With The Right Enemies (Uncle Dust Book 2)

With the Right Enemies

Vollmer was raised on ugly streets, where survival meant becoming harder, meaner, and faster than anyone standing in his way. Violence has always come easy to him—sometimes for money, sometimes because he enjoys it.

Now Vollmer has been hired to find Dust, a thief who stole the wrong money from the wrong people. Bringing back what was taken matters more than bringing Dust back alive. Anyone caught in the middle is expendable, even the people Vollmer cares about. He has killed people close to him before.

A brutal, bullet-drenched crime novel of betrayal, revenge, and old ghosts, With the Right Enemies is the second book in Rob Pierce’s Uncle Dust series and the follow-up to his acclaimed debut, Uncle Dust.

Read With the Right Enemies by Rob Pierce today.

Excerpt from the book

Vollmer stood in an alley, only thirteen but big for his age. He lived on the street, had to stay alive somehow, thought of jobs to pull. A short kid came running in, long dark hair flying, took the turn into the alley sharp and pressed his back against the wall. Vollmer was right next to him, figured cops or worse were coming, did the same.

There were sounds a street over, people running, no sirens. A couple minutes of that and they both exhaled, laughed at each other for doing the same thing.

“We laugh that loud,” Vollmer said, bent forward from laughter, “they best be gone.”

“They gone.” The kid smiled big. “I fucking hope.”

Both boys laughed again. They were boys and everything was a joke.

“Hey, Vollmer.” It was a couple years since they met in the alley, but Chilly was still the same kid with the long straight hair and a grin that didn’t always make sense. Happy way too much.

Vollmer knew who it was before he turned his head. He looked back and Chilly ran down the sidewalk to join him. It was evening and the sidewalk was crowded, but Chilly was skinny and agile, maneuvered through with minimal contact.

Vollmer grinned as Chilly caught up. “I woulda bumped a couple those motherfuckers outa my way.”

Chilly raised his eyebrows and his grin broadened like the thought never occurred to him. Vollmer figured not a lot of thoughts did, but he was good for a few laughs.

“I know a couple girls,” Chilly said. That was his idea of a greeting. Vollmer was okay with it. “Can you get us some blow?”

Soon as Chilly said the first line, Vollmer saw something like the second one coming. Chilly always had good news, if…

“I had blow,” Vollmer said, “I’d be with a girl already.”

“Yeah, well, I done the girl part for you. A gram and everyone’s happy.”

“A gram? How many fucking girls you get?”

“Two,” Chilly said. “Plus there’s two of us, that’s only a few lines each.”

“I’ll go half a gram,” Vollmer said. “I get my dick sucked, I don’t need no fucking coke.”

Chilly laughed like he’d already done a couple lines. “I dunno. Half a gram for three ain’t a lotta lines.”

“Get a sharper blade,” Vollmer said. “Cut that shit thin.”

Chilly was okay when there weren’t girls or drugs involved, the kid brother who wasn’t that bright. Vollmer liked him, but he wasn’t like him. They hung out, drank beer, smoked cigarettes and weed, told stories about stupid shit they saw on the street. It was a relief to talk to someone who lived casual like that, but Vollmer also felt he had to protect the kid, like Chilly didn’t see things the way Vollmer saw them. Like Vollmer saw the world, but it wasn’t Chilly’s world. Thing is, it’s the world. And it’ll kill you whether it’s yours or not.