Josh Stallings - Beautiful, Naked and Dead

“I’m just an accountant… don’t kill me…” I did a quick pat search and came up with his wallet while he blathered on, “I have a wife and kids… I’m not one of them really…” I left him in the tub sobbing. He wasn’t Sabatini, he wasn’t even Italian. Clearing the second floor I moved back down the stairs. Outside the shooting had mostly subsided. Running to the sofa I discovered Cass was no longer there. Dread swept over me. Turning back to the room I found three bloody men aiming pistols up at me. Fuck it at least I wasn’t going out alone. Gripping my pistol in one hand and the shotgun in other I got ready for one last charge. Leo stepped out of a doorway and stood between me and the three killers. His hands were empty, palms up.

“You are one incredible pain in the ass, you know that Mr. McGuire?” Looking natty as ever, he smiled.

“What now Leo, do I start pulling the trigger and see how many die before your boys can drop me?”

“As much fun as that sounds, Mr. Sabatini and your lady friend would love to have a chat with you. So why don’t we delay the whole macho blaze of glory act at least for the moment, ok?”

I moved past the stairs and the goons with their guns aimed at me. They hated not to blow me away, their blood was as high as mine I’m sure.

I set the shotgun down in the oak paneled hallway, but kept the.45 firmly in my hand. Leo watched me without much interest. He opened the door into a large den that would have done Hemingway proud. A lion’s head stared at me from over a fireplace. A myriad collection of other dead beasts lined the walls. Cass was sitting on a leather sofa next to a fit looking dark haired man of maybe forty. He had a sharp Roman nose and intelligent eyes that made me feel like whatever I was thinking he was two steps ahead of me. He was holding a small automatic against Cass’ temple. Leo stepped out of the room, closing the door behind himself.

“Check and mate. I have your queen, now why don’t you put your gun down and we can see if there is any way to salvage your life,” he said in a soft, almost melodic voice.

“I don’t think so, no, I think I’d rather blow a hole in your ugly mug.”

“Then what? There’s a room full of guns out there waiting for you.”

“Yup.”

“Are you suicidal?”

“Yup,” I said with a slight smile, screw him if he didn’t get it.

“But you do care about her? This little skirt. This twist that has caused so much trouble. You care about her.” He pushed the barrel harder into her head.

“Kill him,” she whispered, she was pale from loss of blood and her eyes were starting to glaze with shock.

“Don’t get me wrong,” he said, “I understand your attraction, our little minx is one of the best pieces of ass I’ve ever had. But she has a real problem with loyalty.”

“Shoot him Moses!” Cass pleaded.

“See what I mean?” Sabatini tapped her skull with the pistol, causing her to wince. “After all she and I have shared, now she wants you to kill me.”

“He’s lying, Moses, kill him.”

“Truth? Shall we talk about the truth?” Sabatini said, “She came to me, offered where I could find an associate who had strayed from the pack.”

“I didn’t.” Cass was losing gas.

“I paid her ten large to rat out Stolloti.”

“It was my sister.” Cass’ voice was becoming a hissed whisper. Sabatini slapped the pistol up under her chin, she let out a high gasp.

“Hurt her again, and it’s over,” I said, starting to tighten on the trigger.

“Even if it means my men kill you, which you have said you don’t care about, interesting problem we have here.” He turned it over in his mind looking for the angle.

“I just figured it out, I’ve been looking at it backwards all this time,” I said smiling at him.

“That’s a bit cryptic.”

“I was wondering why go to all this trouble to take out one girl. So what if she saw Gino get whacked. Get rid of the hitter, cover your tracks, then who cares who she tells. You kill all of these yourself? Huh, killer?” I motioned to the trophies hung on the walls.

“Yes. Hunting is where a man discovers his true nature.”

“And what did you discover when you killed Gino?”

“Always wear a raincoat when you use a shotgun at close range.”

“That’s funny, wear a raincoat huh? I’ll have to remember that.”

“I don’t think you will be around long enough to have to worry about remembering anything,” he said, his smile fading.

“Really, I wasn’t planning on going anywhere. You getting hungry, want to order a pizza?” I said, flashing him a shit eating grin. Cass’ eyes fluttered slowly closed. Blood had soaked through her makeshift bandage and was staining the sofa in an ever widening red blotch.

“I don’t know what game you think you are playing,” he said, “but I can assure you, you will not win. Your kind never do, so perhaps you would like to discuss a fallback plan? One where you don’t necessarily die, maybe even keep the girl if I get certain assurances.” He was treading water, looking for my chink.

“Here’s what I think, pal, I think you’re a dago pussy who kills defenseless animals and people your goons hold down.” His face went red, veins popping in his forehead. I let the.45 drop and hang at my side as I taunted him, “I think you’re a weak freak, a ball-less bastard who should have been stepped on at birth. You’re a spineless little…” Before I could finish he whipped the pistol off of Cass’ head swinging it toward my face. Arcing the.45 up we fired at the same moment. I could see flame spitting out of the barrel of his pistol, flying at me, then I felt a hot burn on my head that spun me backward.

“Moses,” Cass was whimpering as I pulled myself up, crawling to the sofa. My left eye was covered in a stream of free flowing blood. Sabatini was flopped back moaning. The slug had taken a chunk the size of a small apple out of his right shoulder and smeared his chest and face in blood and meat chunks. I ran my hand up my scalp looking for the hole, half expecting to find gray matter leaking out. What I had was a three inch gash, a lot of blood and a headache, but nothing that was going to kill me today. Fastening my trusty bandana around my head to staunch the flow, pirate Moses took a seat on the sofa next to Sabatini. I grabbed his chin forcing his face to look at me.

“Pay real close attention, you are hanging by a fucking thread here, and I’m the fucking thread. Got that you arrogant fuck?” I said, when he didn’t answer quick enough I slapped his face hard enough to knock out a loose filling. Slowly he nodded. “Who did her sister? And don’t even think about lying or I’ll make this slow.” His eyes focused on me.

“Johny B…” he gasped.

“The prep school boy I killed?”

“Yes…” he said.

“Leo? Was he in on it?”

“No, they sent him later.”

“Did you tell them to do her rough, maybe even have them take snaps to prove it?” He just looked at me, fear filling his rabbit eyes, he knew it was over. Slowly a new strength came into his face, as if he had known this day would come and now that it was here maybe it wasn’t that bad. Maybe fear of death is worse than death itself.

“Get it over with,” he said, closing his eyes, settling back into the sofa cushions.

“You think it’s over asshole? It’s just begun. Some hillbilly named Bubba’s gonna make you his wife, bitch,” I said. In the distance I could hear the wail of sirens. “Game’s over pal. I’m taking my pieces and going home.” I picked Cass up into my arms, she was weak and drifting, she nuzzled her face into my neck. I pushed the door open with my foot. Leo was standing guard. He looked into the room at Sabatini’s sunken form, shook his head like it was the outcome he expected. He stepped out of our way giving me a nod that told me he was no threat. From outside tires skidded to a stop and sirens screamed. There was a brief burst of gunfire then none at all.