Family feud

Stan asked their limo driver to raise the partition so they could speak in private. Once isolated, Stan moved to sit across from Pauley, and just stared at her. The case carrying her new sniper rifle on the seat beside him.

He watched her, a feline smile teasing at the corners of her mouth. She sat back in the limo seat, arms open, her hands resting lightly on the leather upholstery, her long legs crossed. Her nervousness only evident in the slight tremble of her raised foot.

His lips still tingled where she kissed him. Other parts tingled where he wanted her to kiss him. Leaning across toward her, Stan rested his elbows on his knees. Reaching out, he grabbed the toe of her shoe to stop its bouncing.

“We need to talk about that smokin’ hot welcome sometime very soon, but for now, let’s focus on this Brazilian job,” Stan didn’t let go of her shoe, instead slipped it off and took her foot in both hands. Rubbing the tension out of her arch, Pauley couldn’t control her low throaty moan. Sitting up, she pulled her foot from his grasp and put her shoe back on, trying to reclaim her composure.

“Tell me what you know about Azevedo,” Stan relaxed into his seat, accepting Pauley’s effort to distance herself from their budding amor louco.

During their ride to Vivian’s. Pauley laid out all she knew about the Sampas leader and his crew. She brought in details about Danela, her brother Artur and, her Sampas boyfriend Marco.

Stan listened patiently, nodding and asking a few questions here and there. He shared what his sources dug up, including an interesting fissure in Azevedo’s empire. There were whispers of discontent among his bosses, jealousy and rivalry, dividing the crews into several broken factions.

“Take out a few of these key players, and the whole organization will fall like dominos.” Stan had poured each of them a tumbler of Brazilian Brandy from the limo’s drink cabinet. “This Marco, have you made contact with him yet?” He handed her a glass of amber liquor.

“That’s what Vivian and Danela were trying to do when I left to meet you,” Pauley accepted the drink, letting the fiery liquid slowly warm her throat. “What are you thinking?”

“We poke a stick into those cracks in Azevedo’s facade,” Stan downed his drink in one gulp. “It shouldn’t be too difficult to pit the crew bosses against each other if my info is good. Convince them all that their fears are true, then we start picking off a few of them, making it look like Azevedo is ordering the hits, cleaning out the dead wood, so to speak.”

“That’s where Marco comes in,” Pauley swirled her glass, taking another small sip. “He can point out which bosses would be our best targets, tell us how Azevedo eliminates ‘problems’,”

Admiring Pauley’s business acumen, Stan nodded his approval. “Will this guy cooperate? Give you reliable reconnaissance?”

“Danela swears he wants to get out of the business, and is willing to help us, if we help them,” Pauley finished her drink. “We also have to do something about her brother, Artur.”

“He’s the one in jail, right?” Stan took Pauley’s empty glass. “I don’t think that will be a problem. A hefty bribe should solve that.”

Their car turned into Vivian’s driveway, pulling around to the front of the house, ending their conversation.

“It will be best if you stay here with me and Vivian.” Pauley tried to sound nonchalant.

“She won’t mind us sharing a room, will she?” Stan bent forward, turning his head just before their lips met when the driver opened their door. “We can leave this for later, let’s go talk with Vivian and her girl Danela.”

*Follow all the adventures of Pauley and Vivian at Dead Money. The previous chapters of their recent Brazilian Job can be found there too. This week, first check out Lance’s chapter, “Megalomanic” at “My Blog Can Beat Up Your Blog.”