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  Jim looked deep into Carla’s eyes. “I need you to give me the benefit of the doubt.”

  “You disrespected me.”

  “Keep your voice down,” Jim whispered.

  “Sometimes you make me feel special, and sometimes. I don’t know, Jim… Ten minutes ago, you made me feel worthless right in front of my husband.”

  “I had no other choice.”

  “Yes, you did. You always have a choice and you chose to strip away my dignity.”

  “No, I chose to… Carla, listen to me. Will you? Please?”

  Carla had some choice words for Jim, but disregarded them upon hearing the sincerity in his voice matching the seriousness in his eyes. “I’m listening.”

  “I’m in a business that has its own unique protocol. Whenever you’re talking, whatever you’re doing other guys are always sizing you up. What do you think those two men up there are doing to me?”

  “And you had to show them how hard you are, right?”

  “No, that’s not the case. Now listen to me very closely. This will save your life in one way or another.

  “I didn’t talk to you that way because I wanted to earn cool points with my buddies. Those two are hardened criminals. I have to pretend that I have everything under control, even when I don’t. Otherwise, they’ll move in on us and kill us. If they see me allowing a woman to sass me without checking her, they’re going to sense weakness, then kill me and take your pussy.”

  Carla shuddered in response to Jim’s words.

  Jim held Carla’s hand. “Listen to me Carly, I have never met a woman like you. You’re everything that a strong woman should personify. I wish like hell I could marry someone who’s half the woman you are. I need you to know and remember that this is how I regard you. This is how I feel about you. I –“

  Her eyes dampened as she hung on every word. “Go on, Jim, finish your thought.”

  Jim paused for a moment. “Carla, you have to be experiencing a ton of emotions seeing your husband in the front room discussing business with me. I know it’s awkward, and I don’t expect you to understand the things that I do at times.”

  “This man tried to kill us last year.”

  Jessica snuck through the basement door and got close enough to hear every word they said. Jim heard her, but disregarded the creaking in the stairs and the sound of her breathing.

  Jim looked to the side and looked in her face. “And you still wanted him to acknowledge you as his wife.” Carla broke down in tears.

  He hugged Carla. “Shhh… Everything’s going to be okay, Carly. He doesn’t deserve a woman of your pedigree.”

  As tears filled her eyes, Jessica witnessed what she threw away to eat human carcasses with Steve.

  Jim grabbed Carla by the shoulder blades. “Listen to me, Carla. I need you to remember how I feel about you no matter the situation. I need you to trust me every step of the way, even if my actions are questionable and beyond comprehension, I need you to go with the flow. You can always yell at me later.”

  Carla laughed. “Me yelling at Jim Money, no way.”

  “You’re the one who hit me in the jaw, you domestic batterer.” They both laughed.

  “In order for it to be domestic battery, we would have to be together, wouldn’t we?”

  “Jim,” Jessica called.

  “What is it?”

  “Can I have something to drink?”

  “Check the fridge.”

  Jessica had snuck back to the kitchen in time to pretend that she had been up there the entire time. Jim knew better, but didn’t mind her eavesdropping on their conversation.

  “There’s nothing in the fridge.”

  “What do you want to drink?”

  “Do you have fruit punch?”

  “Come down here, Jessica.”

  Jessica walked down the stairs, looked toward Jim as he had already set out an ice cold bottle of fruit punch and a glass for her to enjoy.

  “Jessica, I want you go with Steve back to Chicago.”

  “I don’t wanna go to Chicago. I want to stay here with you.”

  “You could have stayed with me in Chicago and you chose not to.”

  “I was stupid, Jim. I’m so sorry for hurting you like that. I should have never run off with Steve.”

  “Don’t be sorry. You allowed an opportunity for someone better to enter my life.”

  “I know you’re not talking about that snooty bitch Carla.”

  Jim motioned toward Carla. “I got this. Does it really matter who I’m referring to?”

  “Jim, I still love you.”

  “Jessica, you’ll always have a piece of my heart, but you betrayed me.”

