Mallette stopped in front of Jacobs. “Well… if that’s the way you want it.”
One of Mallette’s men came back into the room a few seconds later. “Rest of the house is clean.”
Mallette leaned up against the wall as he waited for Selby. Clearing the outside would take a little longer.
“Hey, uh, you think any more about that job?” Thrower asked.
Mallette laughed. “You know, you seem like the kind of guy I’d like. What was it, Dale?”
“Dave.”
“Oh, yeah, that’s right. Dave. Riddell?”
“Rogers.”
“Oh. Rogers. Dave Rogers. I just have a hard time believing you wouldn’t shoot me in the back if you had the chance.”
“Well, that’s just shocking and frankly insulting that you would think of me that way.” Thrower shook his head. “I mean, I’m a professional. If you’re paying me, why would I shoot my meal ticket?”
“I just get a sense about you that money isn’t the thing that interests you most. I get a feeling you’re a complicated individual.”
“Wow. You just met me, and you already know me so well.”
Mallette continued smiling. “I won’t take much satisfaction in killing you. I’ll do it, but I won’t get much enjoyment from it like I will with your partner.”
“Partner?” Thrower looked over at Jacobs. “No, you see, this guy, I just met him last week. Barely even know him.”
“Gonna stick with that right down to the very end, huh?”
Mallette was growing tired of waiting for the report from Selby. In the end, it didn’t really matter. Even if Gunner was out there, Jacobs wasn’t going to tell him, and they could find the dog just as easily after his owner was dead. Mallette pulled out his gun and held it loosely in his hand.
“Any last requests?”
“Sure you don’t wanna beat me up some more?” Jacobs asked.
“No, I think I got it all out of my system. Well, it’s been fun.” Mallette held his gun up and pointed it at Jacobs. “Looks like I win.”
11
Mallette pointed the gun at Jacobs first, then at Thrower, and finally back to Jacobs again.
“I don’t know which one I should kill first. Should I take out Jacobs first, or should I savor it and save him for last?” Mallette briefly looked at his men, none had an answer for him. “Oh, I know. I’ll take out Mr. Rogers here, that way Jacobs can feel one last regret for pulling someone else into this fight and knowing that there is one more death on his hands.”
Thrower closed his eyes and hung his head slightly. He didn’t want to see it coming. Mallette moved his gun back to Thrower. Suddenly, thunderous sounds of gunshots were heard from outside. Everyone in the room was startled.
Thrower grinned. “Looks like you’ve got more problems than you think you do.”
Mallette and one of his men stepped outside the room. “Go find Selby and find out what’s going on.”
As he was out there, Joe was one of the men behind Thrower. He instantly saw his opportunity to get out from Mallette’s grasp. He didn’t want to be part of his group, but seeing how Mallette treated the other people who resisted, he didn’t have a choice until now. And he was going to try to make the most of it.
Joe pulled out his gun and instantly fired at the man to his left, who hadn’t been paying attention to his movements. As soon as the man dropped, Joe swung his gun around and fired at the man on the right. With both men down, Joe bent over and started loosening Thrower’s restraints. Just as Thrower got his arms free, Mallette stuck his head back in the room to see why shots had been fired. Joe immediately fired at him, hitting the wood frame of the door as Mallette quickly moved out of the way.
Mallette wasn’t sticking around to get in a shootout. He figured that battle had been lost. As he retreated through the house, he got on the line with Selby.
“Daryl, how many of Ames’ men do you have with you?”
“Uh, four.”
“Kill them. Kill them now.”
“What? Why?”
“They can’t be trusted. Joe just turned on us and set Jacobs and his friend free. Get rid of the others before they turn on us too.”
“Right.”
As soon as Thrower was free, he went over to one of the dead guards and removed his weapon. He then went over to the door and peeked out, making sure they didn’t get rushed. As he stood guard at the door, Joe got to work on freeing Jacobs. Once Jacobs was free, he also grabbed a weapon from the other dead guard.
“Here,” Joe said, offering Jacobs a small rag. “Your face is a mess.”
Jacobs gratefully took it, wiping the blood from his face, though he was still a little wary of the man. After all, he had just been with Mallette, and he recognized him as being part of Ames’ group before that. “Thanks.”
“We probably shouldn’t stay here too long,” Thrower said.
Jacobs wasn’t done with Joe yet, though. “Not that I’m not happy or grateful, but why’d you do it?”
“Look, it’s as much about me as it is about you. Ames hired me, and his beef was with you, and I just went and did what he told me. He paid the bills, you know?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s it. It’s only a job. Nothing personal for me. I ain’t got nothing against you one way or the other. When Mallette killed Ames, he wanted the rest of us to join him. One of us refused, and Mallette killed him.”
“And you waited until now for payback?”
“No, I waited until now because it was the best chance for me to get away from this man. Ever since that warehouse job, Mallette’s had us under close watch, making sure he could trust us. He’s had us with his guys twenty-four seven. Didn’t even let us have guns until we had proven loyalty to him.”
“You’ve got one now,” Jacobs said.
“Yeah, I grabbed yours while nobody was paying attention after they dragged
