Chapter 6

They dragged him through the door and dumped him down in the first available seat. Lee grimaced in pain gritting his teeth as his broken shin throbbed with pain.

"Larry put that leg up on another chair." Tony said.

Larry dragged a chair over and put Lee's broken limb up on it.

With shaky hands Tony lit a cigarette and paced the floor of his pristine, large, beautifully furnished office.

"The little bitch only told me this mornin. He's been shacked up in that basement for a week and a half and I only find out this mornin. He could have died. She could have gone to juvenile hall."

Lee reached over and picked up the receiver of the phone. One of Tony's brothers took it from him and replaced it.

"An old friend of mine runs a retirement home, we could take him there." Marv suggested. He had worked for Tony for just six months and was ever eager to please him. But Tony scowled at the idea. People would talk, the staff might question him.

"And find exactly what?" Marv grinned.

He looked at Lee.

"Hay, hay look at me." he barked at him.

Lee slowly turned towards him.

"What's your name?" he asked.

Lee frowned as he thought about the question.

"Lee," he said at last.

"Where do you come from Lee?" Tony asked.

Lee thought again. He was getting a headache and was beginning to feel sick again.

Eventually he looked to Marv and shook his head.

"That's ok buddy." Marv grinned as he reached over and patted his arm.

Marv turned to Tony. "We could hand him over to my cousin. He'll get him juiced up and leave him on a street corner, make it look like he's been on a drugs bender this whole time."

A light went on in Tony's head.

"That could work, that could actually work. Take his wallet."

Larry went to Lee and searching in his pockets he pulled out his wallet and skidded it across the desk.

Tony took a ragged breath as he went through it. "It doesn't exactly say where he works or lives or anything. He has money and credit cards, Drivers license…."

Tony could see from the license that the man's name was Lee Stetson but he didn't say it out loud. He was careful not to have Lee learn his last name.

Tony looked back at Lee.

"Even with that stubble on his chin he still looks like a pretty boy, he doesn't look like someone who would do drugs." he said.

Marv nodded. "My cousin Deek will take care of that. Do we have money to pay him?"

Tony nodded. "I'll give him my Mercedes if I have to, whatever he wants."

~o~

Tommy Burke looked back at her with irritated confusion written all over his face.

"Fat Tone was on the phone to me last week. He told me all about this Mrs. King. But I had to see it for myself. You think you can just walk into an operation like this and hide in the wings. What are you doing?" He asked incredulously.

"I'm looking for my partner," she answered, her voice tinged with extreme tiredness.

"Yeah I get that, but you think if I had him he'd be hidden out in my warehouse?"

Amanda was about to answer when the door of Tommy Burkes office burst open. Two large members of his security team came in and stood each side of Amanda's chair.

"Sir, will we take care of the lady?" the largest one asked.

Tommy looked at Amanda. She looked back at him with a neutral look he couldn't quite read.

Tommy sat back in his chair.

"No, get out. Send Clancy in with some coffee and doughnuts." He muttered waving them away.

Once the door was closed he went on.

"You need to take care of yourself. You're working with that Stetson bum. I don't let my girls work for me unless they're typing up a letter."

Amanda hadn't the energy for a woman's equality conversation, she still had a splitting headache from the sleepless night she'd had.

"He's not a bum," she whispered instead.

With a weary sigh Tommy went to a drawer and fishing out a Kleenex he handed it to her.

She muttered her thanks as she wiped her eyes and blew her nose.

Minutes later Clancy arrived with a silver service. Tommy Burke and Amanda were in deep conversation.

"You know you're right, my maw used to beat me with sticks it never did me any good. It just makes you mad and teaches you nothing."

"If you slap a child you only teach them resentment, they don't learn anything positive. I sit my boys down and explain to them why I am disappointed in their behavior. You can talk to a child like that."

"I may try that with my Vincent. You know he shows his mother no respect and no amount of time with the belt seems to help."

