Jacob grinned at the woman's remark, "And here I thought you might have missed me."<br/>The woman's face softened as she returned his grin and hugged his neck. "I do miss you Jake but I am probably the only one. You know the old man died a few years back." Mac's face saddened when she spoke of her father, Henry McCullen. Culley had took him in when he was living on the streets and gave him his first real job and his first real roof over his head.<br/>"Sorry to hear that Mac, you know I liked the old man, I had a lot of respect for him. He was a hard ass old fucker and knotted my head a few times when I was fucking up but he was always fair. He made sure you knew why you was getting the ass whipping so you would learn something from it."<br/>"He liked you too Jake and that makes telling you you have to go that much harder. You can't be here when Joey shows up. Joey's running the neighborhood now and he won't like seeing you around. Him and his crew run a protection racket with all the business owners down here and sells shitty heroin and whores to make up the difference. The cops don't do anything, they don't give a shit about a slum and Joey is paying them anyway."<br/>"You mean that pussy Joey Barcconi has everybody hiding scared? This used to be a pretty tough place around here, I would have never guessed they would have let somebody like Joey push them around. Mac, you know Culley would have never let a bitch like Joey Barcconi have him hiding scared, he must be turning in his grave."<br/>"Its not what you think Jake, he is supposedly connected now and he still hates you for stabbing him with that ice pick. You embarrassed him in front of everybody and he'll kill you you if he finds you here or anywhere around here."<br/>Jacob had to actually laugh aloud when he recalled stabbing Joey in the ass with the ice pick. "Well, in all fairness I did tell him I would shove it in his ass if he came at me with that ice pick. You gotta admit, that was funny as hell. Everybody that came in had to hear that story from Culley, more than once a night." He didn't usually work for free but he hated to see Mac in this situation, especially with a pussy like Joey Barcconi. He had been getting a lot of free time at the Bordello, he could probably find a little time to handle Joey and his crew. "Listen Mac, you don't worry about Joey, I'll take care of him for you for old times sake. Give me a few days and he or his crew won't be a problem to nobody. I just can't be drawing any attention to myself or my present employer won't like that much and I kinda like my job. Its dark now, I'm gonna ease out the back and don't worry about nothing, you'll be seeing more of me real soon. Here is my number in case you need it. Its good to see you again Mac."<br/>Jacob gave her a hug and kissed her forehead then slid out the back door into the darkened alley. He took off his shirt and once again sprouted his leathery wings and rose into the night skies. He needed to get back to the Bordello and be ready for whatever may come up tonight. The trip was over quickly since he flew all the way in the darkness and he went straight to his room via the balcony. He would get another shower and dress for tonight, whatever that may bring.