You might be right about that, Frankie.”

He was getting angry, and if I continued to push him like that, he’d make a mistake sooner or later. But I still had to play it cool and make sure he didn’t shoot me before I could try something to save myself.

“Come on, Frankie, even a broken watch is right twice a day. You know I have files filled with the extensive research I’ve done on all the Amaras. I know a lot about what you guys do, so why don’t you throw me a bone and talk to me before you kill me?”

“You have files on all of us?”

“Oh yeah, so why don’t you answer my questions to see how much I got right before you end me?”

“Turn right at this light up ahead.”

I turned where he said. “Come on, I just want to know how close I was on everything—”

The cold metal slide smashed the side of my face so hard my head bounced off the window. The car jerked violently from side to side and Frankie grabbed the steering wheel to keep it straight until my head stopped spinning.

“There you go loudmouth, how was that? You wanted me to give you something so there you go, now keep your mouth shut for the rest of the drive. I’m not interested in talking to you. Now, where are those files at?” He raised the gun to hit me again.

“At my apartment,” I blurted out in my dazed state.

“Is that the only place?”

“Yes,” I said as the world around me slowly returned to normal.

“Good. Now after I’m done with you, I’m going to have to take care of that trash heap you call a home.”

As my senses fully returned, I picked up an unmistakable but familiar sent. “Is that gasoline?”

“Yes, you must have caused a little to spill in your trunk after I slapped you around.”

“Did you put—”

“Shut up.”

“You’re not going to—”

“No more questions.” He pulled back the hammer on the gun, so I kept my mouth shut and followed his commands until we arrived at our destination. It was an old, abandoned building in the warehouse district. Frankie pointed at the open bay door, so I drove into the old warehouse and stopped the car. I looked around and was a little relieved when I didn’t see any other people waiting in the shadows for our arrival as I turned off the car.

Frankie reached over and took the keys from the ignition. “Get out.” He exited the car on his side and closed the roll