A minute later the bartender returned with a small plastic bag with ice and a semi-clean bar towel. When he left, Tommy stood and handed the items to Jennings.
“Hold onto this,” Tommy said. “I’ll let you know if I need them.”
Jennings shrugged.
Tommy walked over to the booth where the three young people sat. The young man sat by himself while the two girls shared their side of the booth. The kid was early twenties, dark complexion with a few days stubble which the women seemed to like these days.
“Hey, Eddie,” Tommy said.
“Yeah,” the kid said, looking a bit confused.
“Eddie Lister, right?” Tommy smiled like he was an old friend.
“Yeah, that’s right. Do I know you?”
Tommy rested his palms on the table and smiled at the two girls. “Ladies,” he said.
All three looked at him waiting for an explanation.
“Listen, Eddie,” Tommy said. “Can I get a word with you alone?”
Eddie’s face grew dark. “About what?”
Tommy looked around the room, trying to be discreet. He noticed Jennings paying close attention at the nearby stool.
“Eddie,” Tommy said, “you don’t know me, but I’m a nice guy. I just need a word with you so we can all go back to our dreary little lives.”
Eddie looked bewildered. He seemed to feed off the apprehension on the girls’ faces. “I don’t think so.”
Tommy sighed. “We don’t need to do this dance, Eddie.”
“What dance we talking about?” Eddie said, fishing around under the table, then coming up with a pistol. It was dark in the room, but Tommy figured it to be a single action Ruger. Popular out west for some reason.
The girls squealed while leaning back in their side of the booth. Eddie held the pistol low so no one else could see it very easily.
“You gonna shoot me, tough guy?” Tommy said, feeling the blood running hard through his veins.
“If you don’t get out of here in five seconds, I’m going to end this,” Eddie said with a convincing expression.
Tommy noticed Jennings watching the event with an intense stare. He didn’t seem the least bit intimidated by the event. The bartender was too busy stocking liquor at the end of the bar.
Tommy looked at Eddie with disdain. “This isn’t the movies, kid. You don’t need to count. Either you’re gonna shoot me, or you’re not.”
Eddie did what most people did in situations like this when they weren’t prepared to act. He screwed his face into a tight, angry expression and held the gun out closer to Tommy, as if the shorter distance would add to the threat.
Tommy placed his hand on the back of his neck and shook his head. “You want we should count together, or is this like one Mississippi, two Mississippi and we count in our heads?”
“I’m dead serious,” Eddie scowled.
Tommy jumped sideways, then pulled the gun from Eddie’s hand and cold-cocked the kid in the nose. One hard punch was all he needed and the kid’s head lurched back, then forward. Both of his hands immediately covered his nose. Blood seeped between his fingers as the girls shrieked and scurried out of the booth.
The front door opened and closed as the girls left and the room became quiet. Tommy slid into the booth next to Eddie and tucked the gun between his legs. He pulled a bunch of paper napkins from the dispenser at the end of the table and handed them to Eddie.
“Here,” Tommy said.
Eddie took the napkins and pressed them against his nose. His eyes were glossy and he was anxiously watching Tommy’s every move.
“I got your attention?” Tommy asked.
The kid nodded ardently.
Tommy gestured to Jennings and the guy came over with the bag of ice and towel, then returned to his seat at the bar.
The few people in the room seemed to miss the action, but were paying close attention now. The minimal staff was too busy to notice.
Tommy handed the towel to Eddie and said, “Here, put your head back and hold this.”
“You didn’t need to do that.” Eddie sobbed openly. “It wasn’t even loaded.”
Tommy took the bag of ice and covered the knuckles on his right hand, pressing it down on just the correct spot.
“Let me ask you something,” Tommy said. “You ever shoot a gun before?”
“Uh uh,” Eddie mumbled through the towel, his head back now.
“See, that’s your problem,” Tommy said, wincing as an ice cube found the tender part of his hand. “You’re a beginner pretending to be a professional. Anyone with experience sees you’re a virgin. That’s a single action revolver you got there. You gotta have the hammer back to shoot the damn thing.”
“Aw, shit,” Eddie said, feeling his nose with his free hand. “I think it’s broken.”
“Of course it’s broken, you idiot.” Tommy lifted the kid’s chin. “Keep your head back,” he said.
Large tears trickled from the corner of Eddie’s eyes and meandered down the side of his face while his torso shuddered.
Tommy rubbed the kid’s back. “It’s okay, Killer. I need you to breathe.”
Eddie tried to take a full breath and coughed into the towel.
“You know, Eddie, there’s Payson tough and then there’s West Baltimore tough. I’m sure you’re a real handful in Payson, though. Maybe you could steal some milk money tomorrow and get right back on the saddle, huh?”
Eddie’s eyes were wide and frightened. “What do you want from me?”
Tommy removed the bag of ice from his knuckles and flexed his hand. “Apparently you came into some cash not long ago and there’s an ample amount of evidence to suggest you may have found some easy money.”
There was nothing but fear on the kid’s face.
“And,” Tommy continued, “at this very same time a delivery of Turkish cigarettes was stolen from a delivery truck outside of town.” He raised his eyebrows. “You putting it together yet?”
Eddie’s entire body shook, which made him appear to be nodding.
Tommy got closer to him and lowered his voice. “I need to know some information about the heist.”
“A … a … are you the law?”
Tommy put his hand on his forehead. “Good grief, Eddie, you think I look like the law?”
“N … n … no.”
Tommy shook his head. “I’m not. I need this info so I can track down some bad people. People who are much worse than me even. And that’s hard to do.”
“But I don’t know anything,” Eddie pleaded. “Please, just let me go. I won’t ever steal anything ever again.”
“Here’s the problem,” Tommy said. “The people you did the job for are terrorists. You’ve been watching the news, right? The KSF? That’s who you’re dealing with.”
A flicker of recognition crossed Eddie’s face.
“It’s all making sense now, isn’t it?” Tommy said.
Eddie pulled the towel down and examined the large red spot.
“Look at me, Eddie.”
The kid turned with glossy eyes and a mangled nose.
“Here’s how it works,” Tommy said. “We’ll bring you to the sheriff’s office and take a statement. He’ll announce it to the press that they’ve discovered the cigarette thief and have found valuable information about the KSF from this thief.”
“N … No,” Eddie stammered. “You can’t. I thought you weren’t the law?”
“I’m not, but my cousin is the sheriff, and he’ll make sure the KSF knows about your little visit with him. Then he’ll release you.” Tommy raised his eyebrows. “How long before these terrorists come by to pay you a visit? Only with guns which have bullets. And I promise there won’t be any counting when it happens. I’d give you good odds
