16
JAY
“What’s up with you?”
Jay blinked and looked at Stu. “Huh?”
“You’ve been holding that drill and staring into space for five minutes. If you’re going crazy on me, do it away from dangerous machinery.”
Jay put the drill down and slumped onto the couch.
“What’s wrong?” Stu asked.
Jay ran a hand through his messy hair. He hadn’t gotten more than an hour’s sleep last night, his brain overwhelmed with worry, fear, and guilt. Oscar had promised that Dima would come over with his busted car this morning, but it was already past noon, and Jay’s patience was wearing thin.
Earlier today, “Chris” had sent another message in their group chat—a photo of a mountain with the message, “Doing a lot of thinking out here. This world is so messed up. I’m not sure if I belong anywhere.”
Jay had wanted to write back to the brothers and let them know that their days were numbered. Luckily, Ethan had called in time and convinced him not to respond.
They had run a Google search on the mountain’s photo and discovered it was called Blue Knob, located in Pennsylvania. The photo had been taken straight from Google Images.
“I didn’t sleep much,” Jay said as Stu waited for an answer.
“Oh yeah? What’s her name?”
“Piss off.”
“Is that European?”
Jay chuckled.
Stu’s phone rang. He answered and spoke with one of their suppliers, his loud voice echoing throughout the garage.
Jay needed a strong and muddy coffee. He didn’t like the thought of facing Dima while being anything less than his best, yet it wasn’t like Dima would be in better shape.
“I’m out of here,” Stu said after finishing the call.
“Huh? Where you going?”
“Hank finally got the parts we ordered.”
“About damn time, but do you have to leave in the middle of the day?” He wouldn’t be able to talk to customers with Dima here.
“Why not? It’s almost an hour’s drive.” Stu pursed his lips. “Baby Jay is going to miss his big, handsome brother?”
“I’m gonna change the fucking lock, is what I’ll do. Get out of here.”
Stu laughed and walked out into the customer area. Moments later, he called, “Ethan! Haven’t seen you in ages.”
What the hell?
Jay hurried to join them as Stu and Ethan finished hugging.
“I was just leaving,” Stu said. “Great seeing you, man. Oh, I heard the news about you and Anthony. I, too, fancy Italians, although with slightly different parts.”
Jay cleared his throat. “Don’t you need to be somewhere?”
“Yeah yeah. I’m out of here.”
Once it was just the two of them left, Jay took a step toward Ethan. “The hell, E?”
“I’m going crazy. I can’t keep doing nothing. Did Dima come yet?”
“No, he’s late, which means you still have time to get back to work and let me handle this.”
“You need backup.”
Ethan seemed miserable and tired. For him, this whole mess had come out of nowhere, while Jay had been aware of the looming danger for a while now. He sighed and put his hands on Ethan’s shoulders. “Listen, I know what you’re going through, but we can’t afford to make mistakes. If Dima sees you here, it will be harder for me to get anything out of him. Trust me.”
Ethan looked around. “I can hide somewhere in case you need me.”
“The man can barely walk, E. I got this. Please go back to work. I promise to talk to you and Anthony the second I’m done with that asshole.”
Ethan reluctantly nodded. “Fine, we’ll talk later. Be careful.”
He left with his shoulders slumped, and Jay went to make himself a strong coffee, knowing he had done the right thing by sending Ethan away.
Shortly after, he stepped outside at the sound of an approaching car. Dima slowly drove closer in his busted black Toyota SUV. Jay signaled him to park inside, then pulled down the garage door to give them privacy. The blue neon light became more prominent with the blocking of the sunlight.
Dima climbed out of the car with a grunt, the bruises on his face more colorful than the day before. He raised his sunglasses, revealing a shiny black eye.
“How are you?” Jay asked, keeping the hostility out of his voice.
“Fine. Better.”
Jay walked past him and ran his fingers over the dents and scratches in the car’s body. He hadn’t known how long it would take him to determine whether another car had hit Dima’s car, but three seconds ended up being enough. Even the most amateur mechanic would have figured out that no car had collided with this one.
“You saw the car that hit you?” Jay asked casually.
“I was passed out by then.”
“It must have been in the parking lot when you got there. Did you notice a car with passengers inside?”
