Debt Collector's Due

“You come here and threaten my family?” Alfie asks. One massive fist to the man’s chin. His head flops back. He’s out cold. Alfie lifts his head, and our gazes meet. “Get into the house. Where’s Kier.”

“In your closet.”

“Good girl.” He drags the man’s limp body up the stairs behind me as I run to the room.

“Kier?”

“Mom.” He barrels toward me, nearly knocking me over off my feet with his momentum. I rock back but remain standing. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know, but your Dad is going to find out,” I say as I watch them disappear down the stairs that lead to the basement.” Ifan appears like a ghost materializing out of thin air to turn off the alarm. He resets it and speaks with whoever is manning the frequency.

“You two okay?” he asks.

I nod.

“This will never happen again. We’ll post men around the house from now on.”

“Who was he?” I ask.

“We don’t know yet, but I guarantee you by the end of the evening we will. We have men coming over with plywood. The window will be replaced tomorrow.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Keep it together and stay in your room for now. We’re not sure if you’re a target or not.”

I nod my head. I know how this game is played.

“Come on, Kier. Let’s get out of their way.”

“Wha!”

“It’s okay. They’re going to take care of him.” I smooth my hand down the back of his head and squeeze his neck lightly. “They know what to do. We need to allow them to do it without us underfoot.”

He shakes his head. “Who are you?”

“A woman who’s used to things like this happening. This is exactly why I kept Papa at a distance. I didn’t want this to be a normal occurrence for you.” I steer him back down the hall, knowing it’s going to be a long night.

***

Alfie

“Are we going to do this the easy way or the hard way?” I ask as I pace the length of the stone floor and struggle to contain my rage. If I beat him to death the way I want to, I won’t get answers. I split his lip and blackened his eyes on principle. The salt bath from a bucket woke him after that.

“Observing.”

“And you had to get up close and personal to do that, did you?”

“Yes. I needed to be sure.”

“Sure of what?”

He clamps his mouth shut. I backhand him his head snaps to the right. He grunts. “Don’t give me a reason to start carving you up.”

“It’s not my call.”

“Then it fucking sucks to be you,” Ifan says.

“Get me the drill.”