Murdoch was fuming. He had just finished delivering a fresh body to the hospital when he received a call from the super bitch.
He was all set to get his fill of beers and whores. He had even planned to ditch the deadwood and drop Judas off at his old ladies house.
All I wanted was a few hours on my own for fuck sake, he thought as he swung on the steering wheel and headed in the direction of the homeless refuge.
The super bitch had given him his orders, he didn’t like them but he had no choice, as long as they were lining his pockets, he kept providing his unique services. He had picked up the briefcase and received his briefing. His pocket bulged with a fresh wad of cash.
He looked across at Judas and saw the usual vacant visage. He felt a huge amount of contempt for the man. He was a moron.
If he wasn’t my sister’s boyfriend I would have dumped his body with the Doc as soon as I met him, he thought as he snorted and then wound down his window and spat a huge wad of phlegm into the path of a passing taxi.
He wound the window back up as heard the familiar whine from beside him.
“Where the fuck are we going Murdoch?”
Murdoch stared out through the windscreen and grumbled his answer. “I’ve already told you Judas, we have an important errand to undertake.”
“Huh? What errand, I thought you were gonna drop me off. I thought we’d finished.”
“We’ve been re-tasked. There’s been a change of plans.”
“What the fuck are ya talking about? I gotta go home, Missy is expecting me.”
“Yeah, well stiff shit, Missy can wait. Here, call her and tell her you’ll be late,” Murdoch said gruffly as he threw his mobile phone at Judas. “And give that phone straight back, you’ll break the fucking thing.”
Murdoch ignored Judas who struggled to use the phone. He swung on the steering wheel again and pulled the van into a kerbside space half a block from the homeless refuge.
After parking the van he stumbled out of the driver seat and went to the rear of the van and hefted on the van’s sliding door.
He grabbed an old leather document bag and reached into it to pull out a shotgun which had had its barrel shortened. He also pulled out a handful of shotgun shells and put them in his trench coat pocket.
He opened the front flap of his trench coat and tucked the shotgun into the other pocket which was much longer and seemed to be made for that purpose.
“Ya got one of them for me?”
Judas’s voice made him jump slightly but he suppressed it, he could not show any form of weakness. A surge of anger swept through him.
“Are you fucking kidding me? You would blow your fucking foot off if I gave you one of these and then Missy would kill me.
“Here, you can take the Glock, but keep the safety on until we get inside, do ya understand?” Murdoch said as he pulled the Glock out of the bag and pointed it at Judas.
So tempting, Murdoch thought as he watched as Judas took the gun from him barrel first and then proceeded to peer down into the barrel of the pistol.
“Is it loaded,” he asked as he shook the weapon and clicked the trigger a couple of times.
Murdoch shook his head in disbelief, “Unfortunately, no it’s not loaded. Here, give the fucking thing back and I will load it for you and if I ever see you do that again, or point the thing at me I will shove it up your arse and blow your brains out. Do you understand me?”
Murdoch seriously considered leaving Judas in the van but then thought better of it as he knew that at the very worst Judas could at least stand still and just point the gun at whoever he told him to.
Knowing my luck the idiot will shoot me
He decided against loading the weapon and gave it back to Judas.
“Come on, we got a job to do,” Murdoch said as he grabbed the bag and trudged away towards the entry into the homeless shelter.
He mounted the steps and burst through the main door. The shelter was full of derelicts and drunks all sitting at tables slurping on small bowls of soup and cups of coffee.
They all looked up from their respective meals when they heard the first gunshot ring out from Murdoch’s direction.
“Listen up losers, this shelter is closed. Pick up your crap and get the fuck out of here.”
“Yeah, you heard the man, fuck off!” Judas shouted as he ran along the tables tossing bowls and cups onto the floor.
He cuffed one of the older homeless guys around the back of his head with the butt of the Glock and shrieked with laughter as the old man fell to the floor amidst the pools of soup and coffee.
“Come on, get up and get ya ugly arse out of here old timer, before I whack ya again.”
Judas was just about to hit the old man again when he was interrupted by a rather officious voice.
“Stop! What is the meaning of this? Who are you people? What do you want?”
Murdoch lowered his shotgun and pointed it at the group of people who had come into the dining area from the kitchen.
“Which one of you is in charge of this freak show?”
He watched as the group separated and a tall middle aged woman with striking red hair moved forward and approached Murdoch.
He smiled as he realised the woman did not seem to be put off by the fact that he was pointing a lethal weapon at her.
“You in charge?” he asked as he thrust the weapon further forward.
“Yes, I am Sister Beatrice. I am responsible for the care of the homeless in this neighbourhood.
There is no point robbing us, we do not have anything of value here. If you would like to take a seat we can give you some food.”
“I don’t want your stinking soup Sister, and we are not here to rob you. We are here to shut you down.”
“Excuse me err Mister…?”
“Yeah, the names Murdoch and this idiot here is Judas.
“A fairly appropriate name wouldn’t you say Sister?” Murdoch said as he pointed at Judas and smiled.
“Well Mr Murdoch, I don’t know what you are talking about, but this Shelter is owned and run by the Sisters of Mercy. You have no right to barge in here and pretend like you own the place.”
Murdoch smiled again as he slowly pushed his hand into his bag.
“Ah well you see Sister, your people might own and run the shelter but the people that I work for just bought this building. It says so right here on this document.
So if they own the building they get to choose who can use the building and unfortunately they don’t choose you or your Sisters. So me and Judas here are giving you exactly five minutes to get your stuff and get the hell out of here.”
“Ahh Murdoch I don’t think ya sposed to say ‘hell’ to a nun,” Judas said quietly as he pointed his gun at Murdoch.
“Shut the fuck up Judas, and what did I tell you about that Glock? I swear to God if it wasn’t for Missy…” Murdoch spluttered furiously as he strode across towards Judas who had seen the murderous look and had quickly retreated.
Murdoch watched as the idiot fled and disappeared out the doorway.
Murdoch stopped and turned around to face the nun.
“Ok you heard me Sister. This shelter is officially closed. I suggest you make arrangements to clear out before we come back, and don’t think I won’t hurt a nun. I’m pretty much fucked as far as the afterlife is concerned.”
He threw the documents towards the nun and tucked the shotgun back into his trench coat. He then picked up the bag and walked out of the doorway. He exited with a parting comment.
“Make sure that you and your derelict deadbeats are gone when we get back. Next time we won’t be so friendly.”
“Who’s going to feed the homeless?” Sister Beatrice shrieked.
“Tell ’em to ask around. There’s a new place opening up real soon on Tenth Street,” Murdoch chuckled as he closed the door behind him and made his way to the van.
That’ll keep super bitch happy, he thought as he patted his wad of cash and smiled.