Che jerked the spigot and leaned into the reflection staring back at him from the bathroom mirror. He focused in on the seething knot forming at the base of his receding temple. Shaky hands cupped and deposited warm sink water unto his face. He massaged it hectically into his bloodshot eyes.

Jetlagged? Oh for sure.

Guilty? You betcha. 

He wasn’t sure exactly how it went down. One second he was exploring the back of some chicks mouth, and the next…opening his eyes on the floor. 

**** Shirley. Most likely she had thrown the bottle. She was such a jealous bitch. Man he was hot for her. It was too bad she had to die.  

He reached into his pocket and pulled out her wallet. Expensive piece. Just like all her accessories. Che had been warned that at some point she would turn on him. Stab him in the back. It was her nature. So he had snatched the wallet out of her purse to try and keep tabs on her better. And boy was he right!

Inside her wallet was her daily planner schedule, with little bits of information jotted down on each date. How ballsy was this of her? To write in her daily planner:

KILL CHIE

Chie? What the ****…she couldn’t even spell his name right?    

Dumb, sexy bitch.

And what was this other ****! Apparently she had **** that **** **** Toby!

Oh, he was gonna get his alright. It was time for Toby to die. 

And if she somehow managed to make it out of this club without the Captain, or that other crazy bitch Angelique, putting a bullet in her heart, then he would be more than happy to take care of her later. He knew exactly where she was headed.

“Hey in there…you awwight?” A sultry voice followed by a tiny knuckled wrap on the locked bathroom door. “It’s me, Josettea. You know, from the dance floor.” 

Che smiled. It was the hottie he was into before he…’blacked-out’

“I wanted to make sure you was cool.”

He smiled at himself in the mirror. He was gonna hit that ****.

“Can I come in?”  

He checked his watch. 12:06.

He figured it would take Shirley a little time to get that folder away from the Captain. First, a little playful flirting. Then the half hearted negotiation followed by some begging and threats. Ultimately ending with her prying it out of his dead hands. 

Shirley would eventually get what she wanted. She always did.

Just like he was about to get what he wanted.  

“Chure babee. Jew can come in.” He watched himself in the mirror as he strutted to the door and casually flipped the lock. 

  Before he could take a step backwards the door burst open and the woman was shoved directly into him. Che found himself backed into the far corner of the bathroom with a piece pointed in the general direction of his head.

  ***

  Shirley checked her watch: 12:01. She grimaced and continued up the few remaining steps. She paused at the top, her ear scanning for any additional sounds. Nothing.

The landing went straight for only a few feet before it turned into a narrow hallway and jackknifed to the right disappearing. She was certain she heard it. Someone had come out of a door and was most likely hiding just around that bend. 

She deduced that it was probably that poor sap Toby. The Captain wasn’t capable of hiding anywhere and Angelique was too brazen and crazy to hide. Had to be Toby.

She hated the thought of putting a bullet in his brain. He was just a sweet doofus. Caught in the middle of a really bad game of ‘cat and mouse.’ Or so it seemed. 

But there was nothing much she could do about it. It was time for Toby to die. 

And over what? A deed to some seemingly worthless property in South Florida. Property everyone claims has some hidden treasure on it. Just because some aged death row inmate at some state run correctional facility claimed to have buried it there. 

Wright insisted it was gold.

Despite her circumstances, Shirley almost chuckled at the thought. Her half brother had been some mad genius. When he was still alive.

Shirley momentarily dropped her eyes in regret. Then quickly snapped out of it. Now was not the time for regrets.

Wright had been an idiot savant. Capable of orchestrating to perfection the most intricate details of a grand master plan…however unable to tie his own **** shoe. He deserved what he got. A reasoning she only half heartedly believed. 

She checked her watch again. 12:02. Around 13 minutes until all Hell broke loose. Providing that **** dim witted bouncer set the timer properly. Good help was hard to find. 

No matter now. She needed to get what she came for and get gone. It was time to act.

