Chapter 6: I Can Give You What You Want

"Really?" I said looking up at the ten-story building.

"What were you expecting?" Elis asked. Morgan continued futzing with his bandages and arm sling.

"Not an office building," I said. Diana, Alexx, and April stepped out of the SUV.

"What is he going to do?" Alexx asked Diana. I could feel their eyes on my back.

"You could ask me," I said loudly. "I'm standing right here."

"Did you think they met in a dungy back alley club?" I really hated Elis' are-you-an-idiot voice.

"Were you expecting a building in the middle of the business district?" I folded my arms and stared at him. "I mean, they were cliche enough to use a warehouse in a junkyard to hold you."

"What are we doing here?" Elis asked. Morgan gave me the thumbs up from behind him--she hated the tone of voice too.

"Someone owed me a favor," I shrugged. "I asked him to arrange a meeting with his boss and a few others."

"What did you do for him?" Diana asked stepping up beside me. "You can't be doing people favors if we're going to work together."

I turned towards her.

"I would appreciate it if you told me before you did someone a favor," she said, running her hand down my arm slowly.

"I'm going to be sick!" April snorted.

Elis turned around, "If you haven't made a decision, shut up, April!"

"Who the fuck do you think you are?" April put her nose an inch from Elis' face.

"Federal agents like to say those words, like nobody is anybody unless they have a government badge," I said.

"I got kidnapped and beat up by Russian mobsters," Elis said to April. "You're not scary. To be honest, compared to Tavi, they weren't that bad, and oh, look--you know what he'll do if I'm in danger. Back the fuck off or I'll make the decision. To be fair I have to tell you, I'm liking the Chinese chick thing."

"Japanese." I said. "Is it misogynistic?"

"You're being specific," he replied. "Government people need specific."

April didn't want to back down but Diana and Alexx's lack of support gave her no choice. She had not made a decision and needed to see it through.

Elis looked at Alexx.

"I've made up my mind," she said.

"I like you assertive," Morgan told Elis.

"I'm fucking pissed!" Elis looked at me. "So what are you going to do?"

"Do you think I've got the angle to jump through the window on the top floor from here?" I asked him.

"You've already thought about it." Elis pointed out. "Plus the window could be seriously reinforced, you need to adjust for it in case it is, but if it's not, you could go through the building."

"You can fly?" April asked.

"Of course not," I said. "I am a good jumper."

"How good?"

I walked through the building front doors and up to the reception area.

"Hello, sir," the girl behind the desk said.

"You're pretty," I told her.

"Focus!" Elis whispered. "Two goons on the left."

Somebody must have warned the guards about trouble. They came in with tonfas on their arms. One of them went for a forearm to my head; I punched the tonfa hard enough to break it and his arm. The other guy punched me in the face with the tip of his weapon. I grabbed the tonfa, pulling it out of his grip. Tonfa versus his head, the head won. Morgan called it a draw since both broke.

"You should go home," Diana told the receptionist after the pretty girl finished puking and directed me to the elevators.

"Wait," Diana called to us.

I pressed the button for the elevator.

"We should give him time," Diana told the others.

"Why?" Alexx said. "I want to see."

"A group of mobsters having an emergency meeting and somebody crashes their party," Diana said. "Elis is going to be safe since Tavi has gone to so much trouble to get him back. Morgan and I are..."

"Fucking Tavi," Morgan said. "Although since you've only fucked him once, it's not accurate to say you're fucking him, more like you've fucked him so he's going to give you the benefit of the doubt on the chances of ripping some panties of your body in the future. Basically ladies, you haven't given him a reason to step in front of a bullet for you."

The elevators opened; I stepped inside and pressed the button for the top floor.

"But we're your team," Alexx said to me. "Isn't that the plan?"

"There's no I in team," Elis said with a laugh.

"Hello, everyone." I walked into the conference room. "Can I ask you guys a question?"

"What are you doing here?" the guy at the head of the table asked very insistently.

I ignored him and the three large men walking towards me. Pointing at one of the windows I asked, "Is that shatterproof?"

The question made the three men approaching me unsure. They turned to look at the head of the table.

"Who are you?" the head asked. The boss who set up the meeting stood and backed into a corner. The head looked over at him. "Is this him?"

"Is that window shatterproof?" I asked one of the three men.

"Yes," he replied. The guy had not been hired for brains as the situation strained his capacity for thought to the maximum.

"Cool!" I said, walking towards him. "I always wanted to know what would happen if I did this..."

He reached out for me. I grabbed him by the upper arms and squeezed. Some things are universal, for instance big men screaming like little girls when pain is applied in the proper fashion. I torqued my body to right and threw him at the window.