Darren Shan - Procession of the dead

"About what?" I asked.

"Sound him out. Ask him how he plans to expand. What's in it for us? Whose turf is he after? Will he create problems we don't want to deal with? Is he going to be a threat to our friends? Ask questions, make him talk, find out as much as you can. This is the first of many meetings. You don't have to pump him dry."

"Any chance he'll attack me?" I asked.

Ford shrugged. "He knows we'd come after him if he did. But he's a mad Cuban Mick. Who can tell?"

"Should I take a gun?"

He shook his head. "You take a gun into a dark alley with Johnny Grace, and things go wrong, you're fucked. Without a gun he'll just kick the shit out of you if he loses his temper. But if he sees a piece…" He didn't have to finish.

Adrian and I dressed for the occasion in the Skylight. We'd been fitted for new suits earlier that week and eased ourselves into them.

"I feel like a pimp," Adrian complained.

"You look like a pimp," I comforted him.

"Do I have to come?" he asked. "I'm just your chauffeur. I'm not paid enough to get involved with crap like this. Why can't I just drive, like I normally do, and sit it out in the car?"

"I want you there," I told him. "I might need you if things go wrong."

"If things go wrong with the Grace Brothers, I won't make the slightest difference and you know it."

I stopped trying to knot my tie. He was genuinely upset and I couldn't blame him. "Adrian," I said softly, "you're the only friend Ihave, the one person I can rely on. This is a big day for me and I'm about a hair's breadth away from losing my nerve and bolting. I need somebody to hold me in place. You don't have to come. I won't force you. But I'm asking, as a friend, will you help?"

He considered it. "No," he said, then laughed and pulled up his socks. "You'll owe me big for this."

"I'll see that you never want for anything again," I promised. "Neither in this world nor the next." I paused. "Which might not be as far away as we'd wish."

We picked up Vincent in the lobby. He was coming along to observe me in action. He acted as if we were off to the movies. He lay in the back of the car and made us feel at ease with cute little stories. Like, "I saw Johnny Grace chew a man's balls off once. No kidding. He stripped him, went down on him and gnawed the fuckers off!" And, "Don't look at his feet. He's clubfooted and hates it when people stare. You let your eyes drop below his knees, he'll come at you like a pit bull."

The meet was on neutral territory in a northern section of the southeast. The streets were narrow, clogged with uncollected garbage, refuse from street traders, burned-out cars. Every window was boarded over. The kids were dressed like Third World latchkey children, thin and mean.

We arrived first. Parked at the head of the alley, paid a few local teenagers to guard the car, and ambled down a dark, rat-infested stretch of street. It was day, the sun bright in the sky, but few rays penetrated the overhanging roofs and clothes-strewn washing lines.

Adrian and I stood against a wall while Vincent examined the layout. His hand kept going to the space at his side where his gun would normally be. I bet he would have brought one, regardless of orders, if they'd come from anyone other than Ford Tasso.

"You've never been on a gig like this?" I asked Adrian.

"Hell no," he said. "I've only been in this business a couple of years. And it's only temporary. A year or two more and I'm out of it. Out of this job, out of this city. I've only stuck it so far because of Sonja. She wants to see me doing well. You know how big sisters are."

"Can't say I do."

"Don't have any?"

"No."

"Brothers?"

"No."

"You're an only child?"

"Obviously." I glanced at him. "Why the interest?"

"You never talk about your parents, old friends, school or anything."

"I don't?"

"No."

I scratched my head. "Didn't know you were so interested in my history. Let's see, I was born in…" As I thought about what to tell him, I noticed movement and stopped. "We're in business," I whispered, tapping his arm and pointing. Four men had stepped into view and were heading toward us. Vincent coughed and signaled for us to join him.

They reached us and stood looking, three or four feet distant. Johnny Grace was small, light-skinned, but muscular. I didn't look at his feet to check if Vincent's story was true or not.

"Who the fuck are you?" Johnny snapped.

"Capac Raimi. This is Adrian Arne and Vincent Carell."

"Where's Tasso?"

"I'm Mr. Tasso's representative."

He spat into the dust. "Fuck. You hear that?" His three men nodded seriously. "I come here, ready to do business with a man I respect, and get a fucking flunky. You think I'm a nobody? You think Johnny Grace wastes time on fucking boot-boys?"

"Let's go," I said to Adrian and Vincent. I turned my back on Johnny Grace, praying he wouldn't stick a knife in it.

"Hey! Where are you going?" His voice was startled, uncertain.

I half-turned. "If you're not prepared to deal with me and my colleagues, we have no business here. I'll relay your dissatisfaction to Mr. Tasso and maybe next time he'll come personally." I smiled thinly. "To sort things out himself."

Johnny twitched and looked at his gang. They were all uncomfortable now. I waited. "Shit, no need to get your feathers ruffled," he said in the end. "I was just disappointed, you know? I thought he'd come himself. But he's busy, he's got commitments, I know what it's like. Guess he couldn't make it, huh?" I said nothing. "OK, fuck it, I'm sorry," he shouted. "I apologize, all right?"

"You want to talk?"

"Yeah."

"Good." I started back. "I think we should begin with-"

Someone dropped from a nearby fire escape. A shadow fell by Johnny's feet, an arm slashed at him, then the shadow was among the other three Grace Brothers. More slashing hands, shouts, confusion. Then all three men were lying in the dirt, silent, still. Their assailant rose lithely to his feet.

Johnny was staring at me, eyes wide, mouth open. I stared back, stunned. His hands were over his throat but I saw blood pouring through the cracks between his fingers.

The man who'd dropped from the fire escape turned Johnny around. Johnny's hands fell by his sides. He tried to say something, to express shock, hatred or fear. But he couldn't. Johnny Grace was beyond words.

The man drove a knife into Johnny's stomach, held it there a second, withdrew, let the body drop, walked past and stopped in front of Vincent.

Vincent gulped deeply, his face ashen. "Wami," he croaked.

"You know me?" the stranger asked. He had a smooth, mocking voice.

"I recognize the snakes," Vincent said. "I've heard stories."

"You work for…? "

"The Cardinal. Ford Tasso. I'm with Tasso."

"Then you may live." The man sheathed his knife and smiled. "Carry a message to Ford. Tell him I'm back. I'm here for my own reasons, but if he wants me, he knows how to get in touch."

"I'll do that. I'll-"

The assassin brushed by Vincent and looked at Adrian and me. He was black, one of the darkest men I'd ever seen, about six feet tall, moderately built, completely bald. He had no facial hair but sported a tattoo on either cheek, colorful snakes which streaked down the sides of his face, came up under his chin and met in the center beneath his lips. His eyes were a striking green. He was ageless, maybe thirty, maybe fifty. He was the most terrifying person I'd ever seen, and that included The Cardinal and Ford Tasso.

"You," he said. "What's your name?"

"Capac Raimi," I stuttered.

He smiled. "An Ayuamarcan. I thought so. And you?" he asked Adrian.

"Adrian Arne. Sir."

He slid closer and gazed into Adrian's eyes. "Yes," he muttered. "You're one too. A lesser specimen, I suspect. Interesting."