Geek Mafia: Mile Zero | Page 5

Pain in my wrinkled old ass, I tell you. But I'm back."
"That's great, man. Actually I'm glad I ran into both of you here. It means I don't have to track down Cuban Eddie." Bernie was a fun-loving old man who loved, loved, loved strip clubs. He financed this expensive habit by selling air purifiers on eBay and growing high quality dope in his house, most of which he sold to strippers and bartenders. Cuban Eddie was a 70-year-old coffee shop owner who was his main competition among the local bar and restaurant workers.
"Pffft, that old bastard? You are lucky I came back when I did. What do you need, sport?"
"We got The Party going tonight," said Paul.
"The party's always going when I'm around," interjected Bernie.
"Yeah, of course; that's the point, right? But it's rotated to the Crawford place tonight. And since you're here, you can make the delivery yourself, and I don't have to get someone to run the shit over from The Cuban."
Bernie raised his drink in salute to Paul, "Your wish is my command. How's about three hours?"
"Whenever's good for you, Bernie. Just check in with Sandee when you get there." That was some good news anyway. Things always went well when Bernie was in the house.
Bernie blew Sandee a kiss. "Will do. Mind if I join you two for a drink? I wanna tell y'all about this wild club I went to while I was up in Miami..."
Just then Paul's pocket started singing The Clash's, "I Fought the Law."
"Hold on a sec," Paul said. He scooped the phone out and saw "KW Tele-market" on the caller ID. He sighed as he answered, "Hey, Bee, what's up?"
"It's Chloe," said Bee, her voice tight and nervous. "She needs you."
Chapter 02
THE classic Key West-style house just off Fleming looked much like the rest of the residences on the block - two-story wooden frame walls and peaked roofs with shallow porches nearly butting up against the sidewalk. Chloe's rusting blue Vespa was tucked away beside the house, in the narrow space separating it from the neighbors. To anyone walking by outside, everything looked quiet and peaceful.
Inside, Chloe was pissed. Everything had been going great and then those stupid fuckers had decided to show up a week early, forcing her to scramble to pack a week's work into a single day. She wore a black bandana wrapped around her head, covering her buzz cut pink hair. Numerous smudges of dirt on her cheeks and the tip of her nose testified to the heavy-duty cleaning she'd been doing for the past five hours. She wore loose fitting shorts and a tight-fitting tank top that had once been white. In her bare feet she pushed a mop across the hardwood floors, grumbling to herself.
She heard the door open and looked up to see Paul standing in the doorway. Even though it wasn't his fault, she glared at him as he came in. As much as Chloe liked a clean house, she hated housework, and this wasn't even her house. This particular space was sparsely decorated with just a few worn pieces of furniture and some bad condo art on the walls. After six months of being sealed up tight with the air conditioner off, it smelled of dust and mildew and needed a good airing out.
"What are you doing?" asked Paul, closing the door behind him.
"Mopping," she said, her voice flat.
"Right. But why are you mopping here? Whose house is this anyway?"
"It's one we just added to the roster last week. The cleaning service hasn't had a chance to get in here yet."
"I see that," said Paul. "So why're you cleaning it tonight?"
"We're cleaning it tonight because the Guidarizzi's decided to make a surprise visit to their winter home in Key West. They're coming in tomorrow afternoon. Every other decent place is filled up, so we have to use this one instead."
"Oh fuck. Is there another mop?"
"There's another bucket and a scrub brush in the kitchen if you want to get started in there."
"Sounds like a plan," he said, taking careful steps as he crossed the freshly mopped floor on his way back to the kitchen. She was glad he'd showed up when he did - he could clean the kitchen and deal with whatever horrors might be hiding in the fridge.
"Lucky thing we got this place when we did, then," he called out to Chloe.
"Yeah," she yelled back. "It's a little smaller than the Guidarizzi place, so it might be a little cramped. I'm not sure how many people he's bringing with him."
"I thought he said three or four."
"I said I thought it'd be three or four. He didn't say at all."
She finished the living room floor and went into the kitchen. Paul had filled a bucket with hot water and soap