𝙽𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝙴𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑

Nineteen

Grayson

Back at the clubhouse, I had more questions than answers. I'd spent hours with my crew, covering block after block in some of the city's sleaziest sections. Nobody seemed to know of a man named Joe Green-even the ones who jumped a little when I said his name. Every time I saw that, it was a reminder of the sort of person I was up against. Everybody was scared shitless of the guy. And my ex-wife was mixed up with him. Wonderful.

"Nothing?" I asked Rex, one of my top lieutenants, when he left the pawn shop. He shook his head.

"No, boss. Not a thing. They never even heard of the guy." He rolled his eyes.

"I guess you don't believe that," I said.

"Please. I think the guy pissed his pants when I asked. He knows who Joe Green is. He just ain't talking."

"Fuck this." I couldn't believe nobody would tell us anything. "And you told him we don't work with the guy, right? I mean, it's not like we're trolling around, collecting for him."

"I know, I know. I told him a buncha times that we don't got anything to do with Joe. We just wanna know who he is, where he does business. That sorta thing."

"And he wouldn't tell you."

"Nope." Rex shrugged. I was just about at the end of my rope, and sick to death of people who wouldn't help me. I wasn't asking for anything that big, just a little help. Joe had scared the entire city shitless. Who was he that he had that sort of power?

I had to find out for myself. I had made it a point up until then not to show my face inside the businesses we checked out. I didn't wanna intimidate anybody and make them afraid to talk. It was time to start intimidating.

When I walked through the pawn shop door, the owner's eyes widened. "Please. I don't know anything. You got the wrong guy." He backed up, away from the Plexiglas window between me and the merchandise behind the counter.

"Give me one good reason not to drive my bike through the front window of this shop."

"I told your buddy I don't know anything. Why isn't that good enough?"

"Because I know you're lying to me, pal. And I don't like it when people lie to me. So why don't you start telling the truth. Start by telling me what you know about Joe Green. And don't pretend you never heard of the guy, because I'll know if you're lying."

Rex had been right-the poor old man looked like he was about to piss himself. "Listen, I don't know him personally, okay? That was what I meant."

"Sure, sure. But you've heard of him. Right?"

"Right. Everybody knows the name. I mean, seriously. Everybody around here has heard of him. He's like one of those stories you tell kids when you wanna scare them. Like a legend or something, man."

That didn't make me feel much better. "Okay, so he's a legend. A scary dude."

"More than just a scary dude. I'm pretty sure he's the devil. He'll do anything to get what he wants. Only really desperate people borrow from him, or people who don't know any better." I wished I could find whoever the hell told Jess's friend about him and wring their fucking neck for it.

"What sorta things does he do to people? Do you know?"

"Sick, twisted shit. One guy, he killed his dog. He bombed another guy's car-it killed him. He was a buddy, too."

"What about women?"

"Women don't borrow money from him, man. Did you ever know a woman who would do something like that?"