  “No, I never betrayed you, Jim. I have a problem, but how do I get my problem treated without being charged as an accessory to Steve’s murders.”

  “That’s a conversation you must have with God.”

  “Fuck you, Jim, you can kiss my ass.”

  “Keep talking shit, and you’ll meet God before you have a chance to strike a conversation with Him.” Jim walked toward Jessica. “Go back to Chicago with Steve, he needs you.”

  She walked upstairs past the kitchen, found the bathroom, locked the door and wept uncontrollably.

  Jim looked toward Carla. “Will you promise to always trust in me and my actions?

  “Always.”

  Jim and Carla walked in the front room, with Jessica now sitting next to Steve.

  “Frank, you’re going to get even with Bones. Just make sure that you don’t blow the lid off the thing by revealing that you know about his double-cross. When the time is right, you can do as you please with him, but for the time being, he still works for me. Steve and Jessica will be responsible for cleanup. Steve, you’re going to repay Don with his own money.”

  “How are we going to do this, Jim?” Steve asked.

  “Here’s the plan.”

  Back in Chicago

  Chapter 7

  “Everything is set in motion.”

  Don Carson chased down an oyster with a shot of bourbon. “Good job, Bones, you and I are going to do a lot of business together.”

  “Thanks to Jim.”

  “We got lucky a year ago.”

  “Yep.”

  “A man as sharp as Jim—he abandoned his business overnight. That still puzzles me.”

  Bones held his bourbon in the air. “His loss is our gain. Here’s a toast to new business.”

  The men brought their glasses together until they tapped, then downed their bourbon. They dined in Chicago’s best steakhouse which also had a reputation for excellent seafood and posh dining. Bones devoured his pan-seared steak, and Don enjoyed his oysters and lobster tails against a backdrop of elegant décor and classical music playing in the background.

  “So how long before we’re up and running?” Don asked.

  “Not long at all. Give it about two months tops. Just enough time for things to cool down with Steve, but soon enough to discourage anyone from moving in.”

  Don chased an oyster with another shot of bourbon. “I saw what happened after Jim left. You ever find out what happened to him?”

  “Yeah, he was hiding out down south just like the coward that he is.”

  “No, Jim’s smart. He’s not down there just to hide.”

  “Well, that doesn’t matter. Some friends of mine paid him a visit yesterday just for good measure.”

  “So Jim’s…”

  “Yep, now our biggest concern is laundry.”

  “My lawyers will take care of that,” Don said. “You just run the show while I make sure no one competes.”

  ###

  “Jim, they’ve already taken over.”

  “Didn’t you just tell me that you couldn’t go back to your house just a month ago?”

  “I still can’t, but I sent someone to check it out.”

  “Okay.”

  “Bones has Frank running the games, and
it looks like Don Carson is providing protection,” Steve said. “Frank is a traitor. What are we going to do about it?”

  “Steve, who the fuck are you?”

  “What?”

  “You’re talkin’ on the phones like you got a phone card from India,” Jim shouted. “I don’t wanna hear you talking on no fucking phone.”

  Steve became nervous. “I’m trying to keep you in the loop, that’s all.”

  “You can do that, but not on the phones,” Jim warned. “Shit, I’m gonna scrap this.”

  “No Jim, we got everything in place just like you said. I just need to your okay to go.”

  “It’s too soon.”

  “If not now, then when?”

  “I’ll let you know.”

  Click

  Jim played back the phone conversation for Carla.

  “I can’t believe I married this man.”

  “That makes two of us.”

  “He’s looking to set you up.”

  Jim trusted Carla’s sixth sense. “Do you believe that we were once best friends?”

  “I remember, but it seems like such a distant memory.”

  “It hasn’t been three weeks and he’s already cut a deal with Bones,” Jim contemplated. “The fucker thinks everyone’s stupid except for him. He’s a typical Marine.”

  “You know if he gets to you, that’s the end of me, Jim.”

  “Carly, you’re going to live until you’re 300 years old regardless of what happens to me.”

