15(S2E2)- The Devil Wears a Dress

15

(Season 2 Episode 2)

The Devil Wears a Dress

Hovered.

It would probably have been the best word to use when describing his situation.

He hovered.

Between life and death.

Between awake and asleep.

He fucking hovered.

He was asleep now.

Felt her hair as he ran his hands through it, felt her lips on his mouth as they kissed.  It was an embrace that had gotten him every time.  A kiss with her kept him up some nights, wanting.

He lost track of the world around him when she kissed him.

Bam.

Fucking, bitch.

He was awake now.

He could feel the muddy ground and wet grass as the rain came down hard.  He felt the pain in his chest like a vice squeezing the life out of him.

Broken heart or a bullet in the chest, same difference.

He saw the red head limping toward him.  Her face had been beaten and bruised and blood leaked from her nose.  The water drenched her hair and the whole thing coupled together, made him think of the old legends of Irish banshees.

Fucking, banshees.

He was asleep.

He was on the top of his game, about to nab another one hundred yards rushing in a single game.  This was the season of his life and his senior year.  The college scouts were here and he was blowing it out of the water.  She sat in the bleachers cheering for the team.  They were happy.  She sat next to his father who was very proud.

The quarterback yelled.  “Hike!”

The play started, he got the ball.

They all said it was a bad hit.

He only remembered the internal pop he had heard in his head on the impact.

Fucking knees.

He was awake now.

A weird looking old guy was standing over him working on his chest.  There was a lot of bleeding.  He couldn’t breathe.

The guy working on him seemed to hunch over, looking over his big dopey looking glasses like a grandfather would.  He had wispy grey hair and had to be in his fifties.

“This isn’t looking good, Patty.  Jesus, this bullet is in there.”  The man was talking to the banshee who was sitting on a stool with an ice pack on her face.

The swelling had gone down and he could swear he remembered her from somewhere. She responded to the man working on him, but her accent and the damage to her face made her indiscernible.

“Fourth cupboard on the right,” He said to her.  “And for Christ’s sake, use a coaster.”

“What… are… you doing…” He managed in a very hushed and weak tone.

The old man turned toward him, peering over the glasses.  “Probably killing you, but the jury is not in on that one, yet.”

“She shot me… I loved her and she shot me…” He managed, barely clinging to the real world.

The old man went back to his work.  “Well, that’s what they do when you love them, kid.  At least, in my experience.”

He fell back into the darkness and was silent.

****

Jim Creegan was awake.

His eyes exploded open and he tried to jerk upright.

The pain that followed this very ill-conceived, panic ridden idea, kept him from accomplishing this.

The movement made his chest burn and with a scream, he fell back, breathing hard.  He hurt everywhere.  Soreness crept through his being like a plague.  To make matters worse, his head was throbbing and he was starving.

Then came the urge.

“Bet you got to take a wicked piss.”  Patty said as she entered the room to find Creegan awake.

Creegan looked over at her and raised an eyebrow, positive she said something about a woman named Tish.  “What?”

Patty realized her Irish accent had gotten the better of her again, she slowed down and attempted to annunciate better.  “You have to pee?”

Jim began to remember now.  “You’re the one I fought in the hospital.  You tried to kill me.”

Patty shrugged.  “So did your girlfriend.  Seems like a thing with you.”

Creegan frowned, and Patty continued.  “You need help getting to the pisser or not?”

Creegan had to succumb to his bladder and he nodded.  Patty came over and slowly helped him out of the bed.  He tried not to groan, but did anyway.  Slowly, Patty helped him down the hall.

“I don’t get it.”  Creegan muttered through the pain.  “You tried to kill me in the hospital only to save my life later?”

“I need your help.”  Patty replied.

“My help?  With what?” Creegan asked, confused.

They made it to the bathroom.  “I want to take down The Muppet.”

Creegan looked at her, shocked.  She then walked outside the door and let him do his business.  The stream began to hit the water when Creegan responded.  “Why the hell would you think I would help you do that.”

“You want more reason then the fact that I just saved your life?” Patty asked, loud enough to get back into the bathroom.

“Alright,” Creegan responded.  “What makes you think we can do it?”

Patty smiled.  “Your girl still has the flash drive.  He just made a public spectacle of himself and those cleaners were sent by the Rodriguez brothers.  He’s weak.”

Creegan seemed to consider what she had said.  “Okay, well in that case, I only have one last question.  Why?”

Patty sighed and thought back to all the conversations she and Elmo had had.  The times they had been together.  The time when he had pulled her out of the grime and made her strong.  These memories used to give her joy.

Now, they brought only anger.

“He double booked me.”  She said with a low voice, dripping with intent.  “He hired Rockwell and Stone and almost got me killed.”

Creegan hobbled to the door, finished with relieving himself.  “In other words, hell hath no fury like a woman scorned?”