She silently inspected her weapon. Safety off. Finger flexed. Hand steady. Deep inhale…

She bound around the corner crouched low on one knee, elbows locked and her weapon pointed high.

Nothing.

A quick scan revealed a closed office door with the name, ‘Captain’ on it and another doorway adjacent to it labeled exit.

“****!” She realized in an instant that the someone she heard had most likely gone through the exit. But she had to check to be certain.    

Without hesitation she burst into the Captains office prepared to fill it with holes. Instead:

Dead Captain.

Dead Angelique.

No Black folder.

In an instant she was back into the hallway and through the other door marked ‘Exit.’ It opened to a dimly lit stairwell leading south. She bounded down the two flights to the ground floor and found herself in a secret foyer with two more closed doorways. Through one she could hear the muffled sounds of traffic. Through the other, the thundering double bass of some out of tune metal band.

She inched the club door open and peeked through. She could see the bar and the dance floor. No sign of Che. He was probably still unconscious on the floor. **** sissy.

She gently nudged the door open and started to move through when she spotted Angelique’s chubby sidekick Brett pushing through the crowd behind a couple of bouncers. One of them was her inside man. The guy she hired to plant the boom boom device. The guy who better not double cross her.

And following along with them was some black street thug and that queen Egg.

Shirley smiled. So he had taken the bait after all. Stupid Fag. She knew Che would be too much for him to resist.

Shirley checked her watch again. 12:06. Only 9 minutes until Armageddon.

‘Screw it,’ she quickly decided and closed the door back up. They were all doomed and they all deserved it. She would just leave Che’s **** behind to blow and burn with the rest.  She was done with him.

What she needed to do was stick with the plan and that meant getting her hands on that God Damn black folder.

It was hard for her to believe that it had been Toby who wiped the Earth clean of The Captain and Angelique, and then made off with the folder. But seeing Brett and Egg just now on their way up to the office, logically there was no one else it could have been. She was mildly impressed. She didn’t think the kid had it in him.

Only now…she had to track him. Shouldn’t be too hard, she reasoned. The kid didn’t know what he was doing. Shirley remembered the first time she saw him. Sitting in his car trying to be a PI. Watching her through binoculars with that ridiculous fedora. He was so sweet and gullible. He showed up for the job wearing flip-flops!

She would feel bad when it came time to bury him. 

Maybe she was getting too old for all this nonsense. All the killing and such. She thought about her precious Sissy and Ceci at home. They needed her. She smiled. 

Then her smiled quickly faded as an all too familiar voice assaulted her senses from out of the shadows behind her…

“Well, hello there sis.”

***            

Smoke checked his watch: 12:05. Only ten minutes until the bomb exploded. He had to get the **** out of there. He didn’t care about anyone else, they could all blow up as far as he cared. Except Mofo. He wasn’t in on the plan but Smoke figured he would be cool when he shared the cash with him. Twenty large! Just for planting a bomb. They would be cold pimpin’ soon enough.     

“Look, Mofo, we best be gettin back outside yo. These dudes can find they way upstairs fine from here.”

Mofo looked at Brett and the two thugs he was with and nodded.

“Aaaight. Up dem stairs and around the corner. You be seein the Captains office.”   

Brett nodded and moved forward sternly. He didn’t give two flying **** about the folders. He just wanted his Angelique back. He had had it with that **** Toby. Angelique was his bitch and his bitch alone. It was time for Toby to die!

Skeeter followed close behind, his own vengeance simmering in his mind.

‘Try and burn a nigga’ huh? Well we just gonna see who ends up burned!’ 

However Egg lagged behind. He prided himself on being able to read people. He could tell a snitch a mile away. Herky-jerky eyes. Wringing hands. Twisting hair. Sweat on the brow. It wasn’t rocket science, however most people just ignored the tell-tale signs.

When he had looked at Smoke a moment ago, he read trouble. He was about to call out to Skeeter and fill him in on his ‘read’ when out of the corner of his eye he saw a familiar face shove his way into the bathroom. 

