The two giants in Irwin’s study stared at the geometric pattern on the rug. They didn’t want to meet his eye. He glared at them from behind the glass and steel desk. He’d been asleep when they’d called to tell him they’d killed Warner by mistake and had failed to retrieve his files.
Now, he was wide awake and irritated. His mind was a wonderful machine, but it needed to be babied, like a classic car or an orchid or some shit. He needed ten hours of sleep to perform at peak efficiency. He could not afford a sleep deficit. Not this week.
“I hired you to take care of problems, not cause them,” he said.
The older one nodded his agreement. Neither spoke. The dead kid had a skull like an overripe melon. They hadn’t even hit him that hard, but they’d learned in their line of work not to make excuses with their clients. Very bad men had little patience for explanations. This angry nerd was not their usual client, but they figured the safest course was to treat him like any other criminal and stay quiet.
Irwin sighed and dialed his partner’s number, still glaring at the men in front of him, who continued to focus on the rug.
“It’s me,” he said. “My goons got overzealous and killed the guy without getting the files out of him. A woman lawyer called the main number today and spoke to him. She was from some firm in Pittsburgh, but my useless receptionist can’t remember her name or the name of the firm.”
“It’s probably the associate, McCandless. Don’t worry,” his partner reassured him, “the company’s lead outside lawyer died in a tragic accident tonight. They’ll be scrambling to deal with that for the rest of the week.”
Irwin didn’t want the power balance to shift, and it would if he didn’t clean up his own mess. “Tragic. Even so, I am going to send these morons to Pittsburgh to tie up loose ends. McCandless? What’s her first name?”
“Sasha. See if they can get something out of her before they kill her, why don’t you?”
Irwin gritted his teeth. “Right.”
He clicked off the phone.
“Okay, assholes” he said. “Redemption time. You’re going to Pittsburgh. Find a chick lawyer named Sasha McCandless. Listen carefully now. Find out what she knows. If she has files, get them from her. Got it? Don’t kill her and then tell me you’re sorry you didn’t get the files. Do you think you can handle that, you mental midgets?”
The younger guy glanced sidelong at his partner, looking for a signal that he could start pummeling Irwin.
But the older guy straightened up and said, “Yes. We’ve got it. You know there’s an extra fee for travel, right?”
Irwin cocked his head, started to object, and then decided it wasn’t worth it. “Whatever. Fine. Just don’t screw it up this time. Now get out. I have to get some sleep.”