  “What about you, Jim? You’re smart, why don’t you get out?”

  “I’ve been trying for the past year.”

  Carla completed his thought. “But…”

  “I gotta get things right before I get out for good.”

  “Oh, let me guess,” Carla shouted. “The next big score?”

  “No.”

  “Steve and Frank approached you because of money. I’m sure that you go through spells when you get tapped out, too, right?”

  “No, that’s not the case at all. Let me explain. Frank didn’t come here asking for a financial help. His situation is personal, for which I feel partly responsible. He came here with different motives. His money is good, he did the right things and he listens to me. This is why he has things that Steve knows nothing about. And his payments helped remodel this house.”

  “So if he’s doing so well, why is Frank coming to you for help?”

  “The same reason I come to you for help. Its allows him to separate his emotions from his decision once I analyze the situation and give him a run down on what could happen on whatever decision he makes. To make a long story short, I convince him to make the best decision that his situation affords.”

  “Then why is he in business with Bones?”

  “For the same reason he was in business with Steve.”

  “Okay, you were about to tell me about Steve.”

  “The difference with Steve is that he’s desperate for money. He’s got Don Carson breathing down his back, legal fees, and his ruined operation. I really was his lifeline. He’ll sell anyone for his own personal gain, and to get even with me.”

  “I remember when he used to tell me that he could run your operation better than you if he had your power. Now I see that he was jealous of you.”

  “He always has been, but I used him and Jessica as an excuse to flee Chicago. I didn’t have to run. I could have hired someone from Dallas to kill Steve and Jessica, but I really wanted out.”

  “Is that why you like it so much down here?”

  “I love it, but I don’t feel at home down here. I envision Tennessee to be a second home, but I wanna move.”

  “Why?

  Because it gets too fucking hot down here. I want to move to Las Vegas.”

  Carla looked at him with a hint of confusion. “It gets up to 128 degrees in Vegas.”

  “It’s a dry heat.”

  “It’s still hot enough to make owning a stove optional.”

  “I like Vegas, plus my mom and dad stay there. They wish I would move out there with them.”

  “Well Jim, they are getting older.”

  “So am I.”

  They shared an awkward silence. “I like Vegas,” Carla said.

  “Me too, I miss visiting my mom and dad.”

  “Why did you stop?”

  “My mom is a police officer, and my dad is a retired firefighter. In other words, they don’t approve of how I earn a living.”

  “Earn a living doing something else.”

  “Only if it were that easy.”

  “Jim, it is that easy,” Carla pled. “You’re halfway there with that job at the biotech firm.”

  “I may want out, but the street determines who gets out and who gets put out, not me.”

  Carla inched closer to Jim. “We didn’t survive all the craziness this past year for nothing. If anyone can get out alive, it’s you.”

  Jim stood up and slowly walked to the bedroom door as if he wanted to exit. He stopped and turned toward Carla. “Okay, why did you come with me to Memphis?”

  “You told me to.”

  “But you could have gone elsewhere once we made it down here safely.” He said as he inched toward her.

  “As much as I disliked you, you provided me with a link to home.”

  Jim sat on the bed, reached for Carla’s hand and held it. “No matter the reason, I appreciate you staying down here with me. I’m not the most personable fella you’ve met.”

  “But you are the biggest asshole I’ve met.” She smiled.

  Jim hit her with a pillow. “Stay in your place woman,” he said in a deep, exaggerated voice.

  Carla crouched down between her legs, holding her left eye.

  “Carly?”

  No response.

  “Carly, are you okay? Did I hit you in the eye?

  No response.

  Jim grabbed her, hugging her and comforting her. “Oh my God, Carla, I’m so sorry.”

  Carla uncurled her body and started tickling Jim. He fell down to the bed, wiggling and laughing uncontrollably. “Carla, stop it… ha ha ha… please… stop.”

  She continued tickling him, enjoying the spectacle of Jim squirming. Jim corralled her by the waist and rolled her over to the other side of the bed. Now he got on top of her and returned the favor.