"You need to show Vincent how his behavior affects his mother."

"I don't know how that will work Mrs. King. She would just start laughing. She's my second wife and only 23 years old, four years older than Vincent."

"Oh," Amanda nodded.

"Yeah, I don't know what I was thinking. You see how we have talked here; I couldn't have a conversation like that with her. She just wants money for a new purse. She has loads of purses. How many purses does a girl need?"

Amanda shrugged with a small smile.

"I'll get one of my men to drop you home," Tommy reached over and pressed a button on his desk.

"If I see that Stetson bum I'll be talking to him about how he treats women. You don't have your lady out at this hour of the night searching for you."

"If you see him will you tell him I'm looking for him?" she asked.

He gave her a long look.

"Mrs. King, he is a wanted man among most of my associates. If he's missing this length most likely he is in a freezer somewhere or under concrete about to be covered over by a new building structure."

He leaned forward and pointed to her. "Now lady, take my advice, forget about him. Go on with your life. One of these days you'll knock on the wrong door and someone will drop you and your kids will have no mommy."

Amanda jumped as the door behind her opened and a large man in a black suit entered.

"Mason, take the lady home. Stay until she is safely through her own front door."

"Yes sir,"

Amanda froze slightly as the large man took her gently by the arm and escorted her out of his bosses office.

~o~

Deek looked him up and down. He grinned at the men in front of him as if they had given him a prize.

"Yeah I could work with this. He's classy looking. I like that suit. I may use that myself."

He looked to Lee's jacket to find a label.

"No," Tony told him firmly. "The suit will have to be burned. I'm sure you have some old clothes around here he could wear."

Deek nodded, he couldn't wipe the enthusiastic smile from his face. The druggies he had on his staff were all known at the local stores and were often picked up. This guy looked classy, he had good hair and white teeth.

"Can you juice him up? Get him strung out on gear." Marv asked.

"Say what? I don't do that. They come to me fucked up and I give them a bed in one of my trailers. You expect me to get him hooked?"

"You will be paid 10,000 dollars, 4,000 to start with and the balance when he is on the street."

Tony explained all to Deek.

Deek was a greasy two bit gangster, a crook from an early age. Their proposed exploitation of this vulnerable man was nothing on him. He just needed to work out the logistics of it.

Eventually he nodded his approval. "Let's see the money."

Marv took out a briefcase and snapped it open.

Deek peered in. "Okay, I'll take care of him. Is there anything else I should know."

Marv nodded. "It would help if you had someone here could perform operations. He's got a busted leg."

Deek smiled. "Ah you didn't tell me you were giving me damaged merchandise."

Tony went to speak but Deek waved him away.

"Don't worry about it. I have a few ex med students on my staff can take care of that. I'll get them to take a look at it and then I'll get him started on the stuff."

"So we have a deal then," Tony asked holding out a hand.

Deek shook it. "Yeah no sweat. He won't know his own mother by the time I'm done with him."

With a brief smile they turned to leave his dingy, cramped office. Lee watched them go and watched the door once it closed after them.

"Well looks like you're with me." Deek grinned. "What's your name?"

Deek stepped closer and went through his pockets as he spoke.

"Lee,"

"Lee is it." Deek looked him up and down. "I do like that suit, I'll have to give you something else to wear. I'd say that suit will clean right up."

Deek stepped out of his prefab office and looking across the filthy yard he called to his henchman.

"Gerry,"

Seconds later a large man stepped into the office blocking out the light from outside.

"Take him to trailer three. Get him a blanket to sleep on. Take that suit off of him and get him something else to wear."

Gerry took hold and pulled Lee with him until Lee stumbled and fell to the ground.

"Oh yeah, he's got a busted leg. Tell Max I want to see him. He'll have to fix that leg up."

Gerry hauled him up from the ground and dragged him out of the office, down the steps and across the yard to the trailers parked beyond.