The Sin Bin by Tony Black Read Free Book Online Page B

towards his chest, as he grabbed for
breath his words came falteringly. 'Jesus ... I'm, I'm ... only messing with
you, man.'
    I moved the gun from his throat to the
middle of his temple.
    'How many times do I have to tell you?
I don't like people messing with me ... Pull the fuck over!'
    ****
    The job was bloody; I never meant for it to be that
way. I knew Lois wouldn't approve; she had insisted on one thing only — no body
bags. We'd cleared the city, made the highway in good time but Craven wasn't in
any kind of condition. I took the wheel from him but I wasn't in much better
shape. She was only a girl.
    ' Man, this is wrong, dead wrong, ' Craven whined.
    ' Shut the fuck up! '
    ' Why was she in the middle of
the road? '
    ' I said shut the fucking hell
up, Craven. He rocked to and fro on the passenger seat. Tears streamed down the
sides of his face as he tugged at the few tight red curls that sat above his
neck. I could see the streaks of blood where he ' d
cradled her head on the front of his jeans, it had already dried dark on the
pale blue denim.
    'What was she, man ... six?'
    I couldn't listen anymore. It was his
fault; he rolled out way too fast after we cut Pam loose. Craven had fucked up
twice now — tested our luck — and that was fucking fatal. If I had to produce
the gun again I'd fire it in his face; make that two body bags.
    'Craven, listen ... now listen. Are you
listening?' I needed him to chill out; for all our sakes.
    He sobbed louder, brought his knees up
under his chin.
    'We have to collect Lois from the drop
... if she has the money, we can still make this work. Do you hear me? We can
still clear out … go our ways like we planned. Only richer, a hell of a lot
richer.'
    Craven didn't answer. As the wind and
rain picked up, and the sky darkened I started to think of Lois. It had all
been her idea — the kidnapping. I had never had a thought to it; not even when
Pam had turned me out without a dime, not even then. There was something about
that line of business that brought nothing but bad luck; that's what the old
boys said. But Lois was certain we could pull it off ... 'You don't need to be
part of the gig ... just feed us what we need to know,' she had said.
    I never believed her. I knew better,
but Pam had taken something from me and I wanted to take something from her.
Christ Almighty, my mind was ablaze. I was full of thoughts of the past, the
present meant nothing to me, and Lois had this way of making me believe anything
was possible. Anything at all.
    ****
    Craven pulled the Toyota into the side of the
street. The SIG started to feel heavy in my hand; my palm was sweating. If he
had made contact with the mark then we were finished before we'd even started.
We were skating close to the edge on this job as it was; it would take one look
from Pam, one hint that I was back in her ambit and her father would have her
locked-down by security. Billionaires are funny that way about only daughters.
    ' What the fuck do you know about
what Pam used to say to me? '
    Craven knew he'd fucked up. He had set about riling me,
taking me for a ride … but he hadn't thought it through
properly. He didn't see where his joking would end.
    ' I ... I ... didn't do anything. '
    He looked pathetic, his eyes looping in wide circles,
searching for some answer that was never going to come.
    ' I didn't do anything ...
Is this fucking kindergarten? ... Am I playing with you, here? '
    ' No. No ... I …'
    I smacked him with the gun. His cheekbone opened up, a
little blood spilled out. ' Tell me now ... when did you
speak to her about me? '
    He turned to his lap, looked at his palms. ' In the diner. '
    I hit him again, the force of it sprained my wrist. ' What did you say to her? '
    ' She didn't know me ... she
didn't know who I was ... I just sat next to her at the counter and she asked
me to pass the mayo ... we started talking and she said something about an ex
she had. I just put two and two together ... that was it. I