“No. The place seemed safe, and I didn’t expect the brothers to show up.”
“Yeah, they must have followed you on the way there. Coffee?”
“What?”
“You want coffee?”
Dima stalled before nodding. “I drink mine black.”
“As a man should.” Jay walked to the small, makeshift kitchen to make the coffee. Without Dima looking, he spat into the mug for the hell of it.
“This place belongs to you?” Dima asked.
“It’s my brother’s, but we work here together.” They split the profit almost evenly. Stu didn’t need to be so generous, but he’d insisted that this was a family business through and through.
“Is your brother here?” Dima asked.
“Nope. Just us.” For a second, he worried he shouldn’t have said that, but this was to be a conversation, not a fight.
He brought the hot coffee to Dima, who sniffed it before sipping, seemingly immune to the boiling heat.
Jay resumed circling the car. The damage was mostly around the right side, likely due to a hammer or a big wrench. “Did you notice anyone following you on the way to the shooting range?”
“No.”
“So, if you weren’t followed, and you didn’t notice anyone in the parking lot—”
“I didn’t say we weren’t followed, just that I didn’t notice.”
“I stand corrected.” He circled the car again. “The brothers must be strong if they managed to take you down. I barely could, and I—”
“You didn’t take me down; you cheated.”
“I wouldn’t say I cheated.”
Anger flashed in Dima’s eyes. “One of you caught my attention from the balcony, and the other one kicked my head. This is not cheating?” Anger seemed to make his accent thicker.
Jay came to stand in front of him, on the border between close and too close. “Come on, you know I was seconds away from beating your ass.”
Dima’s nostrils flared. He placed the coffee mug on the car’s roof. “You are trying to push me like a little child.”
“Now why would I do that? It’s not like you’re lying about what happened when Chris was kidnapped.”
“I don’t lie.”
“No other car hit yours. The damage was done by something else.”
He shrugged. “Maybe. I didn’t see what happened when they escaped.”
“Why would people fleeing a scene of a crime spend even one minute smashing your car? They couldn’t have been stupid enough to think that it would take it out of commission. It makes more sense to cut your tires.”
“I don’t know what they were thinking,” he said through gritted teeth.
I’m pushing too hard.
Jay forced a smile and added lightness to his tone. “Come on, let’s try to figure it out together. We’re on the same side here, right?”
Dima nodded stiffly.
“If they had parked elsewhere, there’s no reason for them to drive into the parking lot just to hit your car.”
“Maybe they did it as a warning.”
“Yeah, maybe.” He massaged his chin. “You know, I did a search on that shooting range and found some photos of the parking lot.”
Dima narrowed his eyes. “And?”
“I have an idea of where they could’ve been hiding. The row of trees at the back of the parking lot could be a good place to hide a car.”
“Yes, that makes sense.”
Jay kept his expression blank. He had indeed searched for photos of the shooting range and the parking lot—a shared space between four stores without a single tree in sight.
He had gotten as much as he was going to get out of Dima. It was time to let Oscar know he had a rat problem that needed taking care of immediately.
“I’ll need a day or two to work on your car. Are you fine taking an Uber back?”
Dima nodded. “I can do that.”
“Cool. I’ll let you know when I’m done.” He turned around to go open the garage door. After barely two steps, Dima firmly grabbed his head. Jay had a split second to acknowledge the immediate danger, then the side of his face smashed against the car.
A supernova of pain exploded inside his skull. He crashed on the ground, landing on all fours. Sharp needles sliced through his brain, his vision turning bright and blurry.
I shouldn’t have told Ethan to leave.
The garage was secluded enough to make shouting for help pointless. Close by, a small cabinet stored tools that he could use to hit Dima with. All he needed was to make the man go down, then a storm of violence would explode until one of them stopped moving.
Something wet landed on the back of his hand. He squinted at the red drops that trickled from his head. Well, shit.
He forced his body forward, but his limbs were a dysfunctional mess, and he could barely see two feet in front of him. Still, he had to at least try. It wasn’t over yet.
Through the ringing in his ears, he faintly heard approaching footsteps.
“You’re making a mistake,” he managed to say. “Whatever they promised you, it isn't worth it.”
“Look at me.”
Jay turned his head to see Dima’s leg flying toward his face.