James Grippando - Last Call

"What you want to pull a gun on me for?" said Moses. I wasn’t -

Moses pushed the gun up tighter beneath his chin. "Cut the bullshit. You got a problem with me, you spit it out. Now !'

"Okay" he said, his voice quaking. "It's just, you know, our arrangement is starting to feel like a one-way street."

"Stop talking like you're on fucking Oprah . What's your problem?"

"All right, I'll say it. You and your O-Town Posse have delivered on nothing. I gave you serious money, and I've still got nothing to show for it. I had to eliminate Reems, you dropped the ball on Knight. I got you out of TGK on bail, you went and killed a state trooper. It goes on and on. That's my problem."

Moses gave him a little smile, as if impressed that Redden had the guts to say it. He withdrew his weapon and let Redden stand easy.

"It's coming together, dude," said Moses. "I was just in Atlanta, talking to my contacts. You'll get your return on your money. And I'll personally take care of Knight."

"Good," said Redden, as he massaged away the imprint of Moses' barrel under his chin. "But there's actually something I'd like you to take care of before that."

"What?"

"Lance Gilford," said Redden.

"Who's Lance Gilford?"

"He's a pain in the ass," said Redden. "And it's time he was gone.

THEO RODE IN THE backseat of Gilford's car all the way to HAPP-Y Stables. Gilford drove well for a man with a loaded 9-millimeter Glock pressed against the base of his skull. Redden's instructions were to meet him at the end of the long driveway that led to the barn. The emphasis was on long . The final half-mile of winding dirt road seemed to last forever. But Theo knew it wasn't just about distance. The adrenaline was pumping, the anticipation building, like a D-day landing.

The car stopped, and the dust settled all around it. Theo crouched low behind the driver's seat so he couldn't be seen by anyone who might be watching. At Theo's direction, Gilford lowered all the windows and shut off the engine.

Theo said, "Leave the keys in the ignition, get out of the car, and take ten steps away from the driver's door. You stop right there and wait. You move even one more step away from me, I drop you in your tracks. Got it?"

"Yes."

"And you talk nice and loud, so I can hear. Go," said Theo.

Gilford reached for the door handle, but Theo stopped him. "Don't forget the videotape."

"Oh, right," said Gilford. It was a blank, the pretense for the whole meeting with Redden, so it was understandable that he would forget it. Gilford grabbed it from the console, got out of the car, and did as he was told, stopping at the end of the driveway, exactly ten steps away from the driver's side door. Theo watched from his hiding spot in the backseat, careful not to show too much of the top of his head in the open window. A light breeze carried the dusty odor of straw and horse droppings from the barn. Smoke from the distant Everglades fires was less noticeable this far south, but it created a haze in the atmosphere that made for an unusually dark night.

Gilford waited, shifting nervously from one foot to the other. Finally, the barn door slid open, and a shadow appeared in the doorway.

"Fernando?" said Gilford.

There was no reply. The barn door closed. Through the open car windows, Theo could hear the plodding of footsteps in the dust, but it was too dark to make out the man's features.

"Is that you, Fernando?" Gilford said.

The man kept coming in silence, stopping five yards away from Gilford. From his hiding spot in the car, Theo still didn't recognize him. The darkness was that complete.

Gilford said, "Who are you?"

The man raised one arm and pointed at Gilford. He had a gun. "Give me the videotape," he said.

Theo did a double take. He knew the voice, and before Theo's brain could convince his eyes that he was indeed seeing his uncle, a shot cut through the night. Gilford fell in a heap.

"Get down!" Theo shouted.

Cy dove to the ground. Theo jumped over the front seat, got behind the wheel, and started the engine. As he put the car in gear, another shot rang out from somewhere inside the barn, and the windshield exploded into thousands of glass pellets. It was now obvious that his uncle hadn't fired the shot that had dropped Gilford, but Theo had no time to process that thought. Spinning tires churned up a cloud of dust as the squealing car cut a big arch across the driveway. It skidded to a quick halt, in perfect position to shield Cy on the ground from the shooter inside the barn.

More bullets whistled overhead. Theo jumped out of the car, grabbed his uncle, and pushed him into the rear seat.

"Stay on the floor!" said Theo.

The night crackled with gunfire as bullets peppered the passenger side of the car. Theo drew his Glock and returned fire over the hood, then scrambled on hands and knees to check on Gilford. No pulse. He left him where he lay, hurried back behind the wheel, and punched the accelerator. The tires screamed again, and Theo lowered his head in response to more gunfire. The car finished its sweeping arch into a full one-eighty facing away from the barn. As it pulled away, the rear tire blew out, possibly from Theo's driving, possibly from gunfire. A second tire exploded, and Theo knew he was dealing with a crack shot. He kept going, but with two flats the car limped away like a gimpy racehorse. And with no windshield, Theo was eating plenty of dust.

Cy shouted, "I heard them talking. They're using me as bait to get you."

"Stay down," he said.

Theo's uncle wasn't telling him anything he hadn't already figured out, and the set of headlights coming toward him only confirmed the fix they were in. A car was fast approaching from the driveway's entrance. Theo was getting boxed in. The bait was doing its job.

"Hold on," said Theo.

Theo threw a hard right and steered the car at full speed off the road. They crashed through a white-painted horse fence and sped into the pasture. The ride was even rougher than expected, and two blown tires didn't help. Theo raced down a grassy slope and hit the brakes in the nick of time to avoid a hood-first dive into the lake.

"Come on!" Theo shouted, as he flew out of the car. His uncle followed, but the old man wasn't moving fast enough. Theo took him by the arm and practically dragged him along as they ran toward a patch of scrub and thick bushes by the lake. They didn't stop until they found taller trees, and they were a good twenty-five yards into a forest. It was ample cover in the darkness.

Cy was wheezing as they rolled onto the blanket of pine needles on the ground. Making a run for it on foot was not a viable option.

"How many are there at the barn?" asked Theo, as he checked his ammunition.

"Two, that I seen," said Cy. "Hispanic guy is in charge. Don't know his name. And a black guy named Moses."

"Moses?" said Theo. "That's the guy I was in jail with."

"He's the one who scares me."

"With good reason," said Theo. His ammunition clip was not yet empty, but he shoved a new one into his Glock anyway, giving himself a full set of rounds. He'd need it with Moses. "I want you to stay here," said Theo.

"Where you going?"

"I got something to take care of"

"What if they see me here?"

"Just lay still. They won't."

"But what if they Jo?"

"You still got that gun they gave you, right?"

"I left it in the car." Damn.

"It's got no bullets anyway. It was just a setup, the way they sent me out there and told me to aim the gun at that guy. I think they somehow knew or guessed he was gonna bring either you or the cops with him."

Theo thought for a second. "Okay, here's the plan. I'm gonna run two hundred yards that way and fire a shot or two into the air. That'll get 'em coming in my direction, away from you."