“What’s the matter, where’re we going?” I finally asked.
“We’re not going anywhere. I’m going alone. It’s business,” Nick said tersely.
“It’s business”…How I hated those words. It was Nick’s standard mantra when he got called in the middle of the night or had to leave for days at a time with just an hour’s notice. I knew who he worked for. He knew that I knew. But we pretended anyway. He didn’t do any of the messy stuff…no drugs or killings or anything like that. Hell, he didn’t even carry a gun. He was a money guy...he knew how to move cash. He set up financing for deals…some legal, some not so legal.
Nick zipped up the bag and walked over to where I was standing. He squeezed my shoulder and gently butted his head against mine. His hair was still damp from the shower.
“You know I would take you if I could,” he said tenderly.
I ran the back of my hand over his abs as I spoke.
“Let’s stop pretending Nick. I know who you work for. Let me go with you this time…I’ll stay out of the way.” I pleaded hopefully.
Nick was silent for several moments and then smiled.
“Be ready in ten minutes,” he conceded. “But remember…its business first, and then pleasure.”
“Where’re we going,” I asked impatiently.
“Vegas,” Nick shot back, as he slipped on a black silk button down shirt.
***
It was dark when we arrived. The house was magnificent. Whoever said “crime didn’t pay” never saw this place. Nick hugged and touched cheeks with everyone in the room and we sat down to a lavish dinner.
When the last of the espresso was gone, the old man at the head of the table stood.
“Nick, you and your friend get some rest now. Tomorrow, we talk business,” he said. “Jake, carry their bags to the room,” he barked with a wave of his hand.
Jake, as I learned during dinner, was a bodybuilder…a former Mr. New Jersey I think the old man said. He was a boxer now and not a very good one I surmised. The old man teased him several times about his hapless efforts in the ring. Still, Jake was an imposing figure. He was at least two inches taller than Nick or me and probably carried thirty more pounds of muscle than either one of us. He wore army fatigue pants and a loose fitting, oversized tank top that left most of his muscular torso exposed. He bent over to pick up the two bags and when he stood up again, his right pectoral was fully exposed, having worked its way from behind the flimsy shirt. I guess I stared at it a bit too long…I felt Nick’s elbow jab into my side. We followed Jake upstairs.
“Do they know about us,” I asked Nick as we stripped off our clothes and slipped into the oversized bed.
“Yeah, they know,” Nick answered. “It doesn’t matter to them,” he continued. “I’m good at what I do and that’s all they care about…this is not the Boy Scouts,” he chuckled as he turned out the light on his side of the bed.
***
Nick shook me.
“Wake up,” he whispered. “Go. Wait in the bathroom,” he said nervously.
I was groggy as I swung my legs to the floor.
What’s wrong,” my words were slurred.
The bedroom door was opened and the dim light from the hall silhouetted a figure standing in the doorway.
“Go!” Nick shouted in a loud whisper.
I went into the bathroom and left the door ajar so I could peer back into the room. Nick stood at the foot of the bed wearing only his briefs. The shadowy figure closed the bedroom door and moved closer to Nick…It was Jake. He wore the same pants as he did earlier but he wasn't wearing a shirt. His body was magnificent. His powerful arms hung from boulder-like shoulders. Three rows of thick muscle ran up the length of his abdomen from his waist to just below his overly developed chest.
Nick was talking fast. I couldn’t make out what he was saying but he was punctuating every few words with waves of his hands.
"This was bad," I thought to myself.
Jake said nothing as he slowly pulled out a knife that he had tucked into the back of his pants. The twelve inch blade flickered as it reflected the moonlight that filled the room. He grabbed Nick's shoulder with his left hand. His massive right arm drew the knife back slowly.
Nick was still talking and waving his arms when Jake suddenly shoved the knife into Nick's stomach.
“No!!!!!” I gasped, as the blade disappeared inside Nick’s muscular belly.
“UUUHHH!!!” Nick grunted and bent forward slightly as the blade cut into him.
Jake pulled the knife out of Nick and viciously stabbed him in the stomach two more times. The blade was driven completely into Nick’s belly each time.
“Nick!” I whimpered from the bathroom floor as I heard the crisp sound of the blade cut into Nick’s muscled torso. I was shaking with fear.
Nick stumbled forward when Jake ripped the blade out of him the third time but he managed to stay on his feet.
“Go down,” I whispered “Go down.”
I knew he couldn’t hear me but if he would just fall to the floor and play dead, I thought I could still get him to a hospital…and…
Before I could finish my implausible thought, Jake savagely rammed the blade into Nick’s belly again. Nick’s body shuddered as the razor-sharp blade cut into him just below the sternum. Nick grabbed the knife that was stuck in his gut with both hands and staggered for a few moments then fell straight back on the bed and was still, the knife was still stuck in his body.
Jake stood at the foot of the bed with a big grin on his face and snickered as his flexed his upper body in triumph a few times.
“Jake, you sick bastard,” I whispered as my fear quickly turned to rage. I got to my feet.
Jake turned and walked to the opposite wall toward the bags he had carried to the room earlier...he started rummaging through them. I quickly but quietly ran out of the bathroom and hurried to the bed. Seeing Nick’s body sprawled on the bed with the knife still inside him fueled my rage. I held my left hand on Nick’s stomach and pulled the knife out of his lifeless body with my right.
The knife felt good in my hand...I flexed my right arm a few times. The blade was stained with Nick's blood. My pounding heart quickly shot adrenaline through my entire body…I was invincible. Jake found what he was looking for in Nick's bag and was just about to open the bedroom door. There was no way he was leaving this room alive.
I ran up behind him with the knife drawn back, ready to strike. I grabbed his massive shoulder, then spun him around violently and rammed the twelve inch knife into his bare belly as hard as I could. Jake sucked in a mouthful of air and his chest expanded when the blade ripped into his abs.
Jake clenched his teeth and flexed his ab muscles hard as I held the blade inside him for a few seconds then pulled it out of his gut.
Jake covered the deep stab wound with both hands as blood rolled through his fingers and down his stomach. I put my left hand on his chest between his two large pectorals and violently slammed him back against the closed door behind him...my strength surprised me. Jake’s back hit the door hard and his big arms flung out to his sides. I quickly pulled back my right arm and rammed the knife into his belly again.
“AAAHHHhhh!!!” Jake yelled out as the blade tore into his thick ab muscles and deep into his gut.
His massive upper body lurched forward towards me and I caught him as he began to slump forward. Jake's right arm was slung over my left side and his chin leaned on my right shoulder. I leaned forward and whispered in his ear.
“This one’s for Nick, you bastard.”
With my left arm wrapped tightly around Jake’s back I pulled back my right arm and savagely shoved the knife into Jake’s belly with all of my adrenaline induced strength. His body stiffened...he rose to his toes...his eyes opened wide. Jake tried to say something but no sound came out of his mouth. I let go of the knife and stepped back. Jake's both hands grabbed the knife that was driven into the middle of his gut and he staggered forward. He then leaned back and flexed his upper body hard for a few seconds as he tried to endure the pain. He fell back on the floor and was still. I left the knife in him.
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