How about a little preview?
As I pondered this, the arguing and shouting continued. I felt my right eye begin to twitch, and I’d had about enough. **** it, I thought. It was time to assert my authority and lay all of my cards on the table. I put my glasses back on and gritted my teeth.
I stood so quickly that I sent my chair clattering behind me. With my left arm, I swept the mess of bottles, cans, and ashtrays off of the table, sending them crashing to the floor. With my right hand, I drew my SRK fighting knife from its sheath and slammed it into the table in front of me. Drawing back to my full height, I drew my Smith & Wesson 629 .44 Magnum revolver from the holster on my left hip, and let it hang in my hand, muzzle pointing towards the floor.
“EVERYBODY SHUT THE **** UP!” I screamed. You could’ve heard a pin drop as everyone stared at me wide-eyed. Only Hawk seemed unfazed.
“Listen mother****er, you can’t threaten…” Hudson began, standing up. He instantly fell silent when I leveled the big .44 at his chest. “Hey, just take it easy, Hopper,” he said in much calmer tones.
“Quiet,” I said. “Sit the **** down.” He did so, and I lowered my weapon. “Now all of you listen to me. You want to know why I’m in charge? Because I’m the only one that has access to Decker’s accounts, where our money is deposited. Anything happens to me, none of you get paid.”
“What?” Jeff asked. Corwin coughed loudly.
“That’s right,” I continued. “Decker gave me his account numbers months ago.”
“Why you? Why wouldn’t he give them to Hawk?”
“Because I’m who y’all would’ve assumed had ‘em,” Hawk said at last. “Decker always had a paranoid streak in ‘im. He changed the account numbers and told Hopper here the new ones. If anybody would’ve made a move on me, he’d’ve had a heads-up that some **** was goin’ down without risking the numbers bein’ compromised. He trusted Hopper.”
“Well **** me,” Hudson said.
“You guys can do whatever the **** you want,” Triana said. “I’ve had it. I’m ****in’ done.”
“You’re free to go,” I told her flatly. "You will of course forfeit your share of the money.”
“WHAT?” she gasped.
“You know the rules, Triana,” I said. “Any man…or woman…that bails before the contract is completed forfeits his share of the fee.”
“I…” She finally fell silent, and sat back down.
“We have one more mission to complete,” I continued. “Despite our casualties, we’ve completed every single one of our objectives. The client is happy. I have the complete mission dossier, and have looked it over. Our last target is one of Federov’s associates, a gun runner in French Guiana. We eliminate him and destroy his warehouses and we’ll effectively shut down his entire operation. After that’s accomplished, the client will pay us the entire fee.”
“What’s the fee?” Hudson asked.
“Fifteen million Euros,” I said steadily, causing eyes to grow wide. “Comes to about nineteen million, four hundred thousand dollars. Originally we were all to get equal shares, except Decker, who as SWITCHBLADE 6 got a double share. I’m not taking a double share, and Decker’s share of the money will be divided up equally between us. That comes to about three-point-two-three million dollars for each of us. So if anyone wants to bail, feel free. Me, I’m going to see this ****ing job through to the end, get my money, and go the hell home.
“Listen guys,” I said, my voice softening. “It’s been rough. Christ…we ****ed up bad on that last one. Client doesn’t care, but I do. Doesn’t change anything, though. We can either finish the job and get paid or we can walk away and we don’t get ****. So what’s the word?”
“I’m with the kid,” Hawk said, puffing on his cigar.
“I’m in,” Corwin managed from his bunk. “As much as I can be, I mean.”
“Me too,” Jeff said.
“Fine, I’m in…Boss,” Hudson said. We all looked at Triana.
“**** it, whatever, let’s just get it over with.”
So that’s how it was. I was twenty-one years old and the commander of one of the deadliest groups of mercenaries in the world. It was a far cry from the awkward high school kid I’d been just three years before. At that moment, I could hardly even remember what such a mundane existence was like.
