Dixie Hitman: Book 1: Origin by TJ Arant

Author:TJ Arant [Arant, TJ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2024-01-22T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter nine

When you go looking for trouble in the area between the West End and the North Side, you can find it. Day or night. But the nighttime is the right time, as the song used to say.

Grimes parked down the street and in an alley. He could see no need to park in front of Naomi’s place. What if Lockman had it under surveillance?

He gave a snort at the thought. “Be reasonable,” he told himself. There was no reason for Lockman to keep watch on Naomi’s place. What reason would he have?

He stood with his arms crossed and stroked his chin. What if it wasn’t Lockman? What if somebody else was wise to the apartment and Joe?

But who could that be? The only way to find out was to ask Naomi White.

He buzzed her buzzer and could hear a clatter inside. She opened the door wide enough for the chain. “What do you want, Lucas?”

“I want to talk.”

She took the chain off and let him in. “If it’s about your money, I got no idea.”

He slipped out of his suit jacket and tossed it on the couch. “What about the money?”

Grimes couldn’t help but notice that she wasn’t making eye contact. “Never mind. What do you want to talk about?” She half sat on the end table.

“George said some guy came to talk to you. About the apartment. About Joe.”

Naomi didn’t look at Grimes. She knew what she had promised. She was pretty sure she didn’t want to be on the stranger’s bad side. “I don’t know about some guy.”

Grimes lunged toward her and grabbed her arm. “Don’t bullshit me, Naomi. What did he look like?”

“You’re hurting me.”

“Talk.” Grimes took her other arm in his hand. She was as tall as him, but he had fifty pounds on her and a bad attitude to match. “What did he look like?”

“He didn’t look like anything.” Naomi’s eyes were tearing up from the pain. “Nothing.”

Grimes shook her. “He looked like something.”

“Just a regular guy. Not too tall. Not too short.”

He shook her again. “How would you know him if you saw him again? Answer me.”

“He’s got twelve hundred of your rent dollars. I’d know him by that.”

Grimes let her go. “The rent money? How the hell did he get that?”

“I don’t know. Rolled the delivery boy, I guess.” She shook her arms. “Why did you have to be so rough?”

Grimes sank onto the couch. “Where’s Joe?”

“I’m telling you that I don’t know. This guy comes in and wants to know where you and Woolworth are. I tell him that I don’t know. Because I don’t, right?”

“And then what?”

“And then he leaves the impression he’s taken the cash off the delivery boy. He tells me to keep our conversation private. Which I do until you come in here getting rough.”

Grimes had to think. What did he remember about Lockman? Smart. Tough. He knew Lockman would eventually have done the same thing to him if he had the chance. It was a matter of time.

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