“Last person Miroslav had a talk with cried for his mother while he begged for death, and he was one of us. Not some pussy writer.”

“Either way, let’s go get him,” Andrej said as he parked in the back of an alley that looked like a great place to buy crack or get stabbed.

“You sure you want to park here?” Rod asked. “This is a nice car.”

“Even the lowlifes and junkies here know better than to mess with my car.”

“How will they know it’s your car? Or who you are, for that matter?”

“They’ll know someone who parks a car this nice in a place like this is either very stupid or very dangerous. I don’t look stupid.”

“You sure?”

“Do I need to remind you that we wouldn’t be here at all if it wasn’t for your brother?”

“No, you don’t. It was an accident, anyway. Besides, just because I look like him, doesn’t mean I am him.”

A figure darted out of the shadows and ran across the alley.

“See?” Andrej said. “He’s running away. He knows.”

“Whatever. Let’s get this done,” Rod said as he checked to make sure the magazine for his Glock was fully loaded. He slapped it back in and chambered a round.

“You think that will be necessary?”

“Better safe than sorry.”

They exited the car and went around the corner.

The homeless-looking guy they’d seen run out of the alley was knocking on a door. They didn’t think much about it until the door opened and the person they were looking for handed the homeless guy something. It looked like an envelope; Andrej guessed it had some cash in it. He was wondering what the target was paying some hobo for when the homeless guy took off running one way while the target burst through the door holding a pistol.

The target pulled the trigger first as the two men moved from the sidewalk to take cover in between the cars parked in front of the rooms.

The target was moving as he fired and, judging from where his shots hit, he might not have hit either of them even if they were still standing on the sidewalk.

The target ran into the lot, heading for his own car.

Rod aimed and fired twice.

“What are you doing?” Andrej said as the target fell “Miroslav wanted him alive.”

“I shot him in the leg. He’ll survive.”

They moved to the fallen man. It became clear Rod had not hit him in the leg.

“You shot him in the kidneys!” Andrej exclaimed as he leaned down and took away the man’s gun.

“This gun hits higher than my usual pistol. He could survive that.”

“Not without medical attention. Do you want to explain how you shot him at the hospital? I’m sure they’ll understand you meant to shoot him in the leg, but this pistol is sighted higher than the one you have at home.”

Rod didn’t have anything to say to that.

Andrej shook his head. “Hurry back there and take anything you can find out of his room. I’ll check his pockets.”

“Do you think he’ll have it on him?”

“Just hurry, someone has probably already called the cops.”

Rod did as his brother said. There wasn’t much to take—a laptop, a gym bag, and a toothbrush. He scooped it all up, even the toothbrush, and met his brother at the car.

“He must have paid off the bum to watch for us,” Andrej said as he got behind the wheel.

“Perhaps he wasn’t as dumb as we thought.”

“Dumb enough to end up dead in the parking lot of a scumbag motel.”

“You’re right, everybody dies, but it takes a special kind of idiot to die in a place like this.”