Guns 'n Money: Episode 2

By Ty Johnston

It's tough out there on the streets of Chisel City, and small-time gangster Jackie Cruise knows it better than most. And Jackie isn't the kind to let it get him down. With a mob boss wanting him dead, his best friend already whacked, and bikers giving his new pals problems, Jackie does what Jackie does best. He breaks out the guns and goes on a rampage. Part 2 of 5.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ty Johnston
• Release date: Aug 17, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311990396

Ty Johnston

Originally from Kentucky, Ty Johnston is a former newspaper journalist. He lives in North Carolina with loving memories of his late wife.Blog: tyjohnston.blogspot.com

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Guns ’n Money 2

by Ty Johnston

Copyright 2012

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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Chapter 1: On With the Show

I have to admit, I lost it for a week or so. After watching my best bud Tony get his head nearly blown off, I am a wreck. I get out of prison, get shot at, then a few weeks later my only friend in all the world gets gunned down. By the same guy who had shot at me.

It’s enough to send me to the bottle.

Never a big drinker, and having been in prison for years, alcohol is now my enemy. I partner up with a bottle of the hardest bourbon I can find, then I disappear. I sink deeper and deeper into a wallowing morass of self loathing. It was me who got Tony Olivetti killed. He had been saving my ass, shooting down a guy who was drawing on me, when he got shot from behind by another guy in a black hoodie. It was black hoodie who had tried to kill me only minutes after I got into town from prison. It was black hoodie who Tony and I had run into while looking for a Sardona hitter named Mike Varl. It was black hoodie who killed my best friend, then ran off like the chickenshit he was. And I still didn’t know black hoodie’s real name.

I blame it all on myself, which is why I swim in bourbon.

It lasts three days.

What brings my trip down drunk lane to an end is a phone call.

I hear my cell ringing or beeping or whatever the fuck it does. It won’t stop. It keeps going on and on and on. At first, I ignore it. But it keeps being a pain in my ass. I sprawl on the couch in my crappy room on the east end while staring up at the water stains in my ceiling. The damn phone, it keeps ringing.

My latest bottle empty, my head hurting, my stomach churning, I curse and sit up, reaching for the phone on the floor. I mean to shut off the damn thing, or maybe to throw it against the wall.

As I pick it up, I recognize the name of the caller on the little screen. Jollie Lemon.

Why is Jollie calling? Last time I heard from him had been when he had told me and Tony about a Sardona guy maybe wanting to steal Tony’s car. That had set me and Tony to hunting for the guy, Mike Varl. That situation had turned into a mess. Our boss, Roberto Carcinni, had not been happy, which was why Tony and me had been sent on a special mission, to make things right between us and the Carcinni clan.

Only Tony had gotten killed.

I had made sure Tony got a proper burial and all, had reported to the boss, who hadn’t been happy about losing Tony even though we had tagged our mark, and then I had wasted away.

Now the phone keeps ringing, Jollie Lemon calling me. Why the hell is Jollie calling me?

I flip open the little phone. I try to make my voice sound as gruff as possible, which doesn’t take too much work. What the hell you want, Jollie?

Oh, Jesus Christ, Jackie, the old man says on the other end. Thank God you finally answered.

You didn’t answer my question, Jollie. What the hell you want?

Look, Jackie, I know things are bad for you right now, Jollie goes on, but I’ve still got my situation to deal with.

Situation? He’s calling me about that Mike Varl shit? I let him have it. God damn, Jollie! Tony is dead! You hear me? Fucking dead! And you got the stones to call me up and cry to me about some fucking sports car? What the fuck is your problem?

Jollie is a pro. Never bats an eye. Or at least that’s how it seems from my end. He goes right on. Jackie, I know how you feel, believe me. I been there. But this Varl situation, it’s not going away. He still wants that sports car, and the only one around is --

I cut him off. Yeah, I know. The only one is Tony’s. And Tony is dead. So why don’t you just take the fucking car? Nobody’s going to care now, okay? Take the car, give it to Mike, and you’re all set. Okay?

That’s just it, Jackie, he says. That’s why I’m calling you.

Me? Why the hell you calling me?

Because I need a delivery boy.

That sobers me more than a gallon of hard coffee. My voice lowers. What are you talking about, Jollie?

Look, it’s like this, the old guy says to me. Varl still wants that car, and now the car is easy to pick up, but I got to have a guy go get the car, then deliver it. I was thinking you’re the perfect person for the job.

Jollie was doing me a favor here, a huge favor. That’s why he called me, and