Dirty Work (Rapid Reads) Read Online Free PDF

was dotted with concrete statues of busty nude women, forest creatures and religious icons. Gulliver doubted Vespucci could be any more tasteless if he tried.
    Ahmed parked around the corner. They didn’t want to draw attention to themselves. But good luck with that. A well-muscled black man and a white dwarf rolling up to a front gate in a Cadillac Escalade get noticed. Gulliver walked around the corner. He walked right up to Joey’s wrought-iron gate and pressed the buzzer on the intercom. He waved at the camera perched on one of the stone gateposts.
    “Go away, kid. We ain’t buying no candy for your team,” a gravelly voice ordered.
    “Listen, asshole, I’m not a kid. The name’s Dowd, and I’m here to see Mr. Vespucci.”
    There was a burst of laughter. Then, “Mr. Vespucci don’t wanna see you. He don’t like circus freaks. They make him all hinky. Now get the fuck outta here before I come out there and squish ya.”
    “Tell Mr. Vespucci I’m here about Nina Morton. He can call her to check. I’ll wait.”
    But he didn’t have to wait. There was a buzz. The gate clicked open. It swung back. Gulliver stepped through. The gate snapped shut behind him. He waddled up the long walkway to the house. A barrel-chested man with no neck and a round face stepped out onto the porch. Gulliver could see the holster bulge in the guy’s ill-fitting but expensive suit jacket. Wearing a gun doesn’t make a guy tough. The bulge just made it easier to take his weapon away from him. Gulliver was carrying a 9 mm SIG Sauer, but no one would know it to look at him. He expected to get patted down. It didn’t happen. Mr. No Neck just let him walk by.
    “Walk straight ahead into the study,” No Neck ordered.
    Gulliver couldn’t resist asking, “What’s Mr. Vespucci studying in there?”
    “Shut up, bug, and walk.”
    Sitting behind a large, fancy desk was Joey Vespucci. Gulliver knew he would have to gain Joey’s respect to get his attention. That wasn’t always easy to do. Some people were hard to convince. With them, it could take a few meetings. Gulliver didn’t have the luxury of time. Good thing Mr. No Neck was about to let Gulliver prove himself.
    “You should be more careful about who you let guard your life,” Gulliver said to Joey before the mob boss could speak. “This clown here will get you killed someday.”
    No Neck laughed. “Look who’s calling who a clown.”
    That was Gulliver’s cue. He dropped to his knee. He reached under his jacket and spun. Before either Vespucci or his goon could react, Gulliver was pointing his 9 mm at Joey’s head.
    “What the fuck!” Mr. No Neck shouted, loudly enough to draw attention.
    They heard pounding footsteps down the hallway. Gulliver could have blown Joey’s head off and shot No Neck in the liver. He could have been ready to wipe out anyone coming through the study door. Instead, Gulliver dropped the clip out of the gun’s handle. He ejected the bullet in the chamber and set the 9 mm on Joey’s desk. He held his hands over his head. But he knew this wasn’t over. These weren’t the type of men to laugh off this kind of thing.
    No Neck charged. Gulliver waited until the big man was almost on him. Then he stepped to his left and raised his right leg. He threw a chopping kick at the goon’s right knee. No Neck crumpled to the carpeting. He howled in pain. Gulliver clamped his hand around the goon’s right thumb and locked it. He had been amazed at this when he learned the technique. Control your enemy’s thumb and you control your enemy , his karate teacher had said . For now Gulliver only wanted to impress his enemy’s boss. He twisted No Neck’s arm behind him. He took No Neck’s gun and held his knife to his throat.
    Gulliver had proved his point. He dropped the knife, let go of the goon and again raised his arms.
    Vespucci watched it all with a semi- amused scowl on his face.
    “Like I said, Mr. Vespucci, you ought to be more careful.”
    “Get