Jeliah was impressed. She had absolutely been about to shoot the little bitch for giving his gun away. At best it had been stupid thing and at worst a dangerous one. Exactly the kind of dipshittery that she didn’t need on a mission. Or so she thought. Then the Armando kid had pulled it off, and no one had died except for Piett who, based on the exchange he had with Armando, sounded like he deserved it no matter what. Telling anyone you have a lawn business was as good a grounds for murder as any. Maybe there was some potential in James after all, and there was definitely something going on with Armando. Maybe he had potential, maybe he didn’t, but he was clearly someone to watch. The two pirate bagmen had gone back to cleaning out the register drawers. She indicated to the rest of the men that they should loot the store itself, and walked over to the counter where James and Armando were standing.
“Nice job, kid.”
James turned. “Thanks.”
“Wasn’t talking to you. Armando, is it?”
“Yeah.”
“Have fun?”
“Eh.”
“Hey, why don’t you go stand with your friends for a second. That Brad kid looks like he’s crying or something.” Armando shrugged and hopped down. He grinned at her, looked her up and down with what was clearly intent of some kind, and walked off.
She watched him to a safe distance, and then said to James: “Kid’s weird.”
“I guess. Seemed ok to me.”
“Really? Seemed ok to you? He just straight-up murdered his boss and said ‘Eh.”.”
“Bad boss is a bad boss. They beg for it, I’d guess.”
“What?” She looked searchingly at James. He smiled.
“You got nothing to worry about, so far.” He stuck out his hand. She didn’t take it.
“That worked, and it was solid thinking.”
“Thanks, I-”
“It was also the dumbest fucking thing you could have done. I was going to shoot you. I promise.”
“Yeah, it seemed like a real possibility.”
“Tell me before you get any more ideas.” She peered at him through the purple rims of her glasses and did her best to indicate displeasure- which in all fairness to herself she was very, very good at doing. She saw him quiver.
“Yes sir. I mean ma’am.”
“Good.” She backed off a little and was just about to tell him to go join his giant guardian when a crack ripped through the air. She turned just in time to see Armando drop on the polished floor, blood flowing quickly to the industrial drain set a few feet away from him. Beyond him she saw Brad, tears streaming down his face, red eyes begging to be punched.
“I was going to be manager…” he snivelled. She shot him through the heart and admired her aim. Then she heard a gurgle and looked down to see James clutching his throat. Well shit, she thought as she kneeled, her badass coat and really, really expensive leggings soaking up sprays of blood.
“Someone get the big fucker!” she shouted. “Now!”
