Eric surveyed the restaurant the moment he walked in. One of the perks of being in his kind of business was that you could spot things that doesn't seem right in a place even if it was your first time of being there.
Everything looked fine to him so he took a seat close to the back entrance. It enabled him to see who was coming in or going out of the restaurant. It would also make his escape through the back door easier if anything should go south.
“A cup of coffee would be nice” Eric said to the waitress who had walked up to him after he sat down. “I'm waiting for a friend” Eric explained to the waitress who had an expression on her face when he requested for just coffee.
Eric watched the waitress walk away as he took a glance at his wristwatch. This was the third time he was doing it since he walked in. It was unusual for Hector to be late, especially since he was the one who had requested they meet at the restaurant. Unlike what Eric told the waitress, he wasn't waiting for a friend. Hector was just a guy he had done some shady deals with and he couldn't wait to end the whole thing.
Hector had approached Eric and told him about his plan of robbing one of the warehouses that belonged to Vladimir Ivan, a well known Russian mob boss. Eric had refused at first but after listening to Hector clever plan, he felt they could pull it off and they did. After the heist, the plan had been for Hector to stack the cash somewhere for a few days then him and Eric would meet later at an undisclosed location for them to split the money. That was five days ago.
Hector had later called Eric earlier that morning and asked him to meet him at the restaurant, the same restaurant Eric was sitting.
“Can I get another coffee, this time I want it very hot”. Eric said to the waitress after he called her to his table. He had a smile on his face as she brought the coffee to his table.
“Your friend is still not here?”
“No, it doesn't look like he's coming.” Eric said to the waitress.
“Okay. Well we could interest you with some of our delicious delicacies if...”
Eric grabbed her hand. “When is your shift ending?” Eric interrupted the waitress before slowly diverting his gaze from her to a man who was reading a newspaper three tables away from him. Eric was sure the man had been on that same page ever since he walked into the restaurant.
“What? I'm sorry but.. ”
“You should leave, now. And call the police the moment you get outside” Eric cut her short again before releasing her hand. He watched as the lady walked out through the back door before slowly rising from his seat.
As he stood up, he watched the newspaper man with the side of his eyes. The man dropped the paper on the table and reached for something under his table but Eric was faster. He grabbed the cup of hot coffee and emptied it on the man's face, and at the same time he dived to the floor, taking cover and slightly missing getting hit by a bullet. The newspaper man had not been alone.
He immediately brought out his Beretta M9 which had 15 round of magazines in it. It was more than enough to take care of the two guys over there but it wouldn't be enough for the reinforcement that he knew would be on their way.. So Eric took in a deep breath before letting all hell loose. Seven years of being in the military and three years of being a private contractor sure has a way of making your aim accurate. Four shots was all it took for him to send them to the great beyond.
The whole place was empty now and Eric could hear the siren getting closer. He needed to get out of here before the cops got to him but just as he was about walking out, he saw a tattoo on one of the men's left arm and froze. Vladimir Ivan was known to mark his men with this same tattoo.
This were not just Hector's thugs like he thought, this was Vladimir's men. That meant only one thing, Hector had set him up but worse was that he had somehow done it with Vladimir's boys.
Hector was working with Vladimir.
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