Game Changer by Douglas E. Richards Read Free Book Online

at the tallest
member of the group. “I need your clothing and shoes,” he said, keenly aware of
the passage of time. He then turned toward their leader, who, at about five-seven,
was six inches shorter than Quinn. “And I need your baseball hat.”
    The alpha opened his mouth to
respond but Quinn launched a preemptive strike. “Not a single word!” he
demanded. “From now on, you speak when I tell you to speak. If you do what I say, you’ll earn some money for your troubles. You
hesitate to do what I say and I’ll shoot all three of you in the head and take
whatever clothing I want from your rotting corpses. Your choice.”
    “Slow down, ese; what’s—”
    “Shut up!” said Quinn, making a
show of pointing a gun between the alpha’s eyes. “You!” he barked at the tallest
gangbanger. “Start undressing! Now! Ten. Nine. Eight . . .”
    The leader of the group stared
hard at Quinn, trying to take his measure. But he saw nothing but a resolve and
composure that was unnerving. Quinn carried himself with an overwhelming aura
of competence, as though he was military trained, had seen combat before, and had
dealt death on more than one occasion. And it wasn’t easy to exude this level
of confidence, of menace , while standing
in a dark alley wearing nothing but plaid boxer shorts.
    Quinn’s voice was matter of fact
and unwavering. “ Five . Four . . .
    “Do it!” said the leader to his
tall comrade, who didn’t need to be told twice, moving instantly to begin
undressing before the countdown reached zero.
    Quinn ordered all three
gangbangers to hug the pavement, facedown, while he donned his newfound
clothing, which reeked of marijuana and sweat. He managed to dress quickly,
despite having to maintain his vigilance and an extended gun. When he finished,
he pulled the wads of money from both socks and shoved them into his new front
pocket, but not before peeling off a hundred-dollar bill and dropping it on the
pavement near the leader’s head.
    “One last thing,” said Quinn, pulling
the brim of his newly acquired baseball cap down to just above his eyes, “and
then our business here is done.”
    Quinn needed an errand boy, and
the choice was obvious. The short one was the leader and might try to do
something stupid if he was pushed too far, afraid of losing status. The tall one
was now without clothing.
    But the middle one was like something
out of Goldilocks and the Three Bears :
just right. Quinn ordered this one to rise from the pavement, handed him a
hundred, and told him to enter the train station a few blocks away and buy a
one-way ticket to Grand Central Station in New York.
    “In case you haven’t guessed,” said
Quinn, “I’m a wanted man. I’m hotter than the center of the sun, with nothing
to lose. So try anything cute and your friends die. I’d rather not kill them
and attract a swarm of cops, but I’ll do what I have to do.” He paused. “On the
other hand, come back with my train ticket and all three of you leave unharmed.
You have five minutes! Go!”
    Quinn watched his errand boy
rush off, wondering what choice he would make.
    Less than five minutes later
this question was answered when Quinn’s Goldilocks gangbanger returned, sweaty
and out of breath, but carrying a train ticket in his grubby hand.
    Quinn had him join his friends
facedown on the pavement once again, and explained that if they didn’t move or
speak for several minutes they could go in peace. Then he vanished back into
the alley without a sound, wondering how long they would lie there before
realizing he had left. If they did have the guts to consider retaliation, they’d
be looking for him in the train station, somewhere he had no intention of
being.

 
    6

 
 
    Quinn retraced his steps back to
where he had left Garza’s car, allowing himself a moment of satisfaction when
he saw that it was gone. With any luck, whoever took it would be breaking the
sound barrier to get the vehicle as far away from Trenton