The Reachers Collection

Chapter 14

Seven years ago Pablo had walked into Pinky"s den. He had looked Pinky in the eye and told him Frank Morris was dead. There were cops outside waiting to break the news, but Pablo had insisted the news came from him. The cops, the rest of his boys, even Riva never saw Pinky react, they never saw the despair or the relief in his eyes.

And through everything, as business started to dive, as the Russians took over, as Pinky lost his throne, Pablo stayed by his side, watching his boss"s back like an obedient dog.

Pinky stared at him now, taking in his ridiculous hat and pointed shoes and felt that he never really knew Pablo. He couldn"t understand why a man would follow with such loyalty and expect to go nowhere. But as they stood together now, standing in Pinky"s new warehouse, it was starting to become clearer.

The closer Pablo got the more he learned. Pinky had shared everything with him, every business deal, every paranoia, and Pablo had been his counsel, Pablo had steered him; controlled him. And now he was trying to do it again.

Pablo had drawn Pinky aside, taken him into the back office while the others waited outside. This new venture was supposed to impress them, showing them that things were going to change, but Pablo was going to put an end to that–well he could try.

“Jackie told me he was picking up a girl for you,” Pablo said, the accusation rich in his tone.

“Jackie"s got a big mouth.” Not for much longer, Pinky thought to himself.

“Yeah well it"s not Jackie we need to worry about. I know Donnie Boom is back and I know he put you onto this girl.”

Pinky folded his arms. “You seem to be poking your nose where it"s not wanted.”

Pablo sighed. He took off his hat, clasping it to his chest. “Pinky, you got me worried. You"ve been taking bad deals; some of the boys say they haven"t had their cut. I know things are tough, but we always had things under control before.”

“I had things under control,” Pinky snapped. “I have things under control. Tomorrow everything is going to change.”

Pablo licked his lips nervously. “She"s a Reacher, isn"t she?”

He glared at Pablo as though he had just blasphemed. Nobody was supposed to know about the girl.

“Pinky, don"t do this. When Frank brought that Reacher in it nearly destroyed you. It nearly destroyed us all. She came in, she got into our heads, turned us against each other. You must remember what it was like with her breathing down our necks all the time, trying to find out all of our secrets. The men out there aren"t going to stand for it, not with business the way it is.”

Pinky understood now. This wasn"t about the girl at all. Pablo had something to hide, something he didn"t want Pinky to find out about. Pinky shook his head; he had allowed this man to get too close. It was a problem he needed to solve.

“Reachers made us what we were,” Pinky said to himself more than anything.

“No Pinky, Reachers ruined you, and I"m not hanging around to watch history repeat itself. If you bring that girl here, if she starts getting inside our heads, I"m out, Pinky.”

Pinky turned away and examined the rest of his men as they talked in the main body of the warehouse. They all had secrets. He met Fat Joe"s eye, his cousin and his bookkeeper. He trusted the man with his money, but then he"d trusted Pablo. He checked his watch. In a few hours he would have the girl and he wouldn"t have to rely on trust anymore. He would know for certain that they were loyal.

He wouldn"t be like Frank, though, he would keep the girl a secret. The men would never know what she really was. He glanced back at Pablo. He would ensure they never knew.

“Then we"re done,” Pinky finally said.

Pablo sighed, shook his head and reached for the door. “I"m sorry it has to be this way, Pinky.” He left, walking out of the warehouse without a word to the others.

Pinky leaned in the doorway, the men looked confused. They respected Pablo, he was the reason a lot of them rode out the hard times.

“Lee,” Pinky called.

Lee Hart was the youngest there, but what he lacked in experience he made up for in enthusiasm. He followed Pinky into the office.

“Close the door.”

Lee did what he was told. He always did what he was told, and maybe sometimes he didn"t do it as well as Pinky would have liked, but he was still obedient. He would never stand in the way of Pinky and his ambition.

“What"s up, boss?”

“What"s your plan, Lee?”

Lee frowned. “Boss?”

“Yeah. When I was your age I had it all planned out. Me and my brother were going to own the city.” Pinky smiled. “We did it too. We owned S"aven. I have one regret–I never had a son.” He paused, waiting for Lee to take the bait.

