Aftermath by Michael Kerr Read Free Book Online Page B

trailer before he went in.  He said that the bed was empty, but that a guy jumped him.”
    “And?”
    “The guy left Roy next to a lake, after he’d hurt him bad and shot two of his toes off with Roy’s gun.”
    “Unbelievable.  So what’s Plan B, Sammy?”
    “It figures that the daughter will go to her mother.  Sal will find them and finish it.”
    “What do we know about the guy that stuck his nose in?”
    “Sal talked with the owner of the trailer park.  Seems he was a drifter who just walked in off the highway.  Gave his name as Johnson.  And Roy says he’s at least six-three and built like a tank.  And that he was extremely capable.  Maybe ex-forces or something.”
    Jerry walked away.  Took a slim, 9 carat gold cigarette case from his inside jacket pocket, opened it and plucked a Parliament from behind the retaining bar to light with a gold-plated Zippo.  He took a deep drag and looked at the polish on a dark green 2008 sedan that he was having difficulty moving.  Maybe he’d knock a few bucks off the loaded price and make it ‘Bargain of the Week’.
    Sammy watched his boss.  He wanted to keep him sweet.  Jerry Brandon was a psycho.  To most people he came across as a self-made man; a regular guy who’d done well for himself and was known for his charity work in the right circles of Charleston.  To the few that really knew him, he was nothing but a crook with a violent temper.  Sammy had seen him lose the plot on several occasions.  Once watched as he threw a salesman through a plate-glass window after finding out that he had given a relative a heavy discount on a car.
    Jerry ambled back to Sammy and stared him in the eyes till he had to look down at the ground.  “I’ve got a very bad feeling about this, Sammy,” Jerry said.  “Appears to me that Rita Jennings has found herself a pro to keep her ass safe.  And he’s got Naylor’s gun and obviously knows how to use it.  If Naylor gave your name up, then he can brace you and that would make me vulnerable.”
    “They’ll be feeling safe, boss.  Sal knows what the score is now.  He’ll track them down and whack all three of them within twenty-four hours.”
    “I hope so, Sammy.  This was supposed to be a quick fix to a problem.  Now it’s escalating out of control.  I need for it to be a done deal.  Let me know when it’s been taken care of.”
    Jerry went back to his office, sat down and mulled it over.  Dealing with lowlifes’ was always a big risk.  Thieves and killers were not usually the sharpest knives in the block.  And this had been the first time he had needed to actually have people murdered.  Hiring Richard Jennings had been a big mistake.
    Jerry had known Richard since high school, and knew that he had grown into a decent, home-loving guy that he could trust to look after his books.  For ten years, since being laid off by a firm in Huntington, Richard had worked for Jerry.  They had a great relationship.  Jerry and his wife, Gloria, even met up with Richard and Rita about once a month at the country club for a meal and drinks.
    But Richard was not what he seemed.  He had resented the way that Jerry treated him at work; as if he had taken him on to do him a favor, which was reflected by the salary he paid him.
    Richard was more astute than Jerry gave him credit for, and had kept records of all the deals that did not go through the books.  He built up a dossier that would have ruined Jerry and most likely put him in prison.  At very least he would have been in hock to the IRS for the rest of his life.
    Richard had been totally forthright.  He wanted half a million in cash, or he would have the records he had meticulously kept made public.
    Jerry had panicked and arranged with Sammy to have Richard killed.  Only after the deed was done did Jerry start to worry about what might be on a disk or flash drive.
    Maybe Richard had been bluffing about keeping records.  And it was more than likely that his