The decoy

Chapt 28

Chapter Twenty Eight

            Sebastian squinted his eyes.

            He promised himself he would stop at the mall and pick up a cheap pair of sunglasses when he went out for dinner later that evening.  He climbed out of his truck and took three steps toward Pezzo's office when he heard someone behind him.

He didn't have a chance. 

            The guy stepped forward and swung a bat hard into Sebastian's back and the force of the blow knocked Sebastian forward and into the office door. His face slapped against the door and he fell to his knees gasping for air.

            The man placed a Browning semi automatic 9 mm pistol at his right ear and then  helped Sebastian to his feet and hurried him over to a red BMW seven series where Trevor the same guy who Sebastian had beaten up a week ago at the hotel and left alive in the desert, stepped out.

            The two men pushed Sebastian into the backseat of the car. Sebastian realized that once again he sat with a gun pointed at him while Trevor taxied him out of town.

            He was still stunned by the force of the blow. His breath steadied a little but his back ached so much that he couldn't lean back in the car seat.

The guy who had hit him was about 30 years old. He was tall and slim and wore his dark hair in a very short buzz cut. He sat in the front seat with Trevor grinning and pointing the gun at Sebastian from the front. 

Sebastian sat in the back with Peter Rappelo.

Rappelo was Cory Pezzo's uncle and like Pezzo, he had the same tidy sense of style. But Rappelo was a much bigger, grey haired version of his nephew. Sitting in the car seat, Sebastian took him to stand somewhere close to six foot four. He was imposing.

He looked like a successful businessman and he had the air of a man who was used to telling others what to do. He appeared to be about seventy years old but Sebastian knew that even at this age he was still a man that could hold his own if challenged.

"What kind of a fucking town is this?" He said.

His voice was quiet and had a raspy quality. He had smoked for years, only giving it up recently.

Sebastian didn't bother to respond to Rappelo's question.

"My nephew comes here to buy a business, to make a deal with someone and look at the shit.

Now the kid is dead. Cory didn't deserve this. He screwed up but he didn't deserve this. What am I supposed to tell my sister, his mother?"

            Sebastian thought about what Corinne had said about Rappelo and he considered asking what he was screaming at his nephew about the previous night. He wondered if it was the presence of Rappelo that had led Cory to kill himself but he still said nothing.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Rappelo asked. "What's your involvement with Cory? What's this crap about you having a witness to Cory killing that asshole Vail?

Cory never killed nobody. He wasn't that kinda kid. He was clean. Cory was like an accountant. He stayed away from trouble. Just helped the family and looked after the money. That's all. What's this bullshit you're spreading about having a witness to murder?"

Rappelo didn't wait for an answer. He wasn't really interested in hearing from Sebastian. This was a soliloquy. He was telling Sebastian what he thought.

"You're supposed to be FBI. I got associates they say you aren't nothing. They tell me if we kill you and drop you in the desert no one gives a fuck."