“I’m just enjoying myself. You have to understand, once you get a reputation, people just don’t cross me very often,” the man in the cowboy hat said as he twirled a combat knife that was probably big enough to qualify as a sword in his hand like it was a baton. “It might be months before I get to do this again.”
“Enjoy your work?”
“I do. What you should be doing is trying your best to make sure I don’t get to have any fun.”
“How? You want me to talk? I don’t know anything.”
“Come on now, use your imagination. I’m sure there’s something a man like you could do for a man like me.”
“You can do what you want to me. I’m not going to hurt her.”
“Well, you’re going to need to hurt someone. If and when it's time to hurt her, don’t worry, she’ll be hurt. I was thinking someone more difficult to find, someone your friend already found before.”
“You want me to kill Stone?”
“I want someone to kill him. You seem to be a good candidate. He seems to trust you, or at least your partner, and she—despite the fact you are something of scumbag—seems to trust you.”
“If I do it, what do I get?”
The man in the cowboy hat nodded to someone lurking in the shadows. He never saw the man, just felt the uppercut he delivered to his ribs before going back into the shadows.
After he caught his breath, the man in the cowboy hat told him, “We aren’t negotiating. Get this done, show you might have some use to us other than as an example to others, and then we’ll talk. I can’t guarantee you doing us this favor will make everything square, but I can tell you what will happen if you don’t do it will be much worse.”
“I just find and kill Stone?”
“For now.”
“You know, you could have just told me that without the abduction and the handcuffs. I know who you are.”
“I know, but like I said, I don’t get to do this kind of stuff as often as I used to. I’ll give you a week.”
“He won’t be easy to find.”
“If it was easy, I’d do it myself and we would be having a very different interaction right now. Any more questions?”
“I think I’ve got it.”
“Good. I’d say don’t let me down, but I’m kind of hoping you do,” the man in the cowboy hat said. He turned to the shadows and ordered, “Take him down. Call him an Uber something.”
Instead of taking him down, the big man stepped out of the shadow and dug and another uppercut into his stomach. Satisfied with the pain the blow caused, he undid the handcuffs.