“Things are changing, Lee. The time has come to take back the city again. But I"m an old man; once I"ve reclaimed my city I will need someone to pass it on to.”

Lee finally understood. His eyes sparkled with ambition.

“I need good men around me, Lee. Men I can trust.”

“I"ve got your back, boss. Whatever you need.”

Pinky forced a smile. “That"s good to hear. Especially today. Do you know what happened to my brother?”

“Frank, yeah. I heard that Donnie Boom put a bomb under his table when he was at dinner.” Lee shifted awkwardly.

“And you"ve heard Donnie is back.”

Lee nodded, his mouth opening and closing like a suffocating fish. He couldn"t look Pinky in the eye and shifted from one foot to the other awkwardly.

Pinky beckoned him closer, putting his hand around Lee"s shoulders. He hadn"t been lying about wanting a son. It would have been nice to have a protégée, having someone to carry on the family name. He looked Lee in the eye–if he did find someone it wasn"t going to be him.

“What if I was to tell you Donnie didn"t kill my brother. What would you say if I told you Pablo killed Frank?”

The colour drained from Lee"s face, his mouth dangled open like a dead fish"s. “Pablo?” He squeaked.

“The thing about being boss is you have to deal with these problems, it doesn"t matter how you feel about it. Do you think you could deal with a problem like this?”

Lee thought about it, and then nodded arrogantly. “Sure boss, I could deal with it.”

“How would you deal with it?”

There was only one way to deal with it, even Lee couldn"t miss that. “Take him out.”

Pinky nodded approvingly and waited for Lee"s statement to sink in.

“You want me to take him out?”

“That depends, Lee, what"s your plan? Do you want to fill my shoes one day, or are you happy just sitting in the bottom of the heap?”

The decision was made. Lee stood a little taller, knowing that the next few hours could be the making of him.

“Consider it done, boss.”

* * *

He"d killed a man before. There was a fight, Lee had thrown the first punch and the guy went down, cracking his skull on the pavement. He was dead instantly. Lee didn"t even mean to do it. But he did, and that made him a killer.

The others thought he was stupid, but Pinky had seen the real him. And even better Pinky had given him the chance to show the others what Lee Hart could actually do. He had his gun; he was standing outside Pablo"s apartment. He could do this.

His hand was trembling as it knocked. He waited, tapping his foot as the seconds passed. Pablo opened the door. He frowned at Lee and then sighed.

“You"d better come in,” he said and stepped aside for Lee.

They walked into his sitting room. Pablo sat in his favourite chair. He was drinking. He didn"t offer Lee anything.

“I should have left when Frank started to lose it,” Pablo suddenly said. “I don"t know if that Reacher messed with his head, or if he was just crazy anyway. I should have just left. But I didn"t. I stayed. I slogged it out. Helped Pinky when the whole business started falling apart. Jesus, you boys would be coming to me, expecting to get paid, and I"d talk my way out of it, knowing there wasn"t any money.” Pablo laughed and shook his head.

Lee watched him. It looked as if he"d been crying. He couldn"t imagine Pablo crying. His stomach lurched; what if Pablo started begging for his life? He swallowed his nerves and reached for his gun.

“It"s all going to happen again. Whatever happened to Frank is happening to Pinky. If you were smart you"d get out while you still can.”

But Lee wasn"t smart. He aimed the barrel of the gun at Pablo"s head. He could barely keep it steady.

“I"m sorry,” he murmured and pulled the trigger.

* * *

Pinky inspected the latest shipment of h****n with the remnants of his men. They were laughing and making jokes, but seemed nervous around Pinky. Let them be, Pinky thought to himself, if they had something to hide he would soon find out about it. His phone started to ring. He was expecting it to be Jackie, maybe Lee, but it was Riva.

“Pinky, we"ve got a problem. Charlie Smith just left the club with Roxy.”

It should have surprised him, but it didn"t. The men around him went silent, waiting for the fallout.

“When?”

“A few minutes ago.”

“No word from Jackie?”

“Nothing yet. I tried calling him but there was no answer. Maybe we should send Pablo.”

Pinky cleared his throat. “Pablo"s no longer with us.”

His men stopped what they were doing. The air in the warehouse chilled.

“What do you mean not with us?” Riva paused. “Pinky, no.”

He hung up his phone. All he needed was the girl. Nothing else mattered.