Falling for the Killer

I glanced back at them, my hand on the door to West Fish. “Follow my lead,” I said, and went inside.

It stank like seafood. The fishy smell was strong, like brine-drenched old seaweed. Large tanks of swimming creatures covered the left and the right, a few chairs were lined up along the front wall, and a big counter cut the shop in half. Behind it, several guys worked wearing hairnets and aprons. They were young, in their twenties, and I didn’t recognize any of them.

But Tomaso grabbed my arm and his eyes were bright as he nodded toward them.

I took the gun from my waistband. They hadn’t looked over yet. One was busy wrapping up an order, one was staring at his phone, and the other had a mop out and was cleaning some mess.

I shot the closest tank on my left. Water streamed out and drenched our feet. Tomaso laughed and pulled his piece, shooting the tank on the right side. Fish and lobster splashed on the blue tile floor, flopping around as they gasped for air.

The guys behind the counter reacted, but too slow. I stepped forward, aimed at the guy wrapping the order, and put one round through his head. Brain and blood splattered the floor behind him as he dropped. The guy with the mop let out a truncated shout, but Tomaso dropped him with two rounds to his chest.

The last guy dropped his phone and threw his hands up. His eyes were wide and he was trembling with fear. Two corpses lay bleeding around him, and his fish stock writhed on the floor. I walked forward and kept my gun trained on him.

“Do you know who I am?” I asked.

He nodded once. “Gian. Oh, fuck, please, please don’t kill me, please.”

“You came for me,” I said. “And you almost hurt my girl.”

“Please,” the guy whispered.

I smiled. “Sorry.” And shot him in the face. He dropped, blood splattering all over.

Tomaso leaned over the counter with an excited whoop and put more rounds in their bodies. He jumped over, kicked the phone guy’s body out of the way, and broke into the register. He shoved the cash into his pockets.

“Might as well,” he said with a shrug.

I rolled my eyes and shoved my gun back into my waistband before turning. Ash stood there, mouth open, eyes wide, skin completely pale. She couldn’t stop looking at the bodies, and she backed away from me when I approached.

“It’s okay,” I said softly. “It was them. Those were the ones that tried to hurt you.”

“You killed them,” she said.

I grabbed her wrists and held them tight. “This is who I am,” I said, looking into her horrified eyes. “You want to come into my world? Then you’ll have to accept what I do.”

“We gotta go, boss,” Tomaso said, leaping over the counter again. “Hate to interrupt this lovely moment, but the cops are gonna be here soon.” He hustled out the door and stood holding it open. “Coast is clear though.”

“Ash,” I said, holding her harder. “This is it. You know that.”

“I know.” She squeezed her eyes shut. “God, I know, but seeing it—”

“We gotta go,” Tomaso said, and his tone shot a nerve of urgency through me. “Right fucking now.”

I pulled Ash and sprinted out after him. Tomaso ran hard to my truck as an SUV came screaming up the block. It slammed on its brakes and smashed into a parked car before one of the windows rolled open.

I shoved Ash down as gunfire slammed into my truck all around us. I dragged her to the side, putting the truck between us and the attackers. Tomaso had the door open, and he squeezed in. I shoved Ash in after him, then came up and returned fire at the SUV.

I couldn’t see anyone inside. Tomaso fired from the back seat, and the guy shooting dropped back. I dove across Ash and got behind the wheel, sitting down low as Tomaso continued to shoot. His magazine went empty and he cursed, his gun clicking. The Healys started shooting again, but I had the engine running. I pulled the truck forward, driving wildly, swiping across the cars in front of us, swerving around the road, but going fast. I flew through a stop sign before getting control of the truck and started doing some fast and evasive turns to make sure that we weren’t being followed.

“Are you okay?” I asked, putting a hand on Ash’s arm. She was hiding down on the floor at the base of the seat. “You can get up now.”

She climbed back up, shaking, and curled into a ball, hugging her knees.

“That was fucking awesome,” Tomaso said, laughing wildly. “Did you see that shit, boss? Holy fucking shit. The way you snuffed those guys out. Then that getaway driving? Oh, fuck, this is amazing.”