King Without a Crown

Three cars. A white Cadillac. A grey Mustang. A Porsche. Two motorcycles. I drove the Porsche. Black this time. A chase. Speeds so fast that any wrong turn of the wheel would guarantee our deaths. Jimmy moaned from the passenger side. He was having LSD dreams. I took a sharp right. My eyes quickly darting to the mirror. The white Cadi was close behind. Two shots fired. My side view mirrors gone. I pulled the E brake and drifted into an alley way. Busting through a rusty chain link fence. I pulled my gun out and aimed for the tires. Miss. I punched the gas and flew off. The Mustang cut me off. Barley missing the tip of my car. I followed it. The two bikes came from both sides. Surrounding me. Guns pointed at me the driver. This was a race to see who would die first. Danny shot at me from the right. I gritted my teeth. If they saw it was me, I'd have to kill them all. I slammed in the brake. Screeching screamed between roaring engines. Driving in reverse at high speeds takes skill. Quickly hitting the brake again I spun the car around. Bullets bouncing off the hood of my car. I huffed. Why don't they give up. I'm not going to stop. Neither would Brian. My only hope is his Cadi would run out of gas before my Porsche. Sharp left. Sharp right. Sharp right. Sharp left. I was side by side with the Stang. Johnny looked over for a brief second. Matt Barry hung from the passenger side. Firing shots at Danny and Jason. I hung a left and stopped. The car died. The bikes zoomed by. I got out of the car. Looking for another. I pulled Jimmy out of the car and sat him against a dumpster.

Melly: don't worry Jimmy it will be all over soon.

I jogged down the street. Gun out looking for a quick car.

Melly: shit shit shit.

I had to pick one of the busiest streets. I tried to look more discrete. Walking around with a huge revolver doesn't help. Most of these cars weren't made for what I needed. Junkers, vans, trucks. All useless. Then there it was a little BMW coup. Just pulled into a parking spot. Some chick got out. I ran up to her, punched her, grabbed the keys, and drove off. I heard yelling but ignored it. I needed to get Jimmy. My driving wasn't as fast. There he was still by the dumpster. To loaded to even budge. I shoved him in the car and drove off. Going to the Sanders mansion. I drove at regular speed. Keeping my eyes and ears open. I felt out of the clear, but it was better to keep my guard up. I stopped at a gas station to fill the car. In case I needed it. I watched as any car drove past. Being sure to keep out of view. Then I heard it. Two street bikes. I ducked into the car as they came into view. They drove by slow. I held my breath. A Bentley pulled up. Blocking their view of me. A man with dark hair came out and started pumping gas. He looked at the two on the bikes. Words were exchanged. Then the bikes sped off. The man then looked back at me and gave me a nod. I placed the gas pump back and nodded in return. The way I drove to the house was long and complicated. Taking the most curvy roads, so Jimmy wouldn't comprehend. The house was very still. I dumped him on the front step. Much like I had with Jenn. It hadn't gone as smoothly as I liked it. To much attention had been drawn. Then again its easy to hide amongst all the chaos. My eyes kept ever watchful. There scouts were out. Looking for anyone who didn't look right. After switching cars again I went to the Haner house. Kicking the door of his office open. His semi-automatic pistol aimed at me.

Brian: where did you go?

Melly: I only did what I was asked and that was to watch out for you. Kill anyone who got in the way. Jimmy said he would pay me.

Brian: well that's not going to happen because Jimmy was taken. And they took Jenn.

Melly: how did they manage that? We were with him the entire time.

Brian: I don't know. You never said where you went Melly.

Melly: I was in the black Porsche leading you away from the chase. Jimmy asked me to watch out for you and I did.

He cocked his gun.

Brian: you shot at me.

Melly: yes and purposely missed. To lead you away.

His eyes narrowed. My gun was in my hand aimed at the door. Danny and Jason's guns drawn as well. Unfortunately for me all were on me.

Brian: put your guns away. She's fine.

Jason: they got away.

Danny: we lost the Mustang and the Porsche.

Brian: Melly was in the Porsche, Jimmy had told her to watch out for me.

They frowned.

Melly: you're both lucky I didn't shoot back. You'd both be dead.

Danny: what do you want us to do Brian?

He let out a sigh. Pacing back and forth.

Brian: they're going to build up. Hire worthless nobodies to fight anyone who tries for Jimmy. They'll expect me to send someone.

Melly: Jenn will talk about me.

Brian: you didn't hide your face?

He glared at me.

Melly: I never do. You know if the time became desperate, you could always ask...

Brian's face turned sour.

Brian: I would never stoop to that level. How dare you even mention that name here.

Melly: I never said any name, Haner. They shouldn't be ignored.

Brian: old Baker died. Unfortunately so did everything he worked for. His son is worthless. He ran off. Smart, there was no way he could have taken over for his father anyway.

Melly: I said if the time became desperate. What Danny?

He'd been staring.

Danny: how can we trust her?

I looked at them with a smile.

Melly: my trust only lasts as long as I'm working for you.

Brian: and the amount of money we give her.

Danny: why should we believe that? How do we know if you aren't working for them?

Brian: because if she was I'd kill her. Simple as that.

I gave a nod of agreement. Foolish men.

Danny: Brian I don't think we should keep her. I think we should get rid of her. Right Jason?

Jason: I think we should listen to whatever Brian says.

Brian: thank you Jason. See Danny, I know we can trust her. She's worked for us before. And we don't really have a choice. We're short a man.

Danny kept his eyes on me.

Danny: boss, Brian. Can we talk in private.

Brian: yes we can. Melly do you mind?

Melly: no I understand, I've got an errand to run. I'll be back later.

He waved me off and I left. I pulled up to the diner close to my home. I went to the pay phone and dropped a few quarters in. It rang once.

Melly: they're planning. Most likely to get Jimmy back. They'll probley just try to kill Jenn off. I won't let that happen. I promise you that. I was with them as they discussed it. Suspicions always arise in times like these. But don't worry I won't let you down.

I hung up and walked to the house I "lived" in. My shoes clicked on the pavement. This dress wasn't much for warmth. I cautiously entered the house. You're never safe in this line of work. Even when times are slow. You've always got to keep your eyes open. You never know who you've pissed off while working or doing a job. My body felt tired. Tonight I would rest. Let things grow and unravel. Tomorrow the city would be a battle field. The thugs that usually did little meaningless crimes would be fighting. Killing each other for a measly hundred dollars. Stupid thugs will do anything for a little green and what they think is respect. Promised deals that will never follow through. Mean while the two biggest names in town will be plotting to wipe each others house out. While I benifit and make millions. I love this town. So easy to get rich. You just have to know the right people. And I know them all. Why do they hate each other you ask? Easy. Money and power. Back in the day when both familes came here, they worked together to build the city. They mainteined and regulated everything. Until another family of wealth came to be. This family was already involved deep with the mob. Nothing like the Haners and the Sanders. This family delt with more extream measures. Drugs, contraband, smuggling. It did not benifit the founders of the city to keep them around.They had never delt with anything like this. Sure they did play dirty. Nothing of quite the same stature though. They realized this could not be tolerated. So began the violence of the Sanders and Haner houses. Together they manged to keep this new family down. Keep them from spreading their filth. Ofcourse things never work out well for some reason or another. Haner and Sanders started to turn on each other. Swindling money. Starting seperate businesses. Arguments followed. That led to physical disputes. Which led to death. With guns pointing in every direction, there alliances split. They only ever managed to keep peace with one another when the third house started to show face and they needed to work together to keep them down. After the last time that happened, a truce was made. For many many years that truce was honored. It only takes one death to start a war.