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know where to start. He could be anywhere in the city by now.”
    Vincent
takes in a slow steady breath and wills himself to stay calm. In a tone clotted
with irritation Vincent says, “Start in the area this took place, question
everyone, and go from there.”
    They
turn to leave and Bruno whispers to Pan, “We might never find that little
bastard.”
    “Don’t
fret,” Pan whispers confidently. “We’ll just get some more food somewhere and
then find some other miserable boy and kill him and bring his body back
to Vincent. He’ll never be the wiser.”
    “And
one more thing,” Vincent says, just before the two exit the room. “I want the
boy brought back alive. Under no circumstances is he to be killed. If he is as the
two of you say he is, then we can use him on our team.”
    Shoulders
slumped and sighing deflatedly , Pan and Bruno leave
the room.
    The
masked man stood silently and ever alert at Vincent’s side the entire time. He
is Vincent’s personal body guard and assassin. He is as loyal and fearless as
they come, will kill on command and will play no silly’s about it. Vincent says
to him, “Let everyone know that they will be expected to be in the conference
room tomorrow morning. It’s time we made plans to make my debut at The
Pinnacle. I’m sure James would like to know that his men are still alive and
not so well. Maybe I’ll put on a little show so he can see with his own eyes
what I am capable of. Perhaps that will give him the incentive to act
accordingly.”
    Vincent
lays the back of his head against the tall backrest of his king’s throne-chair;
a big, heavy chair covered in intricate carvings that reminded him of a king’s
throne when he first saw it, therefore it was fitting for himself.
    “Oh,
one more thing,” Vincent says. “Have Jacko send for Peaches-n-Cream. I’m a
little stressed, and those two really know how to suck the stress right out of
you.”

12
     
    “What
now?” Bruno says as the two descend the steps in the hotel’s stairwell.
    Pan
rolls his eyes. “What do you mean, ‘What now ?’ We find
that little shit and bring him back to Vincent. There’s no way around that.
We’ve gotta get a team of men to go with us, too.
I’ve got a feeling that he ain’t gonna come quietly either, no matter how convincing we try
to be that we’re not gonna hurt him.”
    “But
what if he tries to kill us? What are we supposed to do then?”
    “You
heard Vincent. Under no circumstances is the boy to be killed.”
    “Even if he tries to kill us ? We’re supposed to just stand there
and let him.”
    “Look,”
Pan says, stopping where he is on the steps and causing Bruno to stop as well.
“We are not to kill that kid. It’s forbidden, and when something is
forbidden, you don’t do it, because when you do something that is forbidden you
can count on it just as sure as you were born that you will suffer a
consequence. So if you don’t care about the consequence, by all means, kill the
kid. But it’s not gonna be
me who’ll hafta answer to Vincent about it. So how
about letting me do all the thinking for the both of
us and try to figure out how we’re gonna bring the
kid back without anybody else getting killed, eh.”
    “Okay
Pan. You know what’s best.”
    “You’re
damn right I know what’s best. And let me tell you something else, when we
bring him back and if Vincent decides he doesn’t need the kid after all, then
it’ll be me and you who’ll get rid of  him once
and for all.”
    Bruno’s
mangled face quirks into a gnarled smile as he says, “Yeah,” and then he winces
in pain.
    “Your face?”
    Bruno
nods his head, lightly touching the torn and punctured skin with the tips of
his fingers.
    “ Aiee , don’t touch it, your hands are filthy. You need to get yourself cleaned up. You
look like crap. I mean, now you do, but ay, when you’re all healed the scars
are gonna look tough.”
    “Really?”
    “Yeah, sure. Kinda wish
I had scars like that.”