Wiseguys: Blast From the Past by Aaron Michaels Read Free Book Online Page B

and the cars and even the houses would have been something to see.
    "They did it, didn't they?" Carter said. It wasn't really a question.
    Tony looked at him.
    "Those guys," Carter said. "They're the assholes who busted the window."
    Tony didn't need to answer, but he said yeah anyway.
    Earlier in the year, the Munroe brothers had thrown a rock through the front window of the deli. At the time, Tony didn't know it was them. He'd had only seen the back end of a pickup truck speeding away and caught a part of the license plate number. He'd recognized the truck parked in the Munroe's driveway.
    "You shoulda let me take care of them back then," Carter said. "Would've saved everyone the trouble this time around."
    Carter had wanted to bust heads when their window had been broken. He'd wanted to treat the busted window like he would have any other insult against the family, which meant he wanted to take care of things the way Uncle Sid used to have him take care of things. Tony had said no. They weren't the same people here that they'd been back in Jersey, and besides, the busted window had been personal, not business. It had been a hate crime done by cowards. Carter had let the subject drop.
    Then the Munroe brothers had decided to up the ante.
    The minute Tony had figured out who'd taken Bess, he'd made a decision to do whatever it took to get her back alive and unhurt. It hadn't been guts alone that made him take on a guy with a shotgun; it had been guilt. Bess had been kidnapped because of them. Because of who they were together.
    Tony leaned his head back, more tired than he could remember being in a long time. "It wouldn't have changed anything," he said. "If you'd taken care of them back then, we'd still be right here today."
    "What the fuck are you talking about?"
    "You bust their heads then, they still would have done something stupid, they just would have done it sooner. You saw that guy I shot. If he could have got up out of his chair, he would have tried to ram that shotgun down my throat."
    "My old man didn't teach me much, but he did teach me this. Some guys you gotta beat quick and beat hard so they don't get up again. You don't, and they think they're invincible." Carter punctuated his words by thumping a fist on the steering wheel. "You don't bust their heads so bad they can't remember who they are, then they go and do stupid stuff like kidnap an old lady because they think nobody'll do anything about it."
    "I'm telling you, it wouldn't have changed anything, not unless you killed them, then you'd be in jail," Tony said. "That's never gonna happen, not if I have anything to say about it."
    They drove the next block in silence. Tony was right, but Carter was right, too. The Munroe brothers would be trouble again -- not for a while, not until they healed up and made bail, if they could make bail -- but they'd be trouble. Them or somebody like them.
    "We did what we did," Tony said. "What matters now is we don't let it happen again."
    "So we bust heads next time?"
    Tony looked out at the quiet neighborhood. It wasn't much different than any other run down neighborhood, full of reminders of the good old days that maybe weren't that good to begin with. Tony and Carter drove down this street every day on the way to the deli. Tony was used to these streets, just like he was used to the old man sitting on the dark front porch in his wife beater. He was used to Norman and Bess and Julie, who worked for them to help support her mom.
    Life was good here, but it wasn't good enough to risk their freedom or the safety of any of their friends.
    "Next time," Tony said. "We move on."
     

Chapter Six
    They didn't make love that night.
    It was the first night they hadn't made love since they'd been in Idaho. Tony wanted to, but Carter insisted Tony needed sleep more than sex. Tony was too tired and too sore to argue.
    The sheriff had confiscated Tony's gun. Tony had expected worse. Carter hadn't exactly bought any of their arsenal at