9
TREVOR
Banging on the front door tore him away from a peaceful sleep. His instincts were to flee, but his common sense told him to stay and face his unwanted guest. He jumped out of bed and grabbed a shirt from the floor, then almost fell down the stairs as he fought to shake off the claws of sleep. “Coming!”
He opened the door to a mountain of a man, who roughly shoved him aside and barged in.
“Did I wake you?”
Trevor rubbed his eyes. “Yeah, what do you think? It’s the middle of the goddamn night.”
“It’s nine o’clock.”
Trevor glanced at his watch. “Oh.”
The huge, bald man, whose name Trevor had never bothered remembering, glanced around. “Don’t you ever clean this place?”
“I have other things on my mind.”
“Like sleeping?”
“Are you my dead mother? I’m working on getting the money I owe Sam. I just need to sort out the misunderstanding with my parents’ will. Bureaucracy takes time.”
“Sam understands that, and he knows your parents had millions lying around, but he needs at least part of the money now.”
Trevor chuckled. “I have twenty bucks in my wallet if—”
His head snapped to the side with the impact of the slap. How could someone so big move so fast? Trevor stumbled and fell to the ground, his brain bouncing in his skull. He had been dealing with Sam and his man for months, but things had never turned violent.
“Get up.”
“I’m fine down here.”
The mountain kicked him in the gut. Shit was getting real. “Okay!” Panting and grimacing, Trevor managed to get back to his feet. “You think that Sam will see a single dollar if I’m dead?”
“Wounded isn’t dead.”
“I don’t have the money right now, and your punches won’t change that.”
“You’d be surprised how many people told me that before a few broken bones made them remember an old bank account.”
“Trevor?” Andy stood at the top of the staircase, his eyes wide with fear.
“Go back to your room. It’s okay.”
“Maybe your weird brother has some money.” The mountain took a step toward the stairs.
In an instance, Trevor’s pain was replaced by rage. He moved to block the mountain’s path. “Look at me.”
“I’m looking.”
“If you touch him, I’ll kill you. With a gun, a knife, or a fucking pen through your eye—it doesn’t matter. Touch him and you’re dead.”
The mountain scanned Trevor’s face, looking for a bluff, but there was none to be found because Trevor had meant every word. “Jesus, relax.” The mountain took a step back.
“I’m working on getting Sam his money. Hit me again, or even look at my brother, and you’ll get nothing. You think it will be hard for us to disappear with millions in our pockets?”
“You’re playing with fire, Trevor.”
He spread his arms. “That’s the only way I know how to play. Now fuck off.”
The mountain grumbled curses before slamming the door behind him.
Trevor leaned his back against the wall, once more feeling his growing bruises.
Andy came closer. “He was big and scary. Don’t let him come over here again, okay?”
Trevor watched his brother, who grew creepier with every passing year and looked older than he truly was. Kim had once said that Trevor had sucked up all the pretty genes. It was a shitty thing for a mother to say, but she’d loved Andy the best she knew how.
In Trevor’s eyes, Andy was still the same little boy who came home crying because kids from school bullied him and called him a freak. Trevor had no choice but to track them down and scar them for life.
“Come on, he wasn’t that scary.”
“He hurt you.”
Trevor snorted. “Please, you know your brother is made of iron. I’m Iron Man!”
“But he was also smart.”
“Hmm, thanks.” He went to make himself a drink. They were out of money, but his parents had left enough alcohol to survive a nuclear winter. Most of it remained from the days Kim used to throw her naughty little parties. When Daniel left, those parties quickly dwindled, and Kim became a much less happy person. They had all leaned too heavily on Daniel’s presence, and the void he left behind had grown into a bleeding wound at the heart of their family.
I can’t blame him for leaving, but I can still hate him for it.
Trevor slumped on the couch and rested his legs on the table, a glass of whiskey in his hand. He was drinking more frequently these days since his steady supply of drugs had run dry. His body didn’t approve of the change—nothing beat quality coke—but this beggar couldn’t be picky.
In the old days, Kim would have smacked his legs off the table, but she would have first lost her shit over the dirty dishes lying everywhere.
“Do you think that Daniel will help us?” Andy came to sit next to Trevor.
Isn’t that the million-dollar question. “I’m sure he’s trying, but since we’re running out of time, he better try harder.”
Unfortunately, Daniel was not a magician, forcing Trevor to strongly consider Plan B. He had already started laying the foundations for his and Andy’s alibis. He was not acting coy about it, either, assuming that Daniel would pick up on Trevor’s plan and work ever faster. He loved envisioning Daniel staying up at night, tossing and turning while time worked against him.
A distressed Daniel was a sexier Daniel.
“It was nice seeing him again,” Andy said quietly, like he wasn’t sure if he was allowed. Robert and Kim had refused to let Daniel’s name be spoken in the house, especially Robert, although he’d never gotten rid of their old family portrait in his office.
“Yeah, it was nice seeing him,” Trevor had to admit. “Oh, I spoke with boring Benji yesterday. He’s working with Daniel, and he said there may be a way to solve this shit, although he refused to tell me how.”
Andy beamed. “Great!”
“Hold on. He implied that it could take months, and we can’t wait that long.” He took a sip of whiskey, wishing that the taste was more bitter. “At least I set enough fire underneath Danny’s butt to scare him.”
“I believe in Daniel,” Andy said with confidence.
Coming from a man who still believed in Santa Claus, that didn’t say much.
“I’m going to drive to Manhattan tomorrow,” Trevor said. “Not to cause drama, just to keep an eye on Danny for a bit and get a sense of how he’s doing.” And he really needed to get out of this house.
“Can I come?”
“I’ll need to keep a low profile, and your profile is anything but low. Try to clean up while I’m gone.”