Egg watched as Brett and Skeeter made their way up the stairs and out of sight. He turned and watched as Smoke and Mofo pushed their way back through the front doors.

Then he smiled and moved toward the bathroom.

That hot Cuban had propositioned him on the airplane. Invited him here. Told him they could ‘share’ the wealth.

Egg didn’t believe a **** word of it. But he also didn’t care. He was here to get paid and get paid he would. One way or another.

He was also here for revenge. That **** Toby had killed his Frau. In fact, he had pretty much **** ALL his plans up. It was time for Toby to die.

But first…maybe the tall Cuban would give him a quick BJ before he slit his throat.

***         

“How..?” Shirley’s voice trailed off.

She could see him smiling. His teeth glowing through the shadowed stairwell. She knew that smile so well.

“Simple really. Thee ‘ol bait and switch.” Came the reply.

“I…I don’t get it…”

“Of course you don’t you **** heifer. But that’s really of no concern to you now. Just hand over my folder and I will disappear out that door and you will disappear out that door and we will never have to see each other again.” He winked.

Shirley didn’t know how the hell he had done it but sure enough, he was standing right in front of her. In the flesh. Her half brother- Wright.

The magic could be unveiled later. Right now she had to think. If she could somehow lure him out into the club.

‘Oh ****.’ She thought…‘the club!”

She nervously checked her watch. 12:07. only eight minutes until detonation.

“Someplace you need to be Shirl?”

“I don’t have the folder Wright.”

“Then who the **** does.”

“Your protégée. Toby.”

“Toby? That little…” his voice tailed off.

“He killed the Captain…and Angelique.” She studied his face in the dark, trying to see if there was remorse. She could see nothing.

Then abruptly he stepped forward out of the shadows and she almost laughed at his disguise. But there was no time for that now.

“It’s time for Toby to die.” He said matter of fact.

Shirley opened her mouth to respond when two stories up, a door slammed open into the stairwell and a pained scream came bellowing down to them:

“Noooooooooooooo!!”

Guns drawn, they stared up into the dimness of the first landing as two sets of heavy footfalls came rushing down the stairs toward them. As Brett and Skeeter came into view, shots rang out.    

***  

 After leaving the carnage of the Captains office, Toby decided to take the back way down. He was unsure of where the stairwell would lead him, but he figured he would take his chances on the unknown rather than go back down the same way he had come up and possibly face more danger. He checked his watch: 12:00 on the dot.

When he reached the foyer on the first floor he listened out both doors and figured one was leading outside and one was leading back into the club. The new found killer in him demanded he go back into the club. Find more victims. But his logic advised him not to.

‘Just leave Toby. Just get out. Run. Don’t look back. It’s not time for you to die.’

He popped the outside door open and moved quickly through it.

Toby found himself in a narrow alley on the side of the club.

He wasn’t sure why but he decided to brace the door open with a brick.

‘Just in case.’ The killer in him advised.

Toby stuck the Glock in his waistband and moved calmly up the alley toward the street. When he reached the edge of the building he peered around the corner. He could see the entrance to the club. There were still quite a few people milling around outside trying to get in. It appeared the bouncers were occupied with…

“Egg.” Toby issued the name with a low growl as he fingered the Glock in his pants.

He was there with some black guy and Bret, Angelique’s dorky bodyguard. As he watched, the bouncers led the three of them into the club.

Toby rushed back down the alley to the side entrance. He smiled to himself as he tossed the brick aside and moved back into the foyer.

He pushed through the door leading to the club and made his way casually to a dark corner. There he watched as the men came sauntering slowly across the dance floor toward the steps leading up to the office.

Toby chuckled to himself. He knew what they were looking for. He knew they would get quite a surprise when they opened the Captains door.   

They paused near the bar and had a quick conversation. One of the bouncers pointed toward the stairs and Bret nodded once before hurrying off toward them, the black dude close on his heels. The bouncers turned and made their way back to the front doors.

Egg stayed behind.

Toby smiled.