Jefe saw The Elevator start its journey, and lifted his voice with it.
“You bastard, Sammy. You fucking, cheating bastard. I will destroy every last little thing you did here. Everything. Do you hear me? The drugs are coming back, Sammy. I’ll put them in your fucking schools. You’ll look down at HELL, you bas-”
His words faltered as Sam walked out from behind The Elevator and crossed the plaza towards him, checking the bullets in his revolver. But this wasn’t the Sam who walked to The Elevator some 30 seconds ago. This Sam walked with a purpose, with a confidence not seen before.
He stood next to Jefe, but kept his eyes on the horizon. “I always knew you were too weak and too stupid to see this work though.” Sam looked at his watch. “In about 2 minutes, give or take, a whole lot of things are going to change around here. When they do, we need to work out what your position is, Jefe.”
Sam walked to his guest, crouched down and took hold his chin and turning his face up. Sam stared at him. “I was going to kill you. But I think you should see this first.”
He stood again. “Ok boys. Let’s pull them back a bit. Just to be on the safe side.”
Eddie and Allan shimmered into view again and man-handled the others back. After a while, Sam looked back in time to see The Elevator disappear into the smog cloud.
He motioned them all to stop.
“You know what happens when you mistreat an animal enough?” He was staring at his guest.
“Do you?”
There was a flash in the cloud, closely followed by the sound of an explosion. The smog briefly cleared around the lift shaft as a shockwave reverberated out. Within the shaft there was a whirring, whining sound. The Elevator was descending now, smoking and flaming, clattering down in freefall, buckling the shaft as it fell, destroying any chance of repair, before crashing to the bottom, wrecking the plaza.
“They bite.”
Finally Sam’s guest spoke. “You stupid bastard. You have no idea what you’ve done.” He started laughing “Oh yes, animals bite. And you know what we do to them when we do? We have them destroyed and start on a new one.”
“I can’t wait to meet your vet,” Sam raised his gun and pointed it at the bleeding outsider.
He held it there for what felt like an eternity before pulling the trigger and putting the man from Up Top out of his misery.
“Gentlemen. Tonight we put all our men on full alert. If that guy got down here without anyone noticing, others can, too. Though, I suspect our little gift will give them pause. Oh – and we all need new places to stay.” Sam shook his head. “Jefe. You are such a disappointment. You could have fucked it all up. And for what? You’ve have sold everyone out at the chance of getting up there – even after that bullshit pep talk on the roof.” Sam reached into his jacket, pulling out an envelope.
He threw it at Jefe’s feet.
“That will get you out of The Tow, across The Wilds to… any-the-fuck-where else. I don’t care.” He sighed. “You have a choice. Stay, step down, do as I say. Or get out and don’t come back.”
Sam walked away. “Eddie, Allan, we need a car.”
Allan nodded, and ran ahead.
“What about Jefe’s men?” Eddie asked.
Sam stopped, hearing the credit music in his head already. He smiled his best smile. “You know the rules. The help gets murdered, the boss gets beaten.” He paused for effect. “Gentlemen. Put your guns down and work for me. We don’t have to spill any blood.”
Allan pulled up. “Your ride, mate.”
“You know, Eddie?” Sam said, jumping in the back. “This is the modern way.”
