He asked the punk, “What’s your name again?”
“David,” the punk said, showing no offense at not being remembered. “But peeps call me Dee.”
“Peeps, huh?” Nate said with a grin. “Who’s crew do you run with?”
Dee scratched his chin, and Nate spotted a small pistol cinched in his waistband under his shirt. “I was with Caleb for a while, but now I’m with Granger.” He didn’t sound thrilled about the change in management.
“Granger, right,” Nate said. “He kicking around?”
Dee considered the question for a moment, weighing which answer would get him in the least amount of trouble. Looking at Nate, the decision was easy. “Yeah, he’s up on the fourth, room 412.”
As Nate turned away, Dee held up a dead cell phone. “Hey, you know what the hell’s going on? It’s like nothing works now.”
“I heard it was the aliens,” Nate said and walked to the apartment building.
The front entrance door was propped open to prevent people from breaking its glass because the buzzer system didn’t work. He cruised in and found the stairs.
Nobody had bothered to prop open the stairway doors, so he was enveloped in complete darkness. He kept his hand on the rail as he slowly ascended, counting the floors.
On the fourth floor he walked down the murky hall looking at room numbers. He heard conversations through doors and someone having what sounded like an orgy behind door 406. Maybe he’d join in later.
He stopped at 412 and waited.
There were no sounds from within, but that didn’t mean anything. It was possible Granger might have spotted him outside talking to Dee and fled. There was only one way to find out.
He checked the doorknob and was not surprised to find it unlocked. With a push, it opened wide.
Inside he found a man sitting at a kitchen table next to a window. He had been blowing cigarette smoke outside when Nate entered and coughed.
“Granger!” Nate said with a jovial smile. “Catch you at a bad time?” He closed the door behind him while keeping his gaze on the other man.
“Oh, Nate,” Granger said, sputtering around the words. His face was long and thin, with a hooked nose. Straggly hair hung down past his bony shoulders. “What are you doing here?”
He looked like he couldn’t decide whether he should stand up or stay sitting. But with Nate blocking the door, there was nowhere to run, so he remained seated.
“Came to see how things were going with you and your new wife,” Nate said. He pulled out a chair from the table and sat down, positioning himself so he could move freely. “Didn’t get an invite to the wedding.”
Granger looked confused. “I ain’t married. Not, yet anyway. We’re just common law for now.”
“Ah,” Nate said. “I must have heard it wrong.” He glanced down the little hallway that led to a couple of closed bedroom doors. “She here?”
Granger sat up and placed his elbows on the table, pretended to fiddle with his cigarette pack. “Nah, Peggy went to the store. Buy some lottery tickets and beer.”
“Lottery tickets and beer?” Nate said with a laugh. “Looking to get drunk and lucky, huh?”
Granger’s laugh was a little forced. “Yeah, yeah. Drunk and lucky that’s a good one.” His laughter trailed off.
Wanting to play this out a little longer, Nate looked over at the huge tv against the far wall. It appeared to be the same kind that Perry had which made Nate chuckle. Do all idiots shop at the same stores?
“Your power’s out too, huh?” Nate asked, hitching a thumb at the tv, its screen black.
“Yeah, no power. It’s been out for a while now. Haven’t heard when the bastards are going to get it going again.”
Nate nodded and grinned at him. He found it amusing that this human skidmark hadn’t gotten the sack to ask why he was here. For long moments he simply grinned at the other man.
Granger, already sweating from the heat, started to sweat even more. “Uh, you want a cig?” he held out the pack.
“No,” Nate said. “But thank you for asking.” He stared some more.
Granger leaned forward and started to speak, but Nate talked over him.
“What happened to Caleb?” Nate asked.
“Caleb?” Granger said, incredulous. One of the rules of the underworld was not to speak of the dead. Especially if they had been taken out by their own crew. Everyone knew what happened, but was forbidden to speak of it.
Granger held his hands up in confusion. “Uh, I thought you knew.”
Nate continued to stare. “No, Granger. I don’t know. So, why don’t you tell me? Please.”
Granger’s hands started to tremble. To cover it, he stubbed his cigarette out in an ashtray shaped like a giant seashell. “Look, Nate, this is something Unger made clear we shouldn’t-.”
“Oh, I’m sure Unger made things clear to you,” Nate interrupted, his voice rising. “He made it clear you would be taking over. But I want you to tell me why Caleb was removed.”
Caleb had been climbing the ranks of Unger’s crew, managing gambling and drugs for this section of territory. Made serious bank, too. But it wasn’t enough for Unger, who expected more from his under-boss. Granger, who was beneath Caleb in rank, caught wind of this and used Unger’s greed to move up. He told Unger that Caleb had been skimming this whole time, and that was why the money wasn’t as good as it could be.
And as things happened in the underworld, even an unsubstantiated rumor can get you killed. Especially if your boss is a paranoid psychopath.
This kind of inner organization Darwinism rarely caught Nate’s interest. He was semi-independent which worked for both him and Unger. But this little episode had become of keen interest to Nate.
Caleb had been Chris’s younger brother.
Granger stared wide-eyed at Nate, totally bewildered at the conversation. “You know I can’t talk about it, Nate. You know that.”
“Yeah, I know,” Nate said, now seething with pent up rage. “I know why Caleb was removed. You and your fat-cow of a girlfriend put the finger on him!”
“No! That’s not how it was, Nate!” Granger was pleading now, hands up in front of him. “Talk to Unger! Just talk to Unger!”
“Oh, Unger and I are going to talk, that is guaranteed,” Nate shouted. “But you and I are going to finish our conversation.” He had enough of this little game and stood, kicking the chair back. “Tell me you did it and I’ll make this quick.”
He began to pull out his pistol when the bedroom door to his right suddenly flew open.
A large fat woman roared out of the doorway with a shotgun in both hands.
Nate turned, but the pistol caught in his pocket’s lining. He jumped in Granger’s direction, hoping the madwoman wouldn’t risk hitting her man.
He was wrong.
The shotgun blast tore a hole in the kitchen wall and effectively deafened everyone in the room.
Nate crashed into Granger, who tried to stand up. Both men fell to the floor. Nate fell directly onto Granger who gasped in pain.
Nate managed to pull his pistol free, its silencer having been removed back at Crystal’s. He aimed at the fat woman who had just racked a new round in the shotgun’s chamber.
“Get out of the way, honey!” Peggy hollered.
Nate aimed at Peggy, but Granger recovered and grabbed Nate’s arm with both hands. They both rolled on the ground, fighting for control of the weapon.
“Honey, get out of the way!” Peggy screamed. She kept the shotgun pointed in their direction, finger on the trigger.
“I can’t…” Granger said through gritted teeth.
Nate was amazed at the skinny man’s strength. He was having a hell of a time getting him off.