Boss did not fire when he saw Step’s head emerge from the tunnel. He kept his gun trained on the skinny closeout king, but the possibility that firing his weapon could produce a spark that would blow him to kingdom come kept his finger off the trigger.
Once Step was standing on the barn floor, he stared daggers at Boss without saying a word.
“Well ain’t this some shit?” Boss said.
“You knew she was my baby girl,” Step said calmly.
Boss raised an eyebrow. “What the hell you talking about?”
Step shifted his gaze to the gun in his hand. “My wife, she made a deal with you?”
Boss’s expression changed to a smirk. “Your baby girl. I see. You went through the files, did you? I wasn’t a big fan of keeping them at first, but do you know how much extra cash those things have brought in over the years? A lot of people are terrified of those damn things. Something about them being hard copies just scares the ever-living shit out of people.”
“Did you make a deal with my wife?” Step raised his voice.
Boss nodded. “We did.”
Step’s stomach tied in knots. “Why?”
Boss looked at him coldly. “Because you were a failure as a provider.”
Step’s blood went cold.
“That job, the one in Knoxville doing something…pest control, was it? Whatever it was, you brought home shit for money.”
Step’s thumb tapped the hammer of the gun.
“That pretty little wife of yours got y’all in some debt. Serious debt with the wrong people.”
Step looked at him, dumbfounded.
“You didn’t even know, did you?” He laughed. “The fucking man of the family is supposed to be on top of that kind of shit, Step. You gotta know what your wife is up to, and let me tell you, son, she was up to no good, stuff no wife should be up to.”
The gun felt lighter in Step’s hands.
“You know, I wasn’t ever gonna tell you this, but since you and me are about to have at it till one of us is dead, I might as well let you know, I fucked your old lady.”
Step’s heartbeat pounded in his head.
“Paid her $150 for an hour, a couple, three, four times. Boy, she knew how to ride a cock, too. I’ll give her that. Worked it like she was trying to put a permanent shine on it. She ever ride yours like that, Step?”
Step could barely hear him over the growing ringing in his ears.
“Anyway, $150 a few times a week wasn’t gonna cut it. No, sir, she needed fifty grand ASAP. Had a gambling habit, your little whore wife.” He laughed again. “I ain’t never met a woman that gambled before. Kind of threw me at first, couldn’t make heads nor tails out of it.” He stared off into space as if he was still trying to piece the mystery together. Shrugging, he said, “But debt is debt, and I proposed a way for her to get out of it. She thought about it. Not as long as you would think a mother would, mind you, but she did mull it over for a minute or two. Gave her seventy-five grand. She paid off her debt and lost the other twenty-five before the sun came up. A week later she was hanging from the end of a rope in your garage.”
Tears welled up in Step’s eyes.
“You went to shit fast once you put that little wife of yours in the ground. We got the order to close you out. We didn’t know how much you knew about what your woman was up to. Couldn’t take the chance that you might bring trouble to our doorstep. But, as it turns out, you didn’t know nothing. It was almost startling how much you didn’t know about your wife and her dealings, while you were off earning pennies at that damn job of yours. Closeout got called off because we didn’t wanna waste a bullet.
“You’re lucky Bonnie took a liking to you because she made you her pet project. I ain’t never seen her want something so badly. I told her you were useless, that we should forget about you and leave you to die in some bar fight, which you took to on a regular basis as a widower.
“But the old fat sow wouldn’t listen to me. She made the case to bring you on board. Said you were ripe for closeout work. Even went on about God calling you up for it. Crazy shit.” He chuckled. “Gotta hand it to her, she was dead-on about that. Don’t know what the hell God’s got to do with it, but you sure do have a knack for closeouts.”
Step flicked the trigger of his gun. “We’ve established that.” He raised his pistol.
Boss nervously gripped his gun. “You forgetting about the fuel tank?”
Step shook his head. “Didn’t forget.”
The back door to the barn opened and Dani stepped inside. She came to a sudden stop at the sight of the standoff between Step and Boss. She felt something jab her in the middle of the back, but only gave it a fleeting thought as she was focused on the two men pointing guns at each other. When whatever was jabbing her pressed even harder into her spine, she looked over her shoulder at the bright red face of Armstrong.
“Keep moving,” the state police officer said.
“What…” Dani started, but stopped when she realized what was pressed against her back: Armstrong’s gun.
Step eased his finger off the trigger.
Dani slowly moved forward, instinctively putting her hands in the air. “My uncle, where is he?”
“I said keep moving, Deputy Savage.”
“My uncle…”
“You shouldn’t have trusted me, Deputy.”
Dani struggled not to vomit.
“Well, well, well,” Boss said. “The police have arrived.”
“Drop your gun,” Armstrong said to Step.
Step stood, unmoved by the corporal’s demand.
“I don’t really have to explain to you what I’ll do if you don’t, do I?” Armstrong asked.
Step grinned.
“Drop your gun!”
“This ain’t gonna work out for you like you hoped,” Step said.
“Deputy Savage, explain to your friend what happens to you if he doesn’t drop his weapon,” Armstrong said, shoving her farther into the barn.
“I ain’t got to explain it to him, you dumb bitch. He knows. You’re the one that don’t understand. Step and me ain’t friends. He don’t give a shit how many holes you put in me.”
Armstrong laughed nervously. “Bullshit.”
Step pulled back the hammer on his gun.
“Wait!” Boss said. “Just wait a goddamned minute!” His hand started to shake. “I ain’t particularly interested in getting gunned down or blown up, so let’s just talk about this. Let’s work something out.”
“Blown up?” Armstrong asked, peering around Dani’s shoulder.
“There’s gas fumes all over this place,” Boss said, motioning toward the fuel tank with his head.
“So?”
“So, one little spark could blow us all to shit.”
Armstrong let a half grin tick up on her face as she studied the fuel tank and sniffed the air. “Ain’t nothing gonna blow up.”
“You sure about that?” Boss asked.
Armstrong hesitated and then grunted out, “I’d lay money on it, yeah.”
“That’s just another way of saying you ain’t a hundred percent sure on the matter,” Boss said.
“Not a hundred percent, no.”
“Then shut your fucking mouth,” Boss barked. “Let’s deal, Step. C’mon now, ain’t no need for it to end like this.”
Step laughed. “If ever there was a need for something to end like this, this is that something.”
Boss looked at the open trapdoor. “What about the inventory? She’s still alive, ain’t she?”
Step’s resolve faltered as he looked down into the tunnel.
Boss nodded with a grin. “Yeah, she is, ain’t she? We can fly her out of here, take her back home to her momma. She’ll be back in her own bed by midnight. I’ll even have a doc look her over.”
Step considered his proposal. “Kenny and the deputy, too. They go with the girl.”
“No way,” Armstrong said. “Not Deputy Savage—”
“Shut up!” Boss said. “If Step wants that fine little piece of ass with a badge on the plane out of here, she’s on the plane.”
“She knows too much.”
Boss laughed. “Who the fuck is she gonna tell? Pikes own near everybody with power in this fucking state and three others, and a good chunk of the idiots in Washington. You hear that, Deputy? You go talking about this you’ll be dead a day later. That’s a goddamned guarantee.”
Dani shook her head in disgust. “I ain’t gonna tell anyone.”
“You see—” Boss started.
Dani cut him off. “But here’s my guarantee. Ima kill every last one of you motherfuckers.” She did a half turn toward Armstrong. “Starting with you, Corporal Armstrong.”
Boss groaned. “Okay, now that we’ve got all the guarantees on the table, can we get on with this? Do we have a deal?”
Step stared down the tunnel and then nodded.