Chapter 20 Piston
PISTON
When I walk into the dog shelter, Travis doesn't even look up from his desk. "That you, Sandra? What took you so long?"
"She got detained."
That gets Travis's head snapping up. “Can I help you?”
I let him stew in it for a while, watching the fear build. I’m not real good at covering my feelings when it comes to abuse. Animal or human.
“Wh—where’s Sandra? Is she okay?”
"She’s fine. No fucking thanks to you." I walk right to the edge of his desk so he has to look up at me. I take a little pleasure in seeing him swallow nervously.
He's starting to sweat a little. "Good. Good. Is she here?"
Looking like the kind of guy that doesn’t mind a little casual murder can make some things more difficult, but when my intentions match the outside? It comes in real handy.
I plop my ass onto the edge of his desk. He doesn't look happy about it, but doesn't say anything. "Got a couple questions for you, Trav. Do you mind if I call you that?"
"Uh, nobody really… It’s fine though. Ask away."
"Great, Trav. I’m here because the way you do business has led to someone I care about getting upset.”
“I haven’t done anything to Sandra, if that’s what you’re implying. We went out a couple times. That’s it!”
“Interesting.” The urge to murder him just went up a notch. “But not what I meant. Unless I’ve greatly misunderstood something, you’ve been doing business with a guy named Zeke.”
He goes white as a sheet. "No, fuck, I can explain. I didn't—"
“Sandra figured out something was going on. She didn’t know what, though, and wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt. That led to her taking a little drive to make sure all the doggies were safe and sound.”
“Shit. Look, I can explain.”
“You can explain why you’ve been funneling animals to a guy who runs dog fights? I’ve been around the block a couple times, Trav. You and I both know that no part of that business is a happy one for the animals, and fighting isn’t even always the worst of it.”
Predictably enough, he decides to try and make a break for it. He darts for one side of the desk, then reverses to run the other way. I’ve got long arms and was prepared for either. I stop him with a punch to the face that sends him reeling into the wall with a crack.
"Ow! Fuck!" he whimpers, using the wall for support. "Did you have to?"
"Nah. I didn't have to, but you have no fucking idea how much I wanted to. We're probably not even done, so I hope you're ready. I happen to like Sandra a whole lot, and when she dropped by Zeke’s place, she ended up trapped and almost killed.”
“I swear to God, I’ll never work with him again. I didn’t want to in the first place.”
“The only way to work with him now would be to hire a psychic. He’s been taken out of the equation.”
“Please… just listen, okay?”
I catch the front of his shirt in my fist and pull him right up so we're face-to-face. “Talk. I doubt I’ll like what you have to say, but explain to me exactly why a guy who runs a place dedicated to saving animals decided to partner up with a guy who treats them like trash.”
“Doing business here isn’t easy, man. It was fine for a while, but I don’t know, sometime last year maybe?
Zeke started to come around. I didn’t know who he was at first, just that he was always interested in particular breeds or mixes.
But that’s pretty normal! A lot of people like certain types of dogs.
Dogs that can be hard to rehome. I—I admit that I let him adopt even though I was concerned I shouldn’t. ”
“That’s not where it ended, though.”
“No.” He actually looks like he has regrets, but if it’s for what he did, or that he got caught is unknown. “Have you heard of Alexander Kozlov?”
I force myself to keep my expression neutral. “Yes, but what does he have to do with your shitty choices?”
“Bloodmoney, the gang Zeke worked for, they’re in deep with him. Everyone who doesn’t go along with it gets targeted. Backing him is a suggestion, sure, but the kind of suggestion that makes you feel like if you say no, you might as well start getting out of town already.”
“What does Kozlov get out of this? Why is your rescue special?”
“It’s not. Seriously! He’s pressuring everybody.
He’s even taken over the charity gala. It used to make decent money for us, but lately I probably lose more than I make.
It’s like his yearly check to make sure we’re all in line.
Ever since Kozlov started throwing his weight around, the vast majority of the profits go into his pockets and we pay for the privilege. "
“You could choose not to go,” I suggest.
“Easy for you to say. It’s too late at this point. I’m glad you killed Zeke. He was scum and I hated what I was doing, but Kozlov is fucking scary. If I don’t show up, they’ll know something’s wrong, and that won’t help me or Sandra. You must know she loves working here.”
I hate that the fucker’s right. It would kill Sandra to quit.
“So are you going to kill me, or what?” Travis asks.
I can't help chuckle at that. For a corrupt office nerd, he's got a little more guts than I'd expected. “I don’t know, are you going to grow some principles, or what?”
"You’re really overestimating how much power I have. We don’t all have the resources to fight, and I’d rather save ten dogs and sacrifice a couple than lose them all."
“You’re a fucking worm.” I'm done here. Any longer and I’m going to do something I’ll regret—probably.
"If I hear about you handing another animal over to those fuckers, I'll be back.
And if you do anything, and I mean fucking anything, to endanger Sandra, you won't even see us coming.
You'll be better off throwing yourself on Kozlov's mercy. Understood?"
“Understood.” The way he blanches makes me feel that I've made my point.
“Oh, and if you want your van back? You’re going to have to go pick it up yourself.”
Is that petty? Yeah, but so am I right now.