“Yes, of course. We must go in now, it’s not good out here and Mr. Dudek is very anxious to see you.” He sees my gun but doesn’t say anything.
Inside, it’s almost darker than the porch, but there is a faint light coming from what looks like the kitchen area in the back of the house.
The open living room we walk into is not wide but very long. It’s unlit too but I can still see that it and the rest of the house, has been totally redone. Sleek furniture, nice polished hardwood floors, modern accessories, all the latest shit.
At the base of the stairs I see the outline of another shotgun leaning against the rail. Andros heads up the stairs to the second floor and I follow. We go down a hallway heading towards an open door and a lighted room.
Patrik walks out as we’re approaching.
“Heyyy, Jerzy.” He looks tired but his eyes are all jazzed up. The smile on his face is forced.
“Yes, I’ll have a drink.” I smile back at him and decide to holster my gun.
He gives me a quick hug, then grabs my shoulders, gives me a little shake. “Are you and I good?”
What the fuck does that mean?
“Hey,” I say, “we’re all square by my count.”
He holds my eyes for a long second, smiles that razor thin spooky ass grin of his and then turns away.
“Want to buy this house? I sunk thousands into it and now can’t unload it.” He tries to laugh at that but just ends up clearing his throat.
Andros and I get ushered into a study, lined with bookcases, floor to ceiling. There are several big windows that have the blinds shut and drapes pulled. Andros stays in the doorway, filling it up.
“Can’t afford it, Patrik. I don’t think I want to know how much these row houses go for these days.”
It’s like he didn’t even hear what I said. He just stares at me again and I can tell he’s feeling the pressure. Big time.
“Sorry Jerz, but no drinks tonight. Sadly, there is not time anymore for you and me. To remember, to laugh and to drink to ourselves. There is a bottle of whiskey for you later, though.” Patrik points at it on the desk and I see something else too just before he pockets it with his other hand. A small baggie of snort, I think, at least I’m pretty sure it was.
“That shit will kill you, Patrik.” I look at him closer and can tell I was right on what I saw. “It’s one thing to sell it but…hey, whatever, I ain’t gonna sit here and lecture you.”
“That would be a very good idea.” He gives me a look and I stare right back.
Well fuck you too, I think to myself. Then he looks over at Andros and scowls at him, angrily waving him into the room. All impatient, and way coked up.
The big man just nods, coming all the way into the room. As usual his face is blank, showing no emotion.
Patrik sits down hard in one of two leather chairs and motions me to sit in the other. He runs his hands through his hair, then puts his elbows on his knees and just stares at the floor.
When he looks up again, his face is like stone. No, I can see there won’t be any talk of the good old days or happy ass toasts, or any bullshitting around at all this time. None of that. This will be all business.
“We must talk.”
“Floor is all yours, governor.” I look him straight in the eye and wonder just where this little ride is going.
“First, I must tell you that we are safe here. I have two men on each end of this street. There is another man inside the house with us, and, of course, Andros, who I trust like a son. No one else knows we are here. No one even knows this is one of my homes. No one.”
“Another guy in the house?” I hadn’t seen anyone else on the way in.
“He’s in the kitchen. There is a backdoor there.” Patrik was looking up and talking to the ceiling now. I imagine he is looking up there for some kind of answer out of all this shit.
“This other guy, is it Dobry?”
“Dobry is dead.”
I didn’t pause.
“Too bad. I liked the kid.”
“I had him killed.” He looks at me for a reaction.
My reaction is to show him my left hand. “I’m going to smoke, Patrik.” I’m still doing the stare down with him. He can’t match me and looks at the floor again. I reach into my pocket, pull out a smoke and light it up. The real discussion, the real talk is coming. Whatever that may be.
He doesn’t have a gun and there isn’t one in sight, but I don’t think it’s going to be anything like that, anyway. I glance at Andros who is leaning against the back of a couch now with his big arms crossed, the Mossberg propped against his leg. Pistol holstered. He’s looking down, too.
“Did he flip on you? Dobry, I mean.”
Patrik doesn’t answer me, it’s like he’s talking to himself. “We have lost six more men since we took Skansi out. Six good men in less than two full days. That’s six killed. Several more have deserted me.”
“Well, I can think of five people the Russians definitely lost.”
He doesn’t react to that, either. His face is pale and slack, no expression at all. Again, he just keeps talking. “The little killer from the West Coast has already been taken out because they think he helped you and we let it happen. That little bastard is not one of the six I’m counting.”
“Okay?” I’m still not sure where this is headed.
“Kos?” He asks me this right out of the fucking blue, like I mentioned it or something. Before I can answer, he goes on. “He will die tonight. We have found him, know where he is. It will be easy.”
“Well, the only thing I don’t like about that is I won’t be the one killing him.”
“Dead is dead.”
“True, but I’d sure like to see it.”
He shrugs, and sighs, “Here’s the truth, my friend.”
I take a deep drag and I see Andros push off the couch and walk to a roll top desk in the corner. I’m ready, watching him like a fucking hawk, but all he does is grab an ashtray and comes back over with it.
“This is the only kind of situation where the truth is any good, eh?” I smile and he doesn’t.
“I sacrificed Dobry. Killed him and then delivered his body to them. To the Russians.”
“Some kind of truce or a deal?”
“We have been in relayed communications off and on with them the last two days. A group flew into Chicago the very night Skansi was taken out. In this group was Nikolay Popov, the number three man for them in New York. He is a tough bastard. Young, hungry and merciless. It’s the very worst thing that could have happened for us.”
I didn’t say anything. Just put the cigarette out and kept listening.
“He has brought more people. Not out of some respect or revenge for Skansi. The New Yorkers see the opportunity for Popov to pick up the pieces, set up shop. He has vowed to get those who killed Skansi but only to gain loyalty with the ones still here.”
“So, are you losing, Patrik? Are you fucked? The truth, as you said.”
“Yes and no.”
“Right. What the fuck does that mean?”
“We’ve killed many of their men that you won’t ever hear about in the news. They have killed many of ours. Both sides have been recruiting new men. But if they knew how weak we really are right now, there would be none of this peace talking between us. Are we losing? Yes. Fucked? No.”
“So, Dobry was an offer of some kind, then?”
“Yes, but it will never be Andros. They don’t know about his involvement and it wouldn’t matter to me if they did. Never Andros.” He slid a quick look over to Andros and nodded at him.
“Well, that’s fucking swell. I’m sure Andros is glad to know that he won’t be getting thrown under the bus. Not tonight, anyway, huh?” I decided on the spur to get a little shitty with him. Get the all the fucking cards laid out on the table, like right now. “So how ‘bout that third guy involved Patrik? Just where the fuck does that asshole stand with you?”
I notice Andros turn his head slowly to look at his boss. He looks like a big dog that’s just waiting for a reaction from his owner. Waiting for a look.