rom his crouched position against the van wall, the man in black slacks and a now dingy, long-sleeved, white button-down moved over to the kid. Looking down at him, Sabian grabbed the kid by the collar. “Shut your mouth now,” he hissed. “If you don’t keep quiet and they come back here, I swear I’ll kill you myself.”

Nodding wildly, his shaky breaths were the only sound besides the van engine. “Oh man, their gonna fucking kill us, and there’s nothing we can do about it.” There was good reason to be afraid, and Sabian realized the tears flowing from the kid’s cheeks were sincere. After all, they had no weapons, and they were heading to see a ruthless killer.

The one thing on their side was knowledge. Sabian knew his victim well. Malton liked to hurt people, and he would never come right out and shoot a man; just wasn’t his style. That meant there was going to be another opportunity before the reaper called. Sabian Wolfe never wasted opportunities.

“Why were those guys laying a beating on you?”

The kid’s body was shaking with stifled sobs. His hands came up to his face to smear the tears away. “Man it’s a long story. Don’t mean shit now, though.”

Strong hands shook the young man, and a mysterious voice asked calmly. “We don’t have time for this. Just tell me.”

“Malton has a collection racket on North Aurora. You pay or he busts up your shop.” The kid wiped his nose with his index finger, dragging a line of blood across his cheek. “He sent me into this fortune teller’s shop; Madame Freeta or some shit; looked like a whore to me. She wudn’t paying like all the others, and the bitch even tried to get the cops involved.”

“Anyway, Malton sends me over to scare her a little. He also tells me he wants me to look for this little statue of a silver dragon with purple gemstone eyes. I bust in her place one night, slap her around a little to let her know this ain’t no game. Either she pays or I’m coming back, and the next house call won’t be so friendly.”

The van made a left turn.
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