CHAPTER THREE

Minus

“Is this coffee or motor oil, Phil?”

“I’m sorry, Clutch, I would have made a fresh pot if I knew you and Minus were… stopping by. Here let me make…”

Phil Blondino tried to stand, but the barrel of Clutch’s gun pointed at his head convinced him to remain seated. Phil’s grease-stained office chair seemed to groan in agony from underneath his bulky frame.

“You’re good right there, Phil. I’m just going to sit here and sip my delicious cup of Pennzoil while my good friend, Minus, looks for Cutter’s money.”

“Really, it’s no trouble, Clutch. I’m ha…happy to do it,” Phil stammered as heavy beads of sweat formed on his stubbled upper lip, which was frozen in a nervous grin.

I shot a cold stare back at Clutch, who was now in full-on ‘Sergeant at Arms Mode.’ There was no question he was the right man for the job. Clutch was always calmest when smack dab in the middle of a storm of violence and chaos. Drawing or losing blood didn’t seem to phase him in the least. Don’t get me wrong. It’s not like I’m some sort of saint. I’d never backed down from a fight and I’d even started my fair share, but Clutch looked forward to violence.

“You see, that’s always been your problem, Phil, you don’t listen very well. For instance, you didn’t listen when I told you not to bother with the coffee. We won’t be here long, and I highly doubt the next cup could possibly be any better than this swill.” Clutch dumped the remainder of his cup on Phil’s trash littered desk. “You also failed to hear me when I asked you where Cutter’s money is, and now my associate, Minus, is probably going to get his pretty cowboy boots dirty rooting around your filthy shop looking for it.”

I flipped Clutch off and began casually tossing Phil’s rat hole of an office. It wasn’t as if his place was some sort of secured facility. His shitty garage was on par with his persona, a low-level guy Cutter used only when needed.

“I doubt even Phil would be stupid enough to keep that much money here,” I said.

“Are you, Phil?” Clutch asked.

“What?” Phil asked.

“Are you that stupid?”

“What?”

“You keep saying ‘what.’ Are you having trouble with your hearing, Phil? Maybe I can help you with that.”

Clutch holstered his gun and pulled out a knife from his belt. He walked behind Phil and grabbed his head, pressing the blade to Phil’s ear. Phil tried to squirm, but Clutch held firm.

“Hold still, big man.”

“Please don’t cut me, Clutch,” Phil cried out.

Clutch smiled. “What could go wrong? This is a chop-shop isn’t it? A place where large things get cut up into small pieces.”

Phil’s eyes widened.

“I’m going to ask you one more time to point us in the direction of Cutter’s three million dollars and if you fail to hear me this time, I’m going to be forced to improve your hearing by any means necessary.”

I chuckled. “Wouldn’t cutting his ear off make his hearing worse?”

“I’m not a doctor, Minus. I’m sure Phil here understands that I’m doing the best I can under the circumstances, don’t you, Phil?”

Phil’s bloodshot eyes bulged from their sockets, as he grunted out, “Sure, Clutch.”

“I simply need my good buddy Phil to hear my question as clearly as possible. So here it goes, one more time. Where is Cutter’s fucking money?”

“It’s not here…”

The first drops of blood appeared as the blade pressed into the soft flesh where his earlobe connected to his head.

“I’ll tell you where it is!” he screamed instantly. “I swear to God, I’ll tell you where it is.”

Clutch stopped, straightened, and looked at me, smiling. “See, it worked! He can hear just fine now.”

“I think you missed your calling, Doctor Clutch,” I said.

“You asshole, you almost cut my fucking ear off!” Phil snapped.

“Come on, Philly Cheese Steak, I barely touched you. Now, where’s the money?” Clutch asked, once again leveling his pistol to Phil’s head.

“A dude named Viper hired my crew to steal a car. That’s it!” he squeaked. “I swear I didn’t know there was money in the trunk until the car got here and they opened it up.”

“But once you saw the money, you didn’t think to call Cutter?”

“How was I supposed to know the money was his?”

“Don’t make me shoot you for being stupid, Phil. The Burning Saints are your business partners. Three million in cash shouldn’t roll through your shop without raising an alarm. You should have called Cutter as soon as you saw the money.”

“You’re right, Clutch. You’re absolutely right.” Blood ran down the rolls of pink flesh that made up his neck as his hands applied pressure to the wound.

I cocked my head. “Now tell me, who the fuck is Viper and where can I find him?”

“He’s the new head of Los Psychos, the Mexican club. They hang out at the Nine Ball.”

“Leo’s old place?”

“That’s the place! I swear that’s all I know. It was supposed to be a simple job. Snatch the Caddy and bring it back here for the pickup. I didn’t know anything about Cutter’s money being in the trunk, or that you were involved Minus.” Phil’s attention turned to me. “Last I heard you moved to Texas or something.”

“I’m not involved, so leave me the fuck out of this,” I said.

I’d always hated Phil. He was a piece of shit and I couldn’t wait to get out of his garage. Besides being a car thief, a profession I detested, Phil was also a loan shark and a meth dealer. The exact sort of bottom feeder I’d tried to protect my club from years ago.

Phil continued, “I know Cutter and I have had our disagreements lately… and that mistakes have been made. Like I said, I didn’t know it was his money and I will personally apologize to Cutter myself.”

“Don’t worry, Phil, I’ll let him know how sorry you were.”

The sound of Clutch’s silenced .45 was still loud enough to startle me. Phil’s body, now two holes greater, lie on his office floor in a heap, a pool of blood rapidly forming underneath his lumpy frame.

Clutch simply holstered his gun and shrugged.

“What the fuck, man?” I shouted

“Cutter wanted him gone,” Clutch said flatly. “He’s got plans for this place, and Phil was getting sloppier and sloppier.”

“You didn’t want to clue me in? What the fuck are we gonna do with the body?”

“You worry too much Minus, you always have. I’ve got a cleaning crew on standby. Cutter wants this all taken care of right away. We’ve got to get to the Sanctuary. Plus, now we’ve gotta find out who this Viper prick is.”

“No, you need to find out more about Viper,” I snapped back. “I’m here for a meeting with Cutter and that’s it. Twenty-four hours and then I’m headed back to Savannah. In fact, as far as anyone else is concerned. I’m not even here.”

“Yeah, well your plans may have just changed,” he said, bringing his phone to his ear.

“Yes, I called earlier about a bad stain in my carpet,” Clutch said.“That’s correct, the one located in my hallway. I’d like to have a crew come out right away please. Thank you.”