Andy made a face as he scanned the room. In all fairness, most of the junk lying around was Trevor’s, but since he was the brains of the operation, Andy would need to keep the operation somewhat sanitary.
He got up and walked toward the stairs, still feeling that kick from earlier. He would take a few of his remaining pills for the pain and to unwind. Once he got that damn money, the first thing he’d do would be to reestablish a steady flow of high-quality drugs.
Hurry up, Danny boy.
*
The waitress in the small coffee shop didn’t like him. She wasn’t blunt about it, but with every passing hour, she tried less and less to pretend. Well, he had been sitting there for over three hours and taking advantage of the generous offer of unlimited coffee refills. He should probably order something to eat, but everything on the menu was so damn expensive.
He had seen Daniel entering his office building hours ago, walking next to a tall, well-built man who was likely his coworker. Since then, Trevor had been waiting for Daniel to leave work so he could follow him and make sure nothing fishy was going on. It meant little, really, since Daniel could be plotting right now in the safety of his office, but Trevor had nothing to do about that—he couldn't risk being seen inside Daniel's building while supposedly being in Florida.
Trevor yawned and rested his arms on the tall counter, watching people coming and going like ants. There wasn’t enough money in the world that could make him enslave himself to some firm or a boss. He knew that the problem was with him and not with the rest of the world, but he was simply wired differently, always had been. His mom used to laugh at the concept of “normal”, but maybe because she, like Trevor, couldn’t pretend to be what they weren’t.
Someone sat next to him, but Trevor kept staring ahead, acknowledging his growing hunger. He was going to cave and order something, but fuck if he was leaving a tip.
“He finishes at six.”
Trevor blinked at the sound of a Russian accent. He glanced at the man sitting next to him. “Were you talking to me?”
The man looked into his eyes, and Trevor’s balls shrunk.
“He finishes at six,” he said again.
“Who does?”
“The man you’re spying on.”
He now recognized him as the one who had walked into the building alongside Daniel this morning. “I’m not spying on anyone.” His voice wasn’t steady, maybe because the man was leaning in too close.
He’s going to break my face. Nicely played, Danny.
The Russian shrugged and looked to the front, his jawline sharp enough to cut glass. “Maybe I’m mistaken. I thought you were here because of the money.”
He should have used the opportunity to split with his bones still intact, but curiosity got the best of him. “You know who I am?”
“The evil brother.” The man eyed him. “You looked better in your old photos.”
“Ouch.”
“He doesn’t like you.”
“Are you two friends?”
The man laughed. Even his laughter had an accent. “I’m not a friend of that cheater, but I need to protect him from you.” He gave Trevor a disappointed glance, unimpressed with the challenge.
Trevor cleared his throat. “Listen, I’m just sitting here enjoying a bit of coffee. Not looking to cause any problems.”
The man narrowed his eyes. “How are you going to get your money back without causing problems?”
Trevor hesitated. The conversation was moving on an unexpected path, although it could be a trick. Does Daniel know I’m here? Did he send this guy over? Somehow, Trevor’s instinct told him that this was not Daniel’s doing. “How much do you know about what’s going on?”
“Enough to know that he still doesn’t have a solution, and that you are desperate.”
That was both rude and accurate. “What’s your name?”
“Dima.”
“Are you Daniel’s bodyguard?”
“I don’t know Daniel.”
“I meant Chris.”
“Then say Chris. Yes, I was made his bodyguard by the weird and loud man I work for.”
“I might be wrong, but it doesn’t seem like you dig this gig much.”
Dima nodded. “He doesn’t deserve my protection.”
“Couldn’t you refuse?”
“No, and it’s better than being at the club.”
Trevor couldn’t imagine how a bodyguarding gig could be better than a club, but he let it go. “Are you going to tell Dan—Chris—that you saw me?”
Dima shrugged. “Maybe. I don’t always know what I’ll say.”
“How much is your employer paying you?”
“Enough to keep me in this country. If I go back, I’ll have to join the war.”
Trevor’s heartbeat accelerated with this unexpected development. He now knew for certain that Daniel was not only struggling to come up with a solution, but also getting help from powerful people. It was time to shift to Plan B before it was too late.
“Listen, I can’t pay you more than what you’re getting, but once I get the money—”
“I don’t think you’ll get it soon. You have a debt to the wrong people, so you’ll likely be dead by the time you get the money. Having business with dead people is not smart; I know that much.” He started to rise.
Trevor hurried to grab his arm. “Wait, I’m not dead yet. Hear me out.”
With a sigh, Dima sat back down. “Speak quickly. I shouldn’t stay far from him for too long.”
“You don’t like him.”
“I don’t like many people.”
“And you don’t like working for that weird man, right?”
Dima nodded. “True.”
“Work with me on this, and you’ll have enough money to live comfortably in this country for the rest of your life.”
“My employer is not only weird—he is dangerous.”
“I’m sure he is, and that is why we’ll need to be careful.”
Dima twisted his lips. “Like you were careful sitting here where I could find you?”
“You found shit. I’m just a dude drinking coffee in a public place.”
“The risk is still too big.”
Trevor lowered his voice and added conviction to it. “I have a feeling you got into this country because you took a risk. It paid off, didn’t it?”
“It did, but working with you would be even riskier.”
“Maybe, but it could also change your life. You don’t strike me as the kind of man who likes privileged assholes bossing him around. I’m giving you a way out, and you might not get one again for years.”
Dima tapped on the counter with his long fingers, his face engrossed in thought. “Do you have a plan, or are you just talk?”
Trevor smiled, the pressure in his chest subsiding. “I always have a plan.”
“And do your plans work?”
“Of course!” When they don’t fail horribly. “We’ll need to work quickly now, so listen up...”