  “Jim, this is so unfair… ha ha ha.”

  “How do you like me now?”

  “I got you where I want you, Jim.” She tickled his rib cage, laughing at each jerk of his body.

  After a while, Jim grabbed both of Carla’s wrists and pinned them to the bed.

  She smiled. “Game over huh?”

  “I guess so.”

  Carla let out an awkward laugh as they looked into each other’s eyes. “Now what?”

  Jim smiled. “I don’t know.”

  Carla saw Jim flash a smile, but saw more in his eyes. This was the first time she could see beyond his exterior. His eyes had a child-like innocence to them. They were inviting, yet she wasn’t sure if what she saw matched what was real. She never could tell with Jim. Capricious by nature he was, and she did not want to guess wrong, so they remained in their respective positions for a few moments. No one said a word, both of them not sure what to do next.

  “I’d never thought I’d say this to you, Jim.”

  “What?”

  “You are really bashful.” She giggled. “Jim Money, the womanizing, gambling kingpin of the south side is really a shy, bashful man. And he’s ticklish too, ha ha ha haaah.”

  Jim smiled to hide his embarrassment, but his cherry red face revealed it. “Shut up, Carla.”

  “Jimmy is bashful,” Carla sung. “Jimmy is bashful.”

  Jim tickled her again for a brief moment. She yelled and giggled like a schoolgirl. “Jim stop.”

  They both shared a laugh, then silence. He grabbed Carla’s wrists and pinned them down in the same position as before, but this tim
e he didn’t restrain her, and she didn’t resist. His hands interlocked with hers. Their eyes met again before they kissed.

  Chapter 8

  Six weeks of surveillance finally paid off. Jim and Frank finally knew enough components of Don’s business to hurt him. They knew where Don stored his product, who collected money from the prostitutes, and who shook down regional dope distributors. Steve was purposely separated from the planning phases as Jim ordered him and Bones to be on call at any moment. This lasted the entire six weeks.

  Frank and Carla’s uncle Pete worked in tandem to go to one of the distribution warehouses that Don used as a front for his illegal rackets. This was also where he liked to hold his stolen goods until they were ready to be moved. Frank and Pete’s job was to pull the trailers from the dock using phony pull-spot work orders where they would pull the trailers and spot them an empty replacement. The trailers that held the valuables would be pulled to an undisclosed location where Frank and Pete’s men would break in the trailers and steal everything they could get their hands on. The plan was to get in and get out of Don’s Bridgeport warehouse without a hitch, but Jim gave them the go ahead to shoot everyone that belonged to Don’s organization, but to leave the civilian workers unharmed. Frank and Pete served as the drivers of two tractor trailers. Their foot soldiers were the driver helpers. Jim contracted a hacker to break into Don’s inventory and create phony pull spot orders.

  Pete and Frank presented their respective pull spot orders to the dock supervisor. They got the paperwork signed off and they pulled the trailers they wanted. Two more tractor trailers backed into the dock with two riding in the cab of each cab and two inside of each trailer. Frank’s men held the security officers hostage and forced them to erase the surveillance tapes and to pull the fire alarm. All the employees evacuated, except for the managers who were also involved in Don’s criminal business. The two tractor trailer drivers uncoupled the empty trailers, and coupled the next remaining trailers. A wise guy manager yelled to one of the drivers that the building had been evacuated and that he needed to go to the safe zone. When the driver didn’t comply like a regular driver would, he realized that this was a heist. He yelled over the loudspeaker that they had company before catching several bullets in his torso. A couple dozen of Don’s men drew their weapons to take out the driver, but the two trailers opened and they unloaded a flurry of bullets. Thirty seconds of gunfire followed by an eerie silence. Each of Don’s men lay in his own pool of blood. None of Don’s men survived. The gunmen ran on foot to vehicles awaiting them past the guard shack. They escaped, while the other two drivers drove through the yard with the remaining two trailers of merchandise and out the lot onto the highway, leaving several half empty trailers, shell casings, bullet holes, and bodies strewn everywhere.