Closer Than Your Shadow

Trapped Bird

November 23rd 2:03 a.m.
Gotham
Brixman Family Jewelers

I watched the lamppost across the street flicker while I shoved bracelets in my bag. I knew no one was out there, but I still couldn't shake the feeling we were being watched.

Danny told me I was the lookout, and my mind raced with everything that could go wrong. Someone ratting, or a cop. Or Gotham's reigning prick.

We'd been here two minutes and every second was torture. It was my worst fear, an anxiety inducing situation with no escape. It didn't make me feel any better that I didn't know anyone here besides Danny. He was the only other 'real' Maroni.

He was middle aged and slightly overweight but I couldn't really blame him. He said his wife made pastas and pastries just like his nona. We only talked when I came to Dom's for family dinners, but he was one of the nicer guys. He was still brutal and killed people for money, but he had a wife and kids. He wasn't as reckless or an ass. Also not a Maroni by blood. He was married to Dom's friend.

He whispered something to the guy behind me. With the rustle of the bags and the chatter amongst the others, I couldn't make out what he said to him.

It made me sick putting all my trust into a group of random strangers, but I didn't have a choice. They were all looking for quick cash or a way to clear their debts with Dom and nowadays he was desperate for more hands.

We were being targeted. No matter what, almost every single job Dom Maroni sent his guys to do, it got busted. Anything related to the Maroni's name seemed to go bad.

And we knew why.

People could slip through the cops' hands if they were smart enough, it wasn't hard to get away with murder in Gotham. But you had to be fucking good to get past Batman.

He was more of a monster than a hero. My parents told me when I was little, he'd arrest me if I didn't eat broccoli or go to bed on time. He used to be an exaggerated threat to get me to behave. 15 years later and I still couldn't shake my warped view of the man who 'protected' Gotham. He was supposed to be a story.

Now he was real.

It started 2 months ago when one of Dom's vans went missing moving guns into the city.

Early the next morning the cops found it a few streets away from the city's border. The van was flipped upside down. The drivers were still buckled in but bloody from the beating they took.

The guns were in the back, so the only person to blame was him. Who else would leave 30,000 dollars' worth of guns and ammunition to the cops?

The drivers were eventually taken back to the GCPD after they got released from the hospital. They could've been out on bail that night but instead, they confessed. It was all over the news and we knew it was going to come back to someone in the family. Surprisingly, nothing happened. No cops came around. No one asked any questions, but Dom lost it.

He was getting paranoid and fucking erratic.

It scared everyone.

Even if they didn't admit it, it was obvious by the nervous glances being thrown around while we robbed the jewelry store.

Honestly, I'd never done anything like this. Danny was used to this type of thing because he'd been an errand boy for Dom since he was my age, but I sold weed and that was pretty much the extent of my mobster activity. That was the difference between me and the boys, they did the dirty work.

Dom never made me come along.

But he was losing money and he was getting desperate.

He was losing men and I guess I was just another pawn he had to risk sacrificing. With every ruined job, he lost power too.