The Beasts of Juarez, R.B. Schow [books to read for self improvement .txt] 📗

“No, man. I wouldn’t do that. That’s why I didn’t call for a tow earlier this morning. I wanted to give those goat humpers a chance to regain consciousness and leave.”

His friend gave a hearty laugh. “You still living in the same place?”

“Until Carly says I’m not, which will probably be when she sees the car,” Scotty said. She was still asleep in the bedroom, but she was a late sleeper and it was still early.

“I’ll get it done,” he said. “Do you want me to use the credit card on file?”

“Yeah, that should be fine. Thanks, brother.”

“Anytime, Scotty. Be safe.”

“Being safe is for pansies.” Scotty said this as his neighbor jogged by in the most incredible pair of yoga pants. He waved at her, she waved back, and then he said, “Living dangerously is for guys with balls.”

“Tell that to your car,” his friend said.

“You tell it,” Scotty replied, “you’re going to see it first.”

He threw on some clothes and tried to kiss his wife goodbye. She pushed his face away and rolled over, so he just refilled his coffee then called an Uber to take him to the bank. The teller was a rotund woman with the prettiest face ever and the kind of pleasant attitude that always seemed to lift his spirits.

“Good morning, Lexi,” he said. “I need to check my balance.” She gave him the balance in his business account, which was less than he thought but enough for what he was planning. “I need to get a cashier’s check for four thousand made payable to Jackson Burke. And I need two hundred in cash if that’s possible.”

“Of course it is, Mr. Chase,” she said with a warm smile. “For you, everything is possible.”

This left him with a few hundred in the account until Leopold’s transfer came through. He’d need other available funds, though…just in case.

“I’ll need to check the available balance on my credit card as well,” he said, handing Lexi his credit card.

She handed him the cashier’s check after it was signed, counted out two hundred in twenties for him, and then she checked the card’s balance. “Two-thousand-nine-hundred-and-twenty-two dollars and some change,” she said, handing him back his card.

Realizing it would be sufficient he smiled, collected the cash then left Lexi with his warmest smile, a smile that had no chance of matching hers.

Outside the bank, he sat on a sidewalk bench and called Jackson Burke. He took a deep breath as the line rang through to Jackson. This was the conversation he dreaded having for weeks now. Things had changed, though, so maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. After all, the guy did give him a ride home last night.

“I sure hope you’re calling to tell me you have my money,” Jackson said in a tone so shitty it practically stunk up the phone.

“As a matter of fact, I am,” Scotty said. He scratched his face where too much scruff was coming in. “I’ve got your four grand in a cashier’s check with your name on it and an opportunity for a lot more if you’re up for it.”

“With you?” he asked. “I don’t think so. I just want what you owe me.”

Shaking his head, Scotty said, “Look man, I know I’ve been a touch dodgy on the callbacks, and you did me a solid earlier this morning, so why don’t you let me make it good. It’s time to pick up where we left off. Besides, my account is thriving once more.”

“As of when?” he asked.

“This morning.”

“If you say you want me for any job other than the Alabama Hargrove job, you can pretty much suck your own ass dry for all I care.”

“It’s Alabama Hargrove,” Scotty said with a smile. “Leopold wired the money to the business account. Not to mention, we now have a performance bonus in place.”

“Performance bonus?” Jackson asked, intrigued.

He told Jackson they were on the clock but that the clock could stop at any minute. Scotty knew Atlas Hargrove was working as part of Leopold’s crew and that there was some kind of a deal between them but he’d only loosely told Jackson of their arrangement. He was trying not to give too much away after having made Jackson wait a few months for payment. He was also hoping to get Jackson back on the job now that he’d emptied out the rest of his account. It was a little sketchy for sure, and it cast a black cloud over his reputation, but it was a necessary evil. And, as with everything else that went to hell in a hand basket, he felt just fine blaming it all on COVID.

“If we find Alabama by the time Leopold’s crew ties off their op, Leopold has offered us a bonus.”

“How much?”

“It’s substantial, Jackson.”

“How much?” he asked again.

“One hundred large.”

“What’s the split?” Jackson asked.

“We’ll both be on the job, so we’ll split it fifty/fifty.”

He could almost hear the gears in Jackson’s mind at work. Scotty had a background in law enforcement, but Jackson had a military background. The man had killed people in Afghanistan and didn’t have a problem with it. Scotty had a big problem with it. He said he had the stomach, but truthfully, he didn’t want the nightmares. To this, Jackson said, “You get used to them. Sort of.” Well, he didn’t want to get used to them, so he made sure he always had Jackson around for the messy stuff. Also, it was the only partnership that had ever worked and he valued it immensely. He couldn’t say that right now because Jackson wouldn’t believe him, but that was the God’s-honest truth.

“If you promise not to screw me over again,” Jackson said, “and if you give me your word that