Dirty Deeds by Armand Rosamilia Page A

both let go of my arms at once and I shrugged like I’d tossed them off. I needed to act like I was in charge of the situation even though it was probably obvious to everyone on the sidewalk with me I wasn’t.
    Agent Reggie Keane, flanked by two of his own thugs, these wearing the FBI chic black suits and sunglasses, walked up with a grin and a flashing badge.
    “Hey, James Gaffney, right? Funny running into you here. Mind if we have a word?” Reggie asked, looking at the two goons on either side of me instead of asking me. I thought it was rude but I wasn’t going to tell him right now.
    I looked at the two next to me with a smile, slowly moving my head from one to the other. “Actually, I was just going to hang out with these two gentlemen. I’m not sure if we could reschedule?”
    The two goons slowly backed away, looking at Keane. Again. . . no one cared I was standing here, too. They took a wide turn and headed down the sidewalk without looking back or offering a subtle threat in my direction.
    They really didn’t have to. When Chenzo found out I was intercepted by the Feds en route to see him I was going to really be a dead man. For some reason a guy like Chenzo always looked at things from the worst-case scenario. I was obviously working with the FBI. Keane had painted a target on my back.
    “You realize this isn’t a good time for me,” I said and tried to walk around Keane. His two boys weren’t letting me get very far, blocking my path.
    “James Gaffney, I am placing you under arrest,” Keane said rather loudly.
    “On what charges?”
    “I don’t know. I’ll make them up as we go along,” he said quietly and spun me around. As he locked the handcuffs on my wrists he casually leaned close to my ear. “Chenzo and his men are a few cars back. They’re going to kill you. They know about his son, recently deceased. You’ve added a complication for Chenzo. He wants to simplify it with a burial. I’d shut up and keep your head down. He might even have the balls to shoot you in broad daylight in my custody.”
    Great. Out of the frying pan and into the fire for me.
    I let the FBI lead me down the sidewalk but I kept my head up. Not out of pride but because if I was shot I wanted to see it coming and know who it was so I could hopefully haunt them as a ghost. Now I hoped ghosts were real.
    The goons got into a sedan in the backseat and the car pulled away from the curb, followed by the one behind and in front.
    As the last car drove off slowly the back window came down and there sat Chenzo, and he didn’t look happy to see me for some reason.
    I winked at the Family boss.
    The car drove away and I started to shake.
    “He’s going to kill me. Kill me dead,” I said to Keane. “You signed my death notice.”
    “I saved your life,” Keane said.
    We got to the last car on the block they’d gotten out of and it looked familiar.
    My driver, the old guy who’d abandoned me when trouble showed up, was holding the door open for us. How thoughtful.
    “You’re fired,” I said to the driver.
    He smiled and nodded at Keane, who motioned for me to get into the backseat.
    I was in the middle between the two FBI agents and Keane went to the front passenger seat, turning around and smiling.
    “I’m not as dumb as I look, am I?” Keane said.
    “Thankfully. Have you looked in the mirror lately?” I held up the handcuffs. “Are these really necessary? Something isn’t kosher about this. Where are the FBI-issue cars? Why is the driver working with you clowns?”
    “All will be revealed,” Keane said. He glanced at the man on my left and the agent took out a key and uncuffed me. I rubbed my wrists even though they didn’t hurt. It seemed like the proper thing to do.
    “How long has the FBI been infiltrating car services? Or do you just own the driver?” I asked. When the driver glanced back at me I wanted to lunge up and knock his head off. “In case you didn’t hear me the first time: you’re