Free Vengeance is Mine by Reavis Z Wortham Page A

dingy undershirt. Burke tried to yank his hand back, and if he’d gotten it free, would have had a better chance at killing Anthony than the others, because the table was between them and Anthony couldn’t get a good shot. If Burke’d been up and ready for a fight, Anthony would have probably taken a slug.
    Instead, the man hesitated when he saw the young woman over Anthony’s shoulder. “Samantha?”
    Anthony quickly stepped to the side for a clear shot.
    Recovering from his surprise, Burke awkwardly reached for a pistol with his left hand. Anthony shot him in the head.
    Shocked by what he’d heard, Anthony spun to see Samantha in the open door, half expecting to look down the barrel of a gun in her manicured fingers. It wouldn’t have surprised him, because their business was one of double and triple crosses.
    Instead, she stood immobile, stunned at the sudden and deadly violence. He realized his pistol was pointed at her. When he didn’t see a gun, he lowered the muzzle, realizing he’d have been a dead man if she’d been heeled. His automatic was empty, the slide locked back. He quickly thumbed the empty magazine free, drove a fresh one home, and released the slide.
    Anthony stepped over the bodies to make sure no one else was hiding in the room. The closet was empty, but the dead motel owner sat against the bathroom wall with his legs splayed around the toilet. The Sealed For Your Protection slip from the cracked lid was stuffed in his mouth.
    Anthony turned back to the carnage. “You know these guys?”
    She spoke softly. “They work for Daddy.”
    Ears ringing, he thought for a moment that he’d heard her wrong. “Malachi Best is your old man?”
    Her voice trembled. “Yes.”
    â€œHe’s the guy I worked for.”
    â€œI didn’t know.” Her blue eyes opened wide.
    â€œYou said your last name was Chesterfield.”
    â€œMother was a Chesterfield. She kept it so I wouldn’t be tied to dad by name.”
    â€œI’ve worked for Best for years. I never saw you before.”
    â€œHe always kept me at arm’s length, so nobody could use us as leverage. He lived in Vegas, and we lived in New York.”
    Anthony thought for a moment, weighing the pistol in his hand. “So they were after you ? And the safe was extra candy?”
    â€œI don’t think so. I was only in Vegas for a few days to visit. Daddy thinks I’m going to be in Chicago all month.”
    â€œSo it’s like I thought. They wanted me .” Anthony chewed his lip. And the safe was still candy.
    He took a good look at the peeled safe. It was the classic double cross in a dishonorable business. Obviously, the men inside their room were sent to kill Anthony and bring back the safe. The kick was their ambition. They planned to empty the safe, split the contents, and then tell the Boss that Anthony had taken the money and either spent it, or hidden it before they gunned him down.
    They’d tried to smoke the lock first, using a key blank and candle smoke to find the tumblers. The dead candle and blank lay discarded on the table, beside several empty Schlitz cans, because those guys were thugs, not safe crackers. They finally resorted to using a sledge hammer to peel it open, an ugly but effective way to open one up.
    Peelers hammer at a corner, any corner, until it bends enough for them to work a chisel under the outer layer of steel and pry it out of the way. That reveals the next dented sheet, which they also roll back. Like peeling back the layers of an onion, they continue the slow and tedious process until finally levering a hole big enough to drain the safe’s contents.
    Anthony and Samantha had walked into the stifling room the moment Burke had stuck his hand inside.
    â€œQuick, get our stuff into the car. Those shots will bring the cops even in this burg.” He jerked his head toward the bathroom. “He won’t be