“What happened to her face?”
This answer was more hesitant. “She bit Teddy so he hit her.”
“Christ! Which part of ‘I want this to go smooth’ did you not understand? Nightingale’s going to have a shit hemorrhage. Get her some ice then call Teddy, get him out of town.”
I was planted on a couch and not processing much of their conversation. I was focused on getting my fingers to move. I was together only enough to notice Goon Gary and The Moron making a hasty exit and that the couch I was on was a really nice couch, fluffy and covered in cream silk damask. I’d only just bought my couch a couple of months ago and I was still in couch-assessment mode, the kind of mode that unconsciously comes whenever you make a major purchase.
I succeeded in lifting my head to look at the guy who’d been talking. He was wearing gray slacks, a maroon shirt with a monochromatic tie. He was short, had to be in his fifties and had jet-black hair with white at each temple. He looked like what I would guess a younger Grandpa Munster would look like. Except a lot more creepy and definitely scary but not in a comic way.
“You okay?” he asked me.
No, I wasn’t okay. I’d just been punched in the face and then kidnapped.
I just stared at him.
“I’m really sorry about his,” he said. “I’m having troubles with some of my employees.”
No shit.
I thought it but didn’t say it, I hadn’t recovered enough to form words.
Gary came back with an ice bag wrapped in a kitchen towel and handed it to me. I was happy I had enough limb coordination to put it on my face. My cheekbone hurt like hell.
“This didn’t go as I’d planned. I just wanted to have a chat. I heard Nightingale had a woman and I was curious,” the man said to me, his tone surprisingly conciliatory.
“Where’s Ally?” I asked.
First things first. I wanted to know Ally was okay and then I wanted to have a nervous breakdown.
Young Grandpa Munster looked at Goon Gary.
“She was with another woman, we stunned her too,” Goon Gary explained, “We left her in the car with the keys. Teddy’s behind watching the car to make sure she’s okay.”
“Ally?” Young Grandpa Munster asked.
Gary shrugged.
Mr. Munster’s face tightened. “As in Allyson Nightingale, Lee Nightingale’s little sister?”
Gary began to look a wee bit uncomfortable.
It would appear this was an “oopsie” moment for Goon Gary.
“I’m at a loss for words. You do know that this isn’t only Lee’s woman, she’s Tom Savage’s daughter? And her friend is a Nightingale.”
Gary shifted on his feet while the color rose in his face.
Young Grandpa Munster sat down, shaking his head. “This whole thing is a complete f**k up.”
He looked at me and his face had an expression that was somewhere between resigned and depressed. In normal circumstances, I’d probably feel sorry for him. Since I didn’t know if I’d live to see the end of this scene in the film that was my life, I was too busy feeling sorry for myself.
“The simple life is holding some appeal,” he said and I nodded because I could see where he was coming from.
My life had been simple a day ago. Work, coffee, rock ‘n’ roll. Now I was being shot at, dragged around by bad guys and propositioned by the love of my life who I had decided I didn’t want anymore.
The simple life seemed far superior to all of that.
“I’m Terry Wilcox,” he went on.