Read Online Pay Up and Die by Chuck Buda - Free Book Online

send me.” Martin hinted at his notion of losing usefulness dealing with Derrick.
    “Don’t threaten me, asshole. I call the shots here and I pay you good money so you shut the fuck up and you do the work. End of story. I am your boss and you do what I ask.” Derrick stood up and glared down at Martin. He got angry but a part of his gut was nervously telling him to shut his own mouth. As a leader, Derrick knew he had to sometimes face down scary situations and brave it out. This was one of those situations.
    The debt collector despised Derrick. He had done his bidding for years and the money he earned was not as “good” as the banker believed. He knew he could earn more doing the same work for some mafia guys or pimp or drug dealer. But Martin liked the way that Graves left him alone, to his own devices, as long as he got the work done. Graves was low-maintenance compared to his other options. However, he was growing tired of being talked down to. He was a man, not a dog. One of these days he would show Graves what it meant to bend to the boss. “Tell me about this job.” He succumbed to the will of the banker. For now.
    “I need you to put a little scare job into one of my employees. Someone who I need to keep quiet until the board meeting takes place. This one is different though. I don’t want him dead. I actually like this guy on some level. We go back a few years, but he needs to understand that there is a line that must not be crossed.” Derrick sat back against the bench. He reached into his sweat jacket and pulled out a small stack of cash. He handed it to the debt collector while looking around to make sure nobody was around the area.
    Martin took the money without looking at the banker. He stuffed it into his denim jacket pocket. He spat a huge wad into the dirt at his feet. His squared jaw clenching together as he sniffed loudly. Then he turned and finally looked at Derrick. “Name?”
    “Wright. Michael Wright. He lives over in Dumont off Pershing. Blue house. You are not to touch him though. I want you to kidnap his son. Just take care of him for me until the board meeting. Michael will be too preoccupied with finding his son that he won’t even think about what we are doing to collect the debts. I just need some more time to bring in another million without his righteousness getting in the way. Then we’ll drop his kid off somewhere so he can be found and returned. Do I make myself clear?” Graves stood back up as he asked the question so that it psychologically made him the man on the high ground, the authority figure. He had learned that trick years ago from a mentor.
    Martin stood up himself and looked down at Graves. He didn’t want Graves to think he had the upper hand. So he made sure he postured his size upon the smaller man. “I understand. Derrick. I will take care of Wright’s boy.” His dark eyes searched Graves’ face for the slightest sign of fear. Surprisingly, he didn’t pick up any facial twitches and Graves maintained strong eye contact in return. But he could smell the tiniest bit of fear or self-doubt on Graves breath. His animal instincts were strong and he used all his senses when he became the predator. “Take care of him real good. Until you tell me to drop him.” The debt collector inched closer to Graves and bent his head to get a different angle on Graves’ face.
    “Good.” Derrick responded with a soft squeak. “Good. Now I have to get to the gym so I can come home with some sweaty clothes.” Derrick backed away a few steps while continuing to look at Martin. The huge man never moved and maintained his crazy stare. The dark eyes felt like they were running right through his skull. It bothered him so he spun on his heels and walked towards his car. He felt like he might be losing control of Martin after all these years. It never used to be this difficult conveying his orders but things had changed somehow with the psycho. All those bodies must have