Free Pay Up and Die by Chuck Buda

involved way back when, after Ray Thomas dared to alter his plans. He knew he should have taken care of fucking Larry the fucking lawyer back then too. He gave him a pass since he appeared to cave to his threats. Besides, that was way in the beginning when Derrick was more timid about his business transactions. These days, there was no timidity or hesitation. Derrick knew what he wanted and what he would do to get it. No fat fuck was going to stop him from getting that promotion so he could give Rachel and the girls the life of luxury.
    Derrick fumbled for his cell phone, taking his eyes off the road. A car beeped at him as he crossed the dotted lines but he ignored it altogether. He tried to hit the button to dial Martin but his finger couldn’t connect properly. His hands were shaking too badly from the adrenaline surge. He finally gave up and shouted into the air, “Call Martin.” The phone began the autodial and he impatiently smashed the phone against his ear while he returned his attention to the road. He narrowly missed a pedestrian that began crossing the intersection just after the light turned red. Luckily, the cars on either side had not entered the intersection yet as he flew through. The call went to voice mail and he was bursting out of his suit. In all these years he had never gotten Martin’s voice mail and now had to be the first time? Now? The beep sounded and he could no longer control himself. “Where the fuck are you, sick fucking fuck? The plans have changed. Forget the fucking kid, I want Wright himself and I want him brought to me with fucking cherries on top. You fucking hear me? Do not touch a hair on his head because I want to make him die slowly by my own hands.” He took a deep breath and paused for a second. “I need to see him personally. I will reward you twice over for this. You will get a bonus payment for not hurting him. Plus, I have a new target for you to work on instead. He’s a fat fuck that you can slice up into millions of pieces and wear him like a fucking Halloween costume for all I care.” He started to put the phone down then raised it back up. “Call me, goddammit.” He fired the phone across the passenger seat.
    He had to calm down. He couldn’t go into the office all jacked up like this. People would pick up on his anger and it would make him guilty in their eyes. He was sure the rumor mill would be in full swing but if he could act naturally then people would believe that it was a wild, witch hunt. I mean, who would they believe? Their great leader who was always there for them or the quiet weasel who sat in a cubicle, who had money problems and was clearly looking to cash in on a civil suit to bail him out of financial trouble, and get his daughter the surgery she desperately needed? Yeah, it was going to shape up nicely. After all, who showed up at work all busted up with injuries that came from some sort of physical altercation? Surely people would believe that Michael had gotten himself into some trouble lately and his behavior was erratic. While Derrick had been the same all along.
    He started to settle down now as he fleshed out this back story to put into the minds of the lawyers and HR. Maybe this would play right into his plans nicely. It would discredit Michael’s claim and support his eventual disappearance. It would clean up Larry’s death as Michael probably took him out for squealing to Dan. All tidy. Not bad. He felt relieved as he went from total rage and panic to calm and confident in a matter of minutes.
    Pulling into his parking space, Derrick turned the vehicle off. He twisted the rear view mirror to look at his reflection. His thick, black hair was still in place. It looked like the grays on his temples were more pronounced. His eyes shined with charm as he settled back into himself. I got this, he said to himself as he picked up his cell phone and then stepped out of the SUV. The brick edifice of the bank office blotted out the eastern sun.