Patty worked her jaw and narrowed her eyes at Creegan.  “You would know.  Your girl shot you for $250,000.00.  That’s pretty sad.”

Creegan shook his head and looked away.  “Twenty.”

Patty raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“Twenty grand.”  Creegan said as patty threw his arm over her shoulder and began to help him back.  “My cut was only twenty grand.”

Patty laughed out loud.  “She shot you over twenty grand?  Wow, you know how to pick them.”

“Fuck you, red.”  Creegan said as they entered the main room with the bed.

Patty helped him back into bed.  “At the end of the day, if we don’t do something we’re gonna be dead anyway.  Elmo’s going to clean house, and we are the dirty dishes.”

Creegan nodded.  “I’m in.”

Patty looked confused, expecting to have to convince him further.  “You are?  Just like that?”

Creegan shrugged his shoulders.  “You saved my life.  All you had to say.”

****

Elmo stood there in the parking garage in downtown Cleveland waiting for her to show up.

How ridiculous.

Elmo thought to himself as he became impatient.  Since when does Elmo Kincaid wait on anyone?

Elmo did wait, however.  He had no choice.  The Rodriguez brothers were still convinced he had lost the flash drive that he kept to hold them in check and they were seconds from bearing down on him.  He had lost half a million dollars, despite his best efforts not to.  Then, finally, there was the matter that fourteen days ago a bunch of people had an apocalyptic shoot out in a hospital which was all connected to him. Thankfully, he owned the cops but how long would that last with the kind of weakness he was showing?

“Waiting for someone?”  The sultry voice cut the air and Elmo knew who it was.

It was the same woman who had demanded the ransom for the flash drive.  It was the female bane of his existence.  Elmo turned to see a woman standing there.  She was wearing a business skirt, slightly too short, and a pinstripe blazer.  Short, dark red, almost black hair, came down to her chin.  She swayed when she walked, moving mostly with her hips.

“You look like a whore.”  Elmo stated, unimpressed.

She frowned.  “You look old.”

That really struck a nerve in Elmo and her wicked smile returned.  “I still have it.”

Elmo reached behind him and drew the small automatic pistol he had stashed there for this occasion.  “Not for long.”

She mocked fear.  “Oh, dear me.  A gun.  I never would have thought you would bring a gun.”

Elmo continued undaunted.  “The flash drive.  I want it now.  Then, you get the hell out of Cleveland.”

She shook her head.  “Come now, I expected the Muppet to be smarter.  You are disappointing me.”

Elmo shook his head.  “No one calls me that!  Enough games.  The flash drive!”

Elmo extended his hand with the gun and took aim at her head.

She shook her head.  “It’s been fourteen days.  Fourteen days since I personally turned your world upside down with nothing but a bat of an eye.  So, after I out-smarted the smartest criminal in Cleveland, I called him up fourteen days later and came to a parking garage to meet with him alone?”

Elmo’s confidence was wavered and he started to use his peripherals to scan the garage around him.

She smiled knowingly.  “Oh, now you’re getting it, aren’t you?  Let me tell you what I did for fourteen days.  I searched.  Searched for the right price, the right skill set, the best bang for my buck.  Do you know who I found?”

Elmo heard the tell tale click of a hammer being cocked into position.

“I found Clay.”  She said with a smile.

Elmo was beside himself.  The man was right behind him, a gun pressed to the side of Elmo’s head.  How had he gotten so close so fast?  Where had he been?  They were in the middle of a parking garage!  Elmo slowly lowered then dropped his weapon.  He had no choice.

“Clay presented the best references and skill sets for the right price.  Sure, I could have gotten six killers for the cost of Clay here, but I have always been a firm believer in quality over quantity.”  She said as she moved in closer to Elmo.

“What do you want?”  Elmo asked, just plain exhausted now.  “You got your money and the flash drive.”

She shook her head and laughed once.  “Half a million dollars?  If you think I was ever in this for half a million dollars, you’re insane.  I used that money to set up my plan and to get Clay, here.”

“Your plan?” Elmo asked confused

“Oh Elmo,” She said.  “I don’t want half a million dollars.  I want it all.”

Clay eased the gun away behind from Elmo’s head and a deep thunderous voice boomed.  “Don’t turn around.”

The woman continued.  “From now on, I get twenty percent of your profits.  In exchange, I keep the flash drive safe from the cartel.”

Elmo scowled.  “Twenty percent is ridiculous.”

She shook her head and chuckled playfully.  “No.  Basing the safety of your multi-million dollar drug empire on a flash drive is ridiculous.”

She turned and began to walk away.  “I’ll call you with further instructions on how and when you will pay me.”

Elmo shook his head.  “You are the fucking devil.”

She stopped and turned.  “Most people just call